I can’t believe it’s October already. There’s so much to look forward  what with Thanksgiving (The Canadian Version), the return of hockey (the NHL and my beleaguered Toronto Maple Leafs, not to mention my son’s house league), and a Federal election with the tantalizing promise of political change (I can dream can’t I).

But none of that can compare to my trip to Viable Paradise in less than two weeks. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been aiming towards this writing workshop for almost 4 years. Even after receiving my acceptance in June it still felt surreal and intangible.

It’s been slowly starting to become tangible in the passing weeks with each incremental step in preparing for the workshop.From getting to know my fellow classmates online to booking travel arrangements and accommodations each thing has taken me a step closer to the actual workshop.

With the Canadian dollar at an 11 year low (It’s costing me almost an extra 38 cents on the dollar for every dollar I spend in the US) I joking said to a friend that I must really want to go to this workshop to pay the extra money that its costing me.

I’d like to think I am as prepared as I can be for the workshop, but the thing I keep telling myself is to go there ready to learn and absorb. To be open to learning from the instructors and my classmates and to not stress over the travel and being away from home from a week. Any of those anxieties will seem like small potatoes once I am in the thick of it.

Sure I’ve got that the equivalent of back-to-school jitters, but I know that these are my people and that based on what I’ve read of previous alumni’s experience that I am in for a  potentially life-changing experience, if I am just open to receiving it.

I hope to share some of my experiences of the journey via this blog, but be forewarned I won’t be updating this in real-time. It will probably be sometime in November before I’ve had a chance to decompress form the experience and put my thoughts in some sort of order.

I plan to take lots of notes while I am away, not just notes about the workshop and writing, but notes about the experience itself. I want to absorb as much as as I can of the experience.

Wish me luck and I will see you on the other side.