In the wake of stressful news, I found myself needing a little silence. The world has been in an uproar while moving steadily all at once, but last weekend, I was given the opportunity to get away from that madness.

Out in the woods, four writers came together to teach a group of college students on a winter writing retreat. We all spent these three short days bonding through late nights, roaming in the woods, and early mornings in workshops with our professors.

To an outsider, we must have looked rude as we poured over our laptops and notebooks instead of engaging each other in conversation. Little would you know, we were scrambling over what words to share with our peers and what areas in our works to tear apart.

We weren't looking to impress one another. We were looking to impress ourselves.

In the early morning, we rose with the sunrise for Quaker breakfast and a walk on a muddy path we found in the woods. We sat on a bench watching the clouds and simply enjoyed the quiet passing between us.

I spilled my heart into my notebook and built a new world on every page. Our feet led us down paths towards a castle, a pond, and bamboo. We weren't sure what we were looking for, but we prayed we would find it in those moments of silence, homecooked meals, and uncensored storytelling.

Sure, we might have been college students trying to earn our one credit we had paid for, but together, we were all free.

On the second and last evening of our stay, we passed around words of both wisdom and encouragement while everyone shared the inner-workings of their brains. In the moonlight, I connected with new souls, and we found our way back to the castle.

We fought sleep surrounded by art supplies and shared ghost stories. In the morning, we said our goodbyes without sadness, and we left with the knowledge that we had found what we were looking for.