Love song to Varuna

Darling Varuna,

It is Valentine Day, and I have decided to write a love letter to you. You’re more than just simply a lovely retreat for writers. You are a house of magic – of beautiful dawns, when the light of the rising sun breaks through trees and into my bedroom. Strange to think I have long broken the habit of getting up with the birds to begin another writing day at home, but here, with you, I have watched the dawn break for almost two weeks.

Varuna – you are a house with a soul. Your very walls speak – soaked with the spirit of creativity, as if every writer who has ever been blessed to stay here has left behind their imprint.  You are a house where I can think. Really think. Ideas about my work – really fantastic, exciting ideas – birth every day – and also at night. I stopped counting the times I woke at 3 am to turn on my computer to add a note or a bit of important dialogue to my manuscript.

Varuna – I thank you for the wonderful Sheila. To describe her merely as the Varuna’s chef is beyond the pale. She cooks her meals with love. She greets everyone with her beautiful smile and shining eyes, treats every writer – well known to those yet to be published – with great respect. I am going home very spoilt, with so many jotted down recipes to try out at home. I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me to not have to worry about cooking at night. I like to cook; which means every day of my life at 3pm my mind begins thinking of what’s in the fridge and what I should I cook for my family that night. But I have to confess that shift of mind takes me away from writing. There is no excuse to stop writing at Varuna.

Darling Varuna – I am also grateful that you provide a place for writers to come together and share their writing passions. After a two week stay, I now believe you provide a necessary place for the mental health of writers. To be in a place where writing is valued and understood –to be able to talk about your writing projects – words cannot describe how important that is. Every time I come to Varuna I meet kindred spirits, and return home enriched.

I love you Varuna!

Until next time!

Wendy xxx

 

P.S. Thank you to the Copyright agency for funding my stay through their career grants.