Zombies, Rollercoasters & Brunch At Oprah’s House

You’re about to watch an episode of my vlog series called Marie Unplugged. These videos are totally different than my award-winning show MarieTV. Vlogs by nature are raw and off the cuff. So wear headphones if kiddos are around because adult language is likely. Enjoy!

What do you get when you combine flesh-eating zombies, big drop rollercoasters, EFT and a Gospel brunch at Oprah’s house?

A damn good time, that’s what.

Few months back, I had a stark realization. In order to make headway on my next book, I needed an intermission from life in NYC. A break from my routine and surroundings.

I wrote my first book here in New York about 16 years ago — amidst juggling my then tiny-but-growing business, an even tinier studio apartment and 3 part-time jobs. But since then, life has grown exponentially more complex.

So I started imagining my own DIY ‘artist retreat.’ A week or two where my only responsibility would be writing. No grocery lists, no laundry, no outside meetings, no junk mail and no piles of dishes. It sounded so heavenly. I wondered, “Is this even legal?!?”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how necessary this focus time would be to make headway on my next book.

When I shared this DIY ‘artist retreat’ idea with my best friend Kris, she wanted in. She also had some writing projects that deserved some dedicated TLC. We wrangled our calendars and it turned out — we both needed to be in Los Angeles for the same event in mid October.

Within a few days plane tickets were booked, bags were packed and it was go time.

All in all, I was able to devote ten full days almost exclusively to my book. While I still have an enormous amount of writing ahead of me, this retreat helped me get a foothold into my manuscript.

At the tail end of our first of (hopefully!) many artist retreats, my friend Kris and I squeezed in some adventures, too. In this new episode of Marie Unplugged, you’ll see:

• The reason Halloween at Universal Studios in Hollywood is my new favorite place (if you’re a scary movie fan like I am, this place does it right)
• Why, if I ever decide to change careers, I’ll be the world’s top #CoasterCoach
• A novel and likely off-book use of EFT
• Some behind-the-scenes footage from the inspiring The Wisdom of Sundays Gospel brunch at Oprah’s house

(If you’re curious, I did not film the writing part of my artist retreat. Why? Because I literally sat at my computer for 6-8 hours a day. You can imagine what that looks like, right?).

I gotta say, there’s one piece of this episode that’s particularly moving for me. It’s around helping Kris overcome a fear that, before this trip, would literally bring her to tears. Yes, I know her fear was about something playful, but…

Anytime we experience ourselves as more courageous and free,
it has a spillover effect on our entire lives.

Helping people (myself included!) create real and lasting change is part of my life’s mission. So I’m curious to know:

What’s one fear — big or small — that you’re ready to move beyond?

This doesn’t mean you won’t still feel anxious or get butterflies in your tummy. It just means you’re ready to take that next step and move ahead.

Or, is there a creative project on your list that deserves dedicated time, attention and focus? What would you do on your ideal artist retreat and who would you want by your side, if anyone?

Leave a comment below and let me know.

Remember — share as much detail as you can in your reply. Thousands of incredible souls come here each week for inspiration, and your story may inspire a new insight or breakthrough for someone else.

As always, thank you for watching and sharing, especially on this Unplugged series. I hope you have as much fun watching this episode as we had making it.

With so much love,

XO