I’ve taken on a big new challenge, and I’m so excited to finally start sharing it with you!

On October 24–25, I’ll be leading my first European weekend retreat in the Netherlands:

Dare to Shine: Relax, Create, Contribute — A Weekend Intensive

It will be a small, intimate, in-person experience at De Zwier, a beautiful lakeside venue outside Amsterdam.

And I’m realizing that creating it is asking me to practice just about everything I teach! 🙂

I have a limited amount of time to bring this vision to life, and there’s a LOT to do. I want to gather a beautiful group of people, organize all the details of an international event (with help from a couple of wonderful team members, thankfully), create a meaningful and inspiring experience — and continue coaching my students and living my life at the same time!

It’s exciting. It’s challenging. And I love it!

But I’m also noticing a sneaky tendency that shows up when I care deeply about something and really want it to succeed.

I start trying harder.

I want to make it wonderful. I want to get everything done. I want to bring the people who “get” the tremendous value of this work and want to explore it together, with creativity and joy.

And suddenly, instead of relaxing into the creative process, I feel myself getting caught up in trying to make everything happen… NOW.

Which is exactly when I need to remember the very thing I’m going to the Netherlands to teach:

This program is all about how to…. “Relax. Create. Contribute.”

Because I believe that we do our best work — and make our greatest, brightest contribution — not by trying harder and harder, but by learning how to get out of our own way.

I do my best to practice what I preach.

So I’m reminding myself to relax periodically throughout the day, taking breaks, going outside into Nature, easing up on the endless to-do lists so I can think more clearly…

…creating from inspiration instead of pressure

…and listening to my intuition for what wants to happen next instead of believing I need to have everything figured out in advance.

And most of all, to remember WHY I’m doing this.

I’m creating Dare to Shine because I want to bring people together, in person, to explore what becomes possible when we let go of the need to get everything right and truly enjoy the process instead.

What happens when we stop pushing and allow ourselves to become more present?

What happens to our creativity when we have more space to listen?

And what magic might we be able to contribute when we stop holding ourselves back and allow more of who we are — and what we have to give — to come through?

That’s the heart of Dare to Shine: Relax, Create, Contribute.

And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about the fact that creating this new in-person retreat experience for our Art of Freedom® community is challenging me to ‘dare to shine', too!

Registration isn't quite open yet, but over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing much more about what I’m creating, why I chose this beautiful place by the water, and what we’ll be exploring together.

For now, I’d love to know:

Does the idea of learning to let go and relax more deeply so you can create and contribute more freely speak to something in you?

Comment below and tell me. I’d truly love to hear!

Joyfully,
Jennifer

P.S. If you’re already thinking, “Wow, this sounds perfect for me…I might actually want to come to this!” tell me that, too. 🙂 The group will be intentionally small, and I’ll make sure you’re among the first to know when registration opens.