22/08/2026
She was a 55 year old retiree who left the corporate work environment after 20+ years of living in the machine. The machine that seemed to manufacture drama and stress, a beast that weighed down upon her shoulders even when she came home in the evening.
When work was done, she had no energy to even contemplate her passions. But this begged the bigger question: What were her passions?
The paint set she purchased months ago sat unused on her windowsill, the sketchpad stuffed beneath a pile on the counter, her crochet hook forgotten in the penholder. She knew she liked things but never had the chance to explore them anymore.
So when she retired, she knew she had to come back to herself. To clear the mist and really look in the mirror to determine what the next 20 years of her life would look like. Would it be a life of passion? Would she finally book that trip abroad? Would she finally pour into her own cup?
When she came to our chateau, she felt that contemplation that kept her rooted in the same spot move aside like the metaphorical mist. It was planned for her to pick up a watercolor brush the following morning and despite the anxiety, she did it. And she did it for hours. She did it again the next day with acrylics and the following day with pastels. She made mistakes, she laughed, she revised, and she even cried.
Because she was finally able to release. To step out of the machine that followed her home and reclaim her life as something vibrant and completely her own through a simple retreat at a French chateau.
If this sounds like you, we invite you to visit manorandmaker.com to see our upcoming schedule for self-discovery. You never know what will happen.
❤️
