I was walking at Compo Beach (Westport) with a new friend who recently left her place of work. She was cataloging her job search activities–informational interviews, lunches with colleagues, etc. “But what I would really like is to spend two weeks on the beach,” she said with a hearty laugh.

I believe the laugh came as a trained defense mechanism for all those practical colleagues who would dismiss the thought out of hand. “You can’t possibly do that and still claim to be a sane, responsible and prudent citizen,” I imagined they’d think, say or project.

But she was walking with me–a coach and proponent of following one’s bliss. “Do it!” I said.

I proceeded to tell her how refreshed and renewed I was having so recently spent a week by myself. I’d been responsible to no one in a beautiful, serene environment. Everything looked different and clearer when I returned.

The next day I attended an excellent pilot program put on by a client of mine and held at St. Birgitta’s Vikingsborg in Darien–two towns away from Westport. It is located on the Long Island Sound and is as serene a place as you could wish. Their rates are posted: $110 per day including three meals. I recommended it to my friend and hope she treats herself to at least a week.