South Carolina has always been one of my favorite places to visit.  For anyone living in the NYC area, it makes for a perfect three-day getaway:  short flights, great restaurants, charming boutiques, and lots and lots of Southern hospitality.  This February, however, I headed down to Kiawah Island in search of another kind of getaway.  I had been invited to the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort to learn more about a three-day women’s only program, called “Your Possible Life.”  In addition to golf, the coastal resort is the ideal spot for some reflective time; it is peaceful, simple and elegant, and it sits right on the beach.  As part of the experience, each of the women was encouraged to bring an object that revealed something about her.  At first, I thought I would carry a piece of metal from the World Trade Center, a visceral memory of a tragic day when I lost my husband Stephen and my three children lost their dad.  When I tried to put the building fragment in an overnight bag and then into a suitcase, I realized its impossible heaviness.  I started to understand its weight as both literal and symbolic, and in the end I decided not to bring it with me.  I did not leave behind my connection to that tragic day or more important to the people who were lost, but I understood that I don’t always have to be weighed down by the memory. 

The woman who runs the “Your Possible Life” program, Dr. Kathy Murphy, helps women create the lives they truly want.  She was remarkable at re-awakening enthusiasm, creative potential, and optimism in the women who attended the getaway.  To learn more about the specific three-day program that I attended, check out Dr. Kathy Murphy’s write-up here: http://kathymurphyphd.com/2013/02/the-wise-women-of-the-sanctuary.