He’s not there long before Grazia appears from the pool area, a miasma of just-smoked cigarette about her.
Rose walks out to them and examines her notes.
Day Two. She needs more of the guests to tell their stories today so everyone can relax somewhat.
That will give her a roadmap for messages for the day.
A little bit of discussion about who filled in their notebooks, perhaps. Time for the group to walk on the beach or sit on the terrace and think, too. Rose found that people needed time to reflect before the lessons of her type of therapy rooted in their brains.
India has arranged her notebook, coloured pens and tiny Post-its on the table in front of her. She likes organisation. Then she turns to surreptitiously study Grazia and Bernard as they settle down at the table on the terrace for Tuesday morning’s session.
Grazia catches her eye again and gives a little smile.
India beams back.
Yesterday, she’d thought that Grazia was some sort of automaton who didn’t feel things, but here’s Grazia being smiley and lovely.
Stop judging people on how they look, India tells herself.
She writes the thought down in her notebook.
‘You can’t change anyone’ is written down with lots of flowers sketched around it. India is conscious that she knew this on some level and yet, seeing this tenet reflected in Dan’s life makes it seem more real.
Dan wants to be with Julia for ever, she doesn’t appear to want that and there’s absolutely nothing he can do to change that.
When Rose sits down, India catches her eye as if to say,It’s OK, I can go next, but Rose shakes her head imperceptibly and smiles.
‘Later,’ she says softly.
India’s relief is enormous.
Rose starts them off with five minutes of deep breathing, this time asking them to get in touch with their bodies as they breathe.
‘I want you to feel what effects yesterday had on you. The mind–body connection is very strong. We need to ground ourselves before we start looking inwards again.
‘Secondly I want to say that this week and this sort of therapy is very difficult, so congratulations for how much ground we’ve covered already. I know many of you are reconsidering why you’re here but, I promise, it will help, even if you don’t feel that right now.’
Rose looks at them all in turn.
‘When I started training as a psychologist a long time ago, there were many parts of the world where therapy was considered strange, definitely woo-woo.’
She steals a glance at Dan who has the grace to blush.
He was the one who described the island retreat as woo-woo, but Rose is not holding that against him.
‘For younger people, the idea of stepping inside, looking into your inner thought processes and trying to heal, is a more normal concept than for older people. My generation was possibly the first to seriously think that therapy was good. But for those of us who are older,’ and Rose graciously nods to Dianne, Bernard and Grazia as she says this, ‘looking back at our lives and the decisions and traumas that have made us is altogether harder. So well done Grazia and Bernard for being here. And Dianne …’
Suddenly Rose’s gaze is upon Dianne. ‘It’s hard to speak, I understand, but opening up is possibly the only way you can move on. You need to process the pain of the past or you’ll keep getting stuck in it. Unprocessed, the pain of the past will be like wading though quicksand again and again. The only way to be free is to face the pain, walk towards it, take away its power.’
Rose almost can’t believe it but she thinks she sees the soft gleam of tears in the corners of Dianne’s eyes. Can she be mistaken? So far Dianne has shown absolutely no emotion, apart from quite obvious temper with Dan yesterday.
Is some of this reaching her?
‘Looking vaguely into your life, your choices and how you live is fine as a concept,’ Rose goes on. ‘Doing it is another thing entirely.’ She glances around the group.
India grins involuntarily. Rose is totally right.
Applying for an island retreat to restart your life seems like a marvellous idea when you have had three glasses of wine and is terrifying when you actually have to do it.
