What If We Didn’t Have to Do It Alone?

Why Retreats?

Retreats might seem like a departure from what we do at Electric Cottage Collective, but we actually see them as an extension of the same experiment. ECC exists because we're curious about different ways of living together—ways that make room for creativity, rest, embodiment, pleasure, connection, and meaningful work without reproducing the grind and isolation of everyday life. Our retreats simply give us more time and space to practice that.

Something really special happens when we gather people together for that kind of time.

The people who find their way to our retreats are often people who spend their everyday lives tending to other people. Teachers. Nurses. Therapists. Caregivers. Parents. Community builders. People whose work asks them to listen, support, teach, comfort, organize, advocate, and show up—again and again—for someone else. These are people who are very good at giving care. We're interested in creating a space where they can receive it, too.

Not in the transactional, "we'll take care of you for three days and send you home refreshed" sense of a traditional wellness retreat. And not in the individualistic sense of "come here and optimize yourself so you can get back to work." We're interested in something more reciprocal. More collective.

We live in a culture that tells us to think of ourselves primarily as individuals—to solve our problems individually, care for ourselves individually, and find our own individual paths toward wellness. But so much of what sustains us is actually collective. We are held by other people. We learn from other people. We make meaning with other people. We survive hard seasons because someone else shows up. Maybe we don't need more tools for becoming better at doing everything on our own. Maybe we need more opportunities to practice being part of a collective.

What happens when people who spend their lives caring for others get to spend a few days in the company of people who understand that particular kind of life? What happens when you don't have to explain why you're tired? When a conversation about burnout turns into a conversation about what we actually want our lives to look like? When rest isn't something you earn after you've finished everything? When creativity doesn't have to become a business? When movement doesn't have to be exercise? When swimming can just be swimming? When you have choices around how you spend your time? When making something with your hands can be enough? When there is nowhere you need to be and nothing you need to accomplish?

We don't come together because we have all the answers. We come together because we're curious about the same questions. How do we build lives that are sustainable—not just for ourselves, but for the people and communities around us? How do we care for ourselves without turning care into another individual responsibility? How do we make room for pleasure, play, creativity, and rest? How do we build communities where we don't have to carry everything alone?

What becomes possible when we stop imagining wellness as an individual achievement and start imagining it as something we create collectively?

That's why retreats feel so deeply connected to the work of Electric Cottage Collective.

Our coworking space, classes, workshops, community gatherings, and retreats are all different ways of exploring the same idea: Maybe wellness isn't something we achieve alone. Maybe it's something we build together. Maybe, for a few days, we can practice what that actually feels like.

You can always learn about our upcoming retreats here: https://www.electriccottagecollective.com/retreats