BLOGS

Creativity isn’t the destination—it is the doorway.

By Diane Wood June 20, 2026 Some days arrive carrying more weight than others. A couple of weeks ago a friend graciously invited me to experience a sound-bath meditation—my first. That morning, I had spent several hours on the phone addressing problems, and then 45 minutes trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the interstate, helplessly watching the minutes tick away while mentally reviewing an endless list of tasks. Building a business is exciting, rewarding, and deeply me

“And suddenly you know: it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” - Meister Eckhart The magic of beginnings—this year of firsts. Stepping forward into the unknown—both scary and exhilarating simultaneously. The singular experience of creating a startup company from scratch has been pretty daunting so far, but i

There is a quote from noted civil rights leader, Howard Thurman, that holds special, hard-won significance to me: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” To say that I have found what makes me come alive is certainly my good fortune, but it too easily glosses over the arduous journey of finding it. Finding the pot at the end of the soul’s-purpose rainbow is

When we admire a beautiful painting, we often focus on the artist who created it. What we don’t see are the countless individuals standing quietly in the background and the history of that artist: the mentor who explained color theory for the ten-thousandth time, the workshop leader who spent hours or even days preparing lesson plans long before students arrived, the instructor who anticipated every question before it was asked and solved every problem before it even happene

Whenever I go on an art retreat, I love to add on a few days either before or after the group retreat--usually it is another place that I want to see but haven't yet. The group retreats for me have been life-changing--the community and friendship building, learning new painting techniques from a favorite artist, eating fabulous food, and seeing beautiful new places--but for an introvert who also values her alone time, solo traveling is a great way to relax and recharge my soc

By Diane Wood As that old tagline from the Hair Club for Men commercial goes: “I’m not only the Hair Club president, I’m also a client.” In the same sense, I’m not just the founder of House of Athena Creative Retreats–I’m also the customer I had in mind when I created it. Before I ever dreamed of becoming an art retreat host, I was the one signing up for them. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to participate in several international all-inclusive luxury art retreats. Th

Tucked away in the back room of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, unassumingly nestled in amongst her items of clothing, toiletries, and hair combs, sits a rather weird object that upon first glance, seems out of place and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It is inexplicably a destroyed painting--a gutted canvas with a gaping hole stretching out to the wooden frame. Beside it is a matter-of-fact museum-offered explanation simply saying that when O'Keeffe f