Μεράκι (Meraki)
Pelion, Greece
23-30 April 2025
Μεράκι
Meraki (the essence of ourselves), means putting “a part of our soul” into what we do, and doing something with creativity, passion and love.
This is your invitation to reconnect with your essential life, the life we are born to enjoy, but which gets overwhelmed by all the demands of daily living.
We make art and we write to remind ourselves of a life lived with intensity and truth, a life of colour and laughter and connectedness. These are the things we can bring back into our daily lives and they will sustain us, recalling to us the simple life-affirming wisdom of spending time with people and in places that set a spark in the soul.
This unique Meraki retreat is designed to be both restorative and uplifting. If you seek peace, space and the inspiration to rekindle your creative practice then this retreat offers a revelatory time of collaborative pleasures. We work without judgement, creating the kind of joyous, playful opportunities where everything is valued, because it is original, unpredictable, arising out of the moment, personal and therefore precious.
Immerse yourself in the beauty of the natural surroundings as we play with paper and fabric, we gather objects, write from the soul, and use the elements we find to inspire our work. Connect deeply with the land and her ancient history, infusing your work with a sense of place and purpose. Together we will create a place rich with possibility and beauty, a space where instinct, experiment and mystery abound, a space for that unique and irreplaceable encounter with inspiration.
Throughout this retreat we will work spontaneously and with intention, exploring various techniques from wet cyanotypes and slow stitching, to crafting with natural objects, the magic of sigils and zen circles, the process of creating memory bundles and more creative play. By the end of our stay, we will have created our own sacred scroll, a tangible reflection of this magical Greek adventure.
The writing workshops are designed to be very organic, spontaneous and collaborative, with lots of raw writing. The emphasis is on process rather than product, with the aim of prompting story threads or seeds. Story is at the heart of who we are and how we inhabit the world. The empowering pleasure of telling stories and sparking connections with other writers nurtures the creative spirit in profound and illuminating ways.
This Meraki retreat will offer participants the opportunities to enjoy abundant time to write, make art, reflect and establish often life-changing alliances and friendships with other writers and makers, away from the constraints of our daily lives and to journey with people who generously and imaginatively share their creative energy. Creativity is a way of connecting with our truest selves, fostering confidence and deeply enhancing a sense of well-being.
Complementing the workshops are beautiful lazy lunches created from the organic locally produced ingredients grown on Pelion farm, convivial evening meals and visits to beautiful beaches.
All sessions are optional so you are free to participate as much or as little as you wish.
No previous experience required, you will be guided gently towards what sparks your own creative flow. We invite you to join us to discover what occurs during the encounter between the deep and often playful work of the imagination.
PAYMENT:
Private Room with Shared Bathroom:
£2,725
Private Room with Ensuite Bathroom:
£3,175
DEPOSIT: A non-refundable deposit of £750 is required to secure your place. The balance can be paid as a single payment any time before February 1st 2025
INCLUDED:
Pick-up Transfer from Athens Airport *
8 Days and 7 Nights in a Beautiful Traditional Villa
Choice of Accommodation **
2 Meals a day
1 dinner at a local taverna
Writing Workshops with Claire
Mixed Media Workshops with Jack
Cultural and Natural Excursion to local Villages and Beaches
Welcome Gift
Fresh Fruit, Nuts, Tea & Coffee
Transfer to the Airport of Athens on departure day *
NOT INCLUDED:
Flights to and from Athens
Travel Insurance
Any extra meals
* Airport pick-up and drop-off are only for indicated dates and specific times. Should you plan to arrive earlier and/or stay longer in Greece, you will be responsible for your own transfers.
** We will do our best to accommodate everyone's room preferences, but due to the configuration of each villa, we cannot guarantee that, and rooms will be allocated based on availability on a first-come, first-served basis.
CANCELLATION POLICY: If you purchase a spot in this workshop and need to cancel, please be aware that this is a non-refundable workshop. You may sell your spot to another person or if there is a waitlist for the workshop we will connect you with a person on the list.
Your Hosts
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Claire Steele
Claire Steele has run Magical Journeys Creative Writing Retreats for over fifteen years. She has run workshops in prisons, dementia cafes, on the tops of double-decker buses, on airport runways, in gypsy caravans and on narrowboats, as well as in the more expected locations for a writing workshop. The retreats and workshops are designed to foster creative flow, release story and affirm your sense of purpose as a writer. They are designed to nourish you spiritually, extend you creatively and sustain you emotionally. Writing is where we go to discover the things we don’t yet know, it takes us into a place where history, experiment and mystery abound.
She also runs Constellations Press, a new local independent press seeking to publish exceptional books by debut writers. www.constellationspress.co.uk
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Jack Ravi
Jack Ravi is a collage and mixed media artist who creates with found objects. His work is rooted in curiosity and wonder, and he approaches it as a personal, meditative journey. This is also reflected in the way he teaches, encouraging discovery and play while celebrating mistakes and insights. He offers pre recorded classes, in-person workshops, and live online classes that are intentionally kept small. Offering these sacred and intimate circles where participants can feel safe to express themselves creatively and even begin to heal together is an act of joy and empowerment. With a deep reverence for forgotten papers, he celebrates their beauty and potential in his art.
Jack is also the author of the book "Artful Memories: How to create unique art with old photographs.” He lives and works in Scotland.
FAQS
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The transfer from Athens International to Pelion on the 23rd April will be AROUND 2pm.
The Transfer from Pelion to Athens International will be AROUND 7AM on the 30th April.
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Arriving a day earlier is entirely up to you. This might give you some wiggle room in case your plane is delayed, and it also offers some time to settle in a new environment and adjust to jet lag.
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The transfers are organised for everyone together at the same time, so if folk arrive early they will need to wait for others. We have aimed to schedule the transfers at times that work well for most participants, but inevitably some folk will have to wait for others to arrive. If you choose to organise your own private transfers this will be at your own expense.
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You are welcome to browse the retreat space at www.pelionhomes.com
Here are some links to the villas. Scroll to the bottom of each page to see more images.