Woman standing in field.
Personal Writing

Uninterrupted Time to Spark and Pursue Your *Creativity

Are you Struggling to Find/Make Time for Your Creative Work?

Do you have a creative project waiting for your attention? Whether it’s writing, painting, knitting, photography or any other creative endeavor, carving out time to focus can be a challenge. That’s why I created Uninterrupted: A Retreat to Spark Creativity—a weekend designed to remove distractions and give you space to dive into your work.

My Story: The Inspiration for Uninterrupted

I know firsthand how transformative a weekend like this can be.

When I struggled to make progress on my memoir, I stepped away from daily life—renting an Airbnb for 5 long weekends, attending a week-long writing retreat and immersing myself in uninterrupted creative time throughout 2024. The result? I finished my first draft! That would never have happened if I hadn’t physically stepped away from my house and all the distractions that live there.

I knew to take these actions because in 2020, I spent two full weeks alone in the middle of rural North Dakota as an artist in residence. What I learned was the tremendous value of disrupting my rhythm and routine to accomplish my goals. I was more creatively productive in those two weeks than I had been in probably the previous 10 years combined. And it was, in great part, because I had no day-to-day distractions to make themselves feel immediately urgent and pull me away from my creative pursuits.

What I know from hosting all my (re)Discover Your Spark retreats and experiences is that it’s not about taking two full weeks; it’s about stepping out of your routine for even a few hours or days to gift your mind the time and space to settle into what you long to work on, not on what you decide you “need” to work on—all those distractions that make themselves feel so urgent at home.

And then there’s that arts nonprofit I ran for 12+ years where I interacted with artists, creatives and makers of all types every day. Not only did that help me think about how to best work with creative people but it inspired my own path to a more creative and art-filled life, too.

Back to what Uninterrupted will do for You

I designed Uninterrupted: A Retreat to Spark Creativity to give you the time, space and structure to finally focus—without distractions, obligations or excuses. Set in a peaceful location with built-in work sessions, nourishing meals and intentional downtime, it’s designed to help you make real progress while reconnecting with your creativity and being part of a community of others engaged in their creative work, too.

I can’t promise you that you’ll finish a project, but I can promise that you’ll be much more likely to feel and lean into your creativity in this beautiful, thoughtful, relaxing and intentional environment.

If you’re tired of saying, “I’ll get to it someday,” let this weekend be the reason you finally do. Spots are extremely limited—let’s talk (dayna@daynadelval.com) about how Uninterrupted can give you the time and focus you’ve been craving.

*Please don’t discount your own level of creativity; this isn’t about being an “artist.” It’s about a desire to step into some piece of creative work that’s meaningful to you. I don’t believe we are all artists, but I absolutely know we are all creative, and pursuing that is some of the most joyful, soulful and important work we can do for ourselves and the world.

Photo caption: I stood in this soybean field every morning to watch the sun rise during my 2020 artist in residency program. It was an important part of the creative process to be in nature to start and end my day, Sparking my creativity in extraordinary ways.

Dayna Del Val is on a mission to help others (re)discover the spark they were born with through her blog and newsletter, her professional talks and the (re)Discover Your Spark retreats she leads. Dayna works with people to help them not just identify and articulate their dreams but to develop a framework to get going on the pursuit of those dreams—today, in the next few months and for the years ahead. She's at the intersection of remarkable and so, so ordinary, but she knows that pretty much everyone else is, too. She's excited to be sharing this extraordinary journey with you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *