This morning I got up and let Jen sleep in. I did that not only because I try to swap such gestures routinely but also in gratitude for all she does, and in particular, today, she will be on solo dog duty for the next three days while I attend a silent retreat, which is where I am right now. This won't likely publish because I will send it via the remarkable, which is not an authorized email sender for my blog's auto-post feature. Yet. So this will be a test. The retreat is also a test of my willpower, focus and determination. I turned in my phone for the entire 3 days. I am surprised at how difficult that was. Yet I do feel like I have more to gain by doing so than I have to lose. It's about being 100% present and in the moment, free from the temptation to check emails or take and send photos and share my experiences relatively in real-time, which I was doing all of. My only distraction might be writing about the day, which I will reserve for the day's end. As I leaned on and looked out the window of my tiny room at this Jesuit center towards the city lights in the distance, I envisioned it as an opening scene for a movie I would love to script, along with having tuned in to my phone before standing on the patio, hearing a deer walking through the forest floor and seeing the wind-blown trees moving as if a gigantic deer was about to break through them. It was a moment of being present and appreciating the time I am fortunate enough to be spending here, as have many generations going back to its origin in the 1920s. Not to mention the inhabitants of these lands going back hundreds of years prior. All of them have lived each of their lives possibly doing the same as I did tonight - hearing something walking, watching winds blowing a tree's branches, and maybe even reflecting on their own opportunities and gratitude. They may have even suffered the snoring of somebody nearby, as I now do. The earplugs help.