As life goes by, one seems to understand one’s individual needs slightly better and one starts recognising the calling of one’s inner voice whispering: ‘slow down’, ‘look after yourself’ or ‘be kind to yourself’. It may sound like a cliché, but my experience is that listening to this ‘inner voice’ can be particularly challenging for mothers juggling academic commitments with the hurly-burly existence that motherhood often entails.

Once I enter the ‘work zone’ I am thrilled to be preparing and delivering power points and discussing reflective tools with my students who don’t want to sing nursery rhymes on loop… There is so much I enjoy during my working day as a teacher (including having warm cups of tea and coffee which I remember I made), but if there is one thing that I really cherish as an academic it is engaging with writing. There are many benefits to this: academic writing supports the conceptualisation of one’s ideas, helps one synthesise concepts, theories and data and ultimately supports one’s own understanding and learning process. In order for this to be effective, however, academic writing requires structured periods of reading, thinking and ‘putting words on paper’. This proves hard to achieve when the many roles pull us in so many different directions.

Attending the writing retreat at Chapelgarth made me realise that I needed to create protected space for my writing: this would only be possible by putting on hold my other responsibilities. The space that the retreat provided was invaluable. I particularly benefited from having daily and sessional goals (which I secretly competed with myself on!); opportunities to discuss experiences and interests with other academics and postgraduate students; and being absolutely spoilt by the setting and the care which was put into making us feel at home at Chapelgarth! (The surroundings were stunning, guided walks before lunch were a real treat, meals were scrumptious and delicious cake during breaks was the cherry on the top!).

I prepared for the retreat diligently with all my documents, with previous writings safely stored on the USB stick and laptop and I managed to edit/write 4/5 of one of my doctoral thesis chapter. I set out to complete 2/3 of the chapter, but following what I would term as my ‘productivity awakening’, my goal was substantially exceeded. The academic writing retreat made me realise that the real value lies in the detachment from the everyday, usual surroundings and familiar structures; by being somewhere else, a place and space dedicated to writing only, I was able to keep my focus undeterred by other commitments.

Thank you to Marcella and Ed for being such wonderful hosts and welcoming us at Chapelgarth Estate – and thank you to Roma (https://www.facebook.com/AromaDiningAtHome/ )for her excellent cooking that just made it more of a ‘home from home’ experience. I will definitely be bringing my next chapter to North Yorkshire soon!