Escape to Lake Waccamaw

How to retreat, rest, and reset.

Welcome to So Relatable, a bi-weekly newsletter that helps creative folks improve their craft, achieve their goals, and eat better snacks. I’m glad you’re here! ✨

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In my last newsletter, I wrote about how the year was off to a bumpy start. Looking back, I was either being a bit dramatic OR February has been such a vast improvement that last month feels less like a black hole and more like a passing shadow. Either way, things are looking up. 

The shift started with our second annual Creative Retreat to Lake Waccamaw. This tradition began in 2023 when my friend Kat proposed that our core group of girlfriends rent a lake house for a weekend. Our destination is about an hour from Wilmington, which is ideal—close enough that travel is easy, far enough that we feel completely removed from our daily responsibilities and routines. Last year, eight of us attended. This year, the original eight returned and we added three more. Retention and recruitment—we love to see it. 

Our house, lovingly nicknamed “Myrtle’s Haunted Mansion.”

We call this weekend a Creative Retreat, but that means different things to different people. (Of course we created a shared Google Spreadsheet to host and sign up for proposed activities, but there was no pressure to take part in any of them!) For some people, our Retreat meant waking early to run ten miles under the Spanish moss; for others (like me), it meant slowly sipping coffee on the dock while the sun rose over the lake. No matter how we chose to spend our time, I think I speak for all of us when I say our main priority was play.

As a writer, I put a lot of pressure on myself to meet self-imposed deadlines, to write a certain number of words each day, to reach for ambitious goals and external validation. Our weekend getaway was a retreat from all that, a rare opportunity to take part in activities and pastimes with no ulterior motives.

During our crafting sessions, I worked on a beaded bookmark that I never actually finished. Each night, we crowded around the dining room table and shared meals by the light of every candle we could find. I drank afternoon mimosas and skipped yoga and consumed a whole tray of Rice Krispie treats. We went for a meandering hike in the state park and paused to sit quietly on the trail, listening to the birds. I led a goal setting session, but instead of focusing on our Q1 to-dos, we shared our visions for the years and decades ahead.

This is community.

After dinner on Saturday night, we poured drinks and gathered in the living room to watch as each person delivered an impassioned PowerPoint presentation—the assignment was “whatever you want.” We heard everything from a plot summary of all ten Fast & Furious movies (Kat), to a 2023 Dating Recap with hilarious stats and charts (Emma), to deep dives into the language of rock climbing (me), the life and music of Dusty Springfield (Katie) and the world of professional wrestling (Abby). It was funny, ridiculous, and surprisingly educational. Highly recommended as a great way to get to know your favorite people a tiny bit better.

For the second year in a row, our Retreat was a magical weekend, full of laughter and community. I feel so grateful that we convinced eleven very busy people to put aside their lives for two days, to leave their families and responsibilities behind, to center friendship and follow our creative urges wherever they led.

One of the crafts I actually completed was a Reel of the weekend, which I have watched approximately 238 times. Hopefully it can hold us over until next year.

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Snack Break

As if Lake Waccamaw wasn’t enough, I’m sending this newsletter from Raleigh, where Nathan and I spent the weekend celebrating his birthday by climbing at a fancy indoor gym, visiting the modern art museum, eating excellent food (including the mushroom paella pictured above), and spending too much money at REI. It was lovely to enjoy some one-on-one time together and get out of our routine. ❤️

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Relatable Recommendations

• Reading: My book club is currently reading Acts of Service, which is so far compelling, arresting, and STEAMY. I can’t wait to discuss this one. 👀

• Watching: We finally started Hacks, about an aging comedian who starts begrudgingly working with a younger writer to revive her flagging career. I love shows about writers, and this one is also funny and fascinating look at artistic ambition, cross-generational friendship, and being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

• Clicking: An actual day in the life of my job. A profoundly sweet reminder that made my week. A perfect prompt from

  Jillian Anthony
  : what are your five sacred habits? As someone who is still surprised to find myself with a career in marketing, I loved this deep dive into Duolingo’s 5-second Super Bowl ad.

• Eating: Our Lake Waccamaw menu, in order of appearance: lasagna and eggplant parmigiana; biscuits and vegetarian gravy; a roasted vegetable and farro salad with goat cheese; kimchi dumpling soup; and the biggest blueberry-lemon Dutch Baby.

• Feeling: Well-fed and well-loved. 💛

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Coffee Club Contributions

Thank you to Carol D. for being part of this community!

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👋 About Me: I’m Chrissy Hennessey, an enthusiastic snacker and native New Yorker living in coastal North Carolina, where I stayed after earning my MFA in 2014. My writing has appeared in a decent number of journals, I’ve received fellowships to some fancy residencies, and I’ve written three novels, all currently unpublished. This newsletter is a passion project I started in 2019 as a way to connect with readers and writers, share my creative journey, and build a community. Thank you for being here!