What physical place holds a special energy for you that is easily accessible and someplace you can go anytime and quite often?

Also, having a place where we can retreat from the world comes in handy. In my childhood it was a place called the Dominican Retreat House. In my adulthood it’s just about any forest. What fills the bill for you?

Early on I was told the story of my very first outing. Apparently, at about a week old I was taken to this Dominican Retreat House. I guess about five to ten nuns lived there and there was lodging for perhaps 30 people for the retreats that were typically for a weekend. The place was south of town with a gorgeous view of the mountains. It was incredibly quiet. The story is that on my first visit one of the nuns placed me on the chapel altar and asked God to “send me back to them.” I remember, as an older child listening to this story, praying quite fervently that God would not make me be a nun. But I sure did love the retreat house and the nuns that lived there. Mom worked on several fund-raising projects for them. We have pictures of when my dad took some of them out on our boat. I was 11 or 12 years old when we got the boat. At age 15 the nuns and retreat house gave me two weeks of peace while my parents were deciding on divorce. Luckily, they decided to stay together.

I remember the retreat house as a place I still find special. It’s a place I can go to ground my peace, even though it’s owned by other people now. It only looks a little bit different for all the times it’s been sold. But the whole property is still intact with all the original buildings. The various owners throughout the years have just added several buildings. It’s still used for retreats and nothing obstructs its views. I remember three retreats there during my teenage years and a few in my twenties before the archbishop sold it out from under the nuns. The food was always beyond spectacular. There was a full-size statue of Mother Mary around the corner in the courtyard outside the dining room. One time I could have sworn I had a personal conversation there with Mother Mary. I was in the courtyard all alone and I definitely slipped into an altered state. If I told a nun anything, I probably only said that while I was praying it felt like Mother Mary gave me a pink rose. In adulthood there was a time I came out of the little chapel after saying many hours of prayers alone and could actually see the energy emanating from the surrounding plants. It was lovely.