Virginia Beach... Faces, Flowers, Fire, Fingers, Friendships & So Much More!

Let's face it... the Virginia Beach Art & Soul event is always an amazing time in a breathtaking location with lots of happy, adventurous, artistic souls!

This retreat is flowered with all different kinds of folk, of all ages, from all walks of life, who love taking time out of their busy lives to treat themselves to some well-deserved play time.

I mean, really... our attendees are full of fire! It takes a certain type of soul to know how important it is to keep learning and growing by adding new, creative experiences to their lives. Okay, I'm getting choked up now...

Because to get to be the purveyor of such things makes me feel all warm and gooey inside. Like this lovely enamel pendant must've felt as it was being forged in Jean Van Brederode's workshop. But seriously, in this day and age, to be able to bring people together in common interest and that interest is treating themselves to a good time... well, I'm so very lucky. It touches me to my very core.

Like Neil Diamond sings... Hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you! That describes what we do here at Art & Soul. Many hands together make up what we do, from our staff, the planning of it all, the execution, the hotel personnel, the students, the teachers... everybody! We all have a hand in creating this marvelous event, where we use our hands to make things... even rings to put on our fingers.

And the friendships forged at our events, well I can't even begin to tell you how many have been started at this very location. Because when you gather these kind of artistic souls together, it just can't be helped. And these friendships last a lifetime.

So whether you like to get your hands dirty, or keep them clean... we had workshops for that. Fun with fabric, playing with clay, drawing from scratch, molding, folding, sewing, gluing... so much for your hands to do!

There aren't too many in-person retreats left that allow you to show up with real live teachers, in real live classrooms (with lots of plastic covering the floors, LOL), inside a gorgeous hotel, with a view of the beach, and I'm just so ecstatic that Art & Soul is still a part of that movement. Maybe we can move more people out from behind their computers and get back into the real world, huh?

At Virginia Beach, there's always magic that happens. It's in the air! Maybe it's the salt air, which gently blows through the sliding glass doors of our oceanfront rooms? But in addition to our own event, this time we were witness to all kinds of enchantment...

Like the beach wedding that took place right outside our hotel on the sandy shores of the Chesapeake Bay!

Or the multitudes of frolicking dolphins we encountered swimming our way!

And although sometimes the ones we leave at home may get a little mopey... while we get to play and have fun... it's all worth the time we invest in ourselves. Don't you agree?!

So from the bottom of my heArt, thank you all for such a wonderful retreat! I look forward to seeing you next year!

Hugs,
Glenny
xoxo

Any Dream Will Do...

You know those times when you do something for someone you love and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Yes... I know them well. In fact, I recently traded my mare Tahitian Pearls, for a fabulous show horse named Any Dream Will Do, for my granddaughter Abby.

Abby with her new horse.

It wasn't easy to let go of my trusty mare. Having acquired her as a 2-year-old, she offered me a lifetime of companionship in the 4 years we spent together. When I got Pearl, I trained her to let me take my electric scooter into her stall. I would sit with her for hours and read a book while she put her head in my lap. To this day, I can say, "put your head down" and she will drop so that I can scratch her ears.

My mare, Tahitian Pearls.

So what drives a person to let go of something special in order to make someone else's dream come true?

Love.

You see, Abby's show horse is 18 and about to be retired, so she needed a new horse. Pearl is a beautiful, powerful Saddlebred... but a bit too much for my granddaughter. Pearl would require a lot more training to be safe in the show arena — at least two years worth! So it was a sensible decision to trade Pearl and get a new horse for Abby.

And can I tell you... nothing touches a grandma's heart more than seeing her granddaughter simply beaming with love and an ear-to-ear grin on her face when she sees her Dream come true for the first time. To top it off there was an immediate connection between the two, similar to what Abby had with her first show horse. I believe they'll be fast friends for a very long time.

Many times during our life we have special dreams. And many times those dreams involve people closest to us. When you share your dreams with others, the result is almost always the same... marvelous things happen. The joy of giving is just as satisfying as the joy of receiving. When you take a chance and let go of something... the Universe rewards you with something even more special. Truly, I am the lucky one.