Q: What is the most important thing participants should walk away with from your retreat?

Laura Rubin: I hope that each and every participant walks away with a renewed sense of agency and creative rejuvenation. I hear over and over in my 1:1 creative coaching sessions and workshops that people today are feeling powerless, directionless, drained and overwhelmed at rates and in ways they haven’t felt before. Despite that, you can create a life you love, one that’s full of beauty and meaning. This retreat will provide the space and tools to break through blocks and dream that reality into being. Page by page, participants will regulate their nervous systems, gain clarity via a deeper connection to their innate wisdom, and learn to celebrate their creative expression. 

Q: What are you most excited to share with those attending the retreat?

Laura Rubin: Journaling isn’t just about writing—it’s an opportunity to step away from the digital firehose of incoming data we’re constantly getting blasted with. From the instant we look at our devices in the morning we’re in a heightened, dopaminogenic state of react-and-respond. On the page we reclaim a sense of autonomy and purpose, equanimity is restored. We remember how to cultivate the kinds of joy that last far longer than the next add-to-cart impulse. 

Also, you don’t need to be a “good writer” to be good at this. And similarly, at no point will anyone be asked to read aloud from their journals. That would be antithetical to the process. So you can park those worries. 

Q: What themes define your work?

Laura Rubin: So much more than the tired old “Dear Diary” connotations, a journal is a near-infinite tool with proven mental, emotional and physiological benefits. The AllSwell approach helps you unlock the full potential of your pen to paper practice. 

Each and every person on this planet is a creative being. I’m not suggesting we’re all artists (respectfully, I consider that to be a different animal). But regardless of your vocation, we all deserve spaces to play, to try things out, to make a mess without repercussions. Your journal provides that and so much more, if you know how to use it. 

Finding avenues for expressing ourselves has immense upside, well beyond artistic endeavors. Once you do, it becomes a positive force that radiates through your work, your play, your health, your relationships, it touches all aspects of your life.

Q: How do we access our innate wisdom to forge the life we long for?

Laura Rubin: Accessing our innate wisdom requires us to slow down and coax that good stuff out into the light of day. No easy feat amidst our addictions to digital connectivity, immediacy and the myth that productivity at-all-costs is king. The AllSwell approach helps you peel back layers of external programming, chipping away at whatever isn’t truly of you, for you. What’s revealed is powerful, it’s a homecoming of sorts. 

Journaling is one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to reconnect with your highest source of personal wisdom. By asking meaningful questions and allowing ourselves to express our thoughts freely on the page, we begin to uncover our true desires, values, and the path forward emerges. It’s about trusting that the knowledge that’s already inside us, waiting to be engaged with, to be invited to the party. 

Q: How did you decide to move in the direction of starting AllSwell Creative?

Laura Rubin: I’m a life-long journaler. It's how I have made all my major professional and personal decisions, it’s how I know who and how I am. Despite that, about ten years ago I realized that journaling had a PR problem. It was more closely associated with angsty teen scribblings than being the legitimate modality for personal transformation and wellbeing that it truly is. So I set out to shift the cultural conversation about what it means to keep a journal, first with design-forward, gender-neutral products. Then with experiences and education. 

I’ve now led hundreds of mindful journaling workshops for all different kinds of groups. Data analysts at Google, VIPs at Miu Miu, wounded special forces veterans, venture capital firms, formerly incarcerated and homeless young adults, Netflix executives, the breadth and applicability of this work is immense. And it always works. 

It isn’t false modesty when I say none of this is about me. I’m certainly a skilled facilitator at this point, I create a safe and enjoyable container in which participants are inspired to explore. But I am not a wellness guru telling you what to think or do or write. The words that emerge, the wisdom that greets you, is entirely your own. I have the best seat in the house. I get to witness people wake up to their own creativity and come home to themselves. 

Q: Why did you choose VRI as your location for this retreat? 

I am very selective about when and where I lead retreats. It really has to be the right partner and setting. I was fortunate to attend a retreat months ago at Valley Rock Inn and was struck by its unique combination of amenities and style. Michael Bruno has created a chic oasis just an hour from bustling Manhattan. It provides people with access to best-in-class programming, a chance to step away from busy lives and frayed nerves all without boarding a plane.

Aesthetics are an important element of an AllSwell experience. One’s environment can either support or hinder the creative process. I’m particularly thrilled to be offering the upcoming Pathfinder mindful writing retreat at Valley Rock Inn. Michael Bruno has blended his background in design with hospitality to provide a unique and supportive environment. The weekend promises to be a very special one.