In May 2020, we snuck away to Canmore for a girls’ retreat we call AGR which simply stands for Annual Girls Retreat. This retreat was born out of the fact that covid shut down everything and there was nothing to do. We used to celebrate each other’s birthday’s by going out to dinner or a comedy show or a cirque du soleil performance but with shutdowns, we had to create our own fun.
Vegan side note: While cirque du soleil pays humans who want to perform and cirque doesn’t use animals, there are sadly many attractions that DO exploit animals for your entertainment such as zoos, swimming with the dolphin attractions, marine life used to entertain humans, travelling reptile shows, dog fighting, rodeos, chuckwagon races, greyhound and horse racing, kangaroo and other petting zoos and the list goes on. Please be brave and learn more by watching the below videos. Animals do not deserve to be exploited for our entertainment.
- Animal Justice expose on cruelty in Canada’s Zoo’s https://animaljustice.ca/blog/canadas-zoo-crisis-exposed-on-national-tv
- Earthing Ed’s video ‘Why we shouldn’t support zoos and their conservation work’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3l87NywToQ
- Blackfish Documentary Trailer
- The Cove Documentary Trailer
Back to AGR. We decided that the focus of AGR would be sharing knowledge/skills with each other. A sort of empowerment type retreat to practice our public speaking skills in a safe space, to let loose and teach the group something, to know that we do not need to spend money to create fun – everything we need we already have within us.
AGR is a safe space among friends, and anything goes! The creativity that came out of this retreat is nothing short of wild and full of heart. We created the most epic retreat that you would never be able to even pay for. Our retreats are special. They are priceless. We will celebrate our 4th AGR in 2023 and we haven’t been back to the same location twice.
On the 1st annual AGR I had shared with my friends that I was a pizza addict, was attending Overeater’s Antonymous and had given up pizza (click to read last week’s post). They were supportive. Funny enough, no one in my life was shocked that I had a pizza problem.
We may have had a few too many drinks the first night of AGR as we were all so excited to do something! It had been months of covid shutdowns. We were ready to have fun, so we drank and we caught up and we had a great time and we didn’t do any of our planned activities that first night, but that’s ok.
It was close to midnight and one of the girls in the group wanted to order pizza. Like my own personal army of protectors all of my other friends attacked. They KNEW how important it was for me to NOT be around pizza, especially when drunk and so early in my pizza sobriety journey.
My heart sank with dread when the girl announced she was getting pizza. I knew I would eat some if it was there. I wasn’t strong enough yet and any will I might have had was masked with alcohol.
My friends all passionately shouted NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and reminded our friend that I am a pizza addict and she could order anything she wanted, just not pizza. After a few grumblings and threating to order pizza anyways, we moved the party upstairs so I would be safe from whatever food ended up in the house. Luckily no pizza was ordered, and we had the best time and I never felt so utterly supported and protected in my life. If it weren’t for that moment, I am not sure if I would have been able to keep my ‘no pizza’ streak alive. Thank you AGR. You know who you are.
Peace, love & plants,
Michelle 🙂
p.s. Looking back, I see how helpful it was for me to be open and honest with my friends about my struggles. By being open and honest with what I was going through, they were able to help ensure I stayed on track and I will be forever grateful to these girls for their support that night. I know I would NOT be where I am today if it weren’t for their intervention.
From Pizza Addict to Vegan 