What Cummari Means to Me – the Divorcée Edit

By Laura Howe, founder of Dispatched Divorcée & Cummari guest

I didn’t come to Cummari for transformation. I came hoping to meet women like me.

Also, to get a little work done. And to feel like the version of myself I’ve been becoming since my divorce—creative, independent, and deeply curious about how women make their own rules.

I booked it alone, then texted a writer friend to come with me.

From the moment we arrived, something shifted. We found another Cummari guest on the train, thanks to a flurry of descriptive messages in the group chat. Miche met us at the station, and I felt like I already knew her. The small talk in the car felt more like catching up with an old friend. That set the tone: no performance, no pressure. Just bring yourself.

That week, I started each day with morning pages and a moka pot, overlooking the sea. Somehow, all my problems dissolved in that view. After breakfast, I swam. Watched the farm kittens claw their way up fruit trees like leopard cubs. Met women from all over the world who, without saying it outright, had all divorced something—a role, a relationship, a version of themselves. And now they were here. Resting. Creating. Reimagining.

We didn’t ask, “So, what do you do?” The conversations found their way toward passions, obsessions, and what makes each of us tick.

I was in the final push before launching Dispatched Divorcée, the business I built out of heartbreak. I’d planned to work every morning, but by Wednesday, I shut my laptop. It could wait. That kind of clarity only comes when you’re surrounded by women who see you, who meet you exactly where you are, and who cheer for you for being you, not what they expect of you.

At Cummari, no one has to prove anything. We show up as we are. And that’s enough.

It’s not a conference. It’s not a wellness retreat. It’s a thoughtful space where connection happens by design because the women who join are still asking big questions about the kind of life they want to live. And they believe that other women are part of the answer.

That’s the magic. Not transformation. Not reinvention. Just real friendship, the kind I wish all my friendships felt like.

Sisterhood, without pretense.

Thank you Laura for your incredible humor and drive for creating community!

If you are curious about Cummari we invite you to explore our spaces and retreats for women in Sicily.