Happy Sunday, love.
It’s time for my Weekly Rhythms letter to you and I hope that this Sunday letter finds you well. I’m genuinely so happy to sit down for a few moments and connect with you again. I love having time to settle in for a while at the end of the week to reflect back over what has happened, process how I’ve felt, and remember how the simple rhythms and rituals of everyday really are the pulse of life.
Let me first talk about the weather. Summer, where are you? The sun has been very fickle this week, as the skies have been filled with clouds and rain and even hail. The air has been cool and breezy. The sun has played hide-and-seek, popping through and warming things up for just a moment or providing a lovely sunset, but the days have been gray and chilly.
So, what to do except embrace the coziness by lighting candles, sipping coffee, wrapping up, and romanticizing the moody summer weather, right?
This was also a week of annual endings in my work life and I was feeling all of the feels all week long.
In case you don’t know this about me, I work with teenagers/young adults who have been away from school for a few years for all kinds of various reasons - mostly because they have given up, feel lost, or are struggling with mental health issues. My colleague and I take them in for a year and work with them to help them reconnect with themselves, figure out who they are, dare to dream again, and make a plan for their future. We created a one year program to help these teens with motivation, balancing life, facing their fears, and exploring who they are and what they want in life.
It is humbling, amazing, challenging work. And, at the end of every school year, it is time to send our group off to test their wings and fly on their own.
This week, we took them bowling as a fun activity to end the year, and then, throughout the week we had individual sessions with them to close out their year with us. On Friday, we gave them their certificates, hugged them all goodbye, and sent them out into the world to follow their dreams and create a future for themselves. It is always bittersweet, this last day of the school year, as I am overflowing with pride for the personal journey and growth that each of them have experienced during this year; but I am also teary-eyed as they hug my neck and move on. It’s intense work that we do together throughout the year, and we all become really close, so letting go is hard.
In the end, though, I am more happy than anything else, because, they are ready to take the next step in their lives. Needless to say, my heart has been bursting all week with all of the ending and goodbyes.
At home, the week has been quite simple and calm. I’ve booked a hotel for our autumn trip to Edinburgh for my 50th birthday. Soooo excited. Plus, I’ve also booked my birthday eve dinner at The Witchery - it feels like the absolutely perfect place to end our trip.
(I’m taking all must-see/must-do Edinburgh tips that any of you have to share!)
I had a nice, long chat with my mom this week as she adjusts to her new life, after my dad’s passing last autumn. I can’t imagine how it is for her after 52 years of marriage and such a tight partnership. But, she’s trying and being brave. And we also visited Lina’s family Saturday afternoon, which was super cozy and a bit emotional.
Other than that, my love and I have cooked meals, snuggled with the cat, watched a few tv series, celebrated her contract extension for another year (yessss!), discussed plans and dreams for the future, and taken care of everyday chores.
I apologize, but I’m going to talk about the weather again. You know, even with the gray, rainy, chilly days, nothing beats the light of this time of year. In June, it is never completely dark here. And right now, this coming week, it will be the brightest of the whole year, as the solstice arrives on Thursday the 20th.
Usually I don’t have trouble sleeping when it’s light out. We have blackout curtains in our bedroom. But, my energy level has been way up this year, so curtains or not, I cannot seem to get to sleep at a decent hour. It’s not that I’m not sleepy, it’s just that I don’t want to miss one second of the beauty.
I crawl into bed at 11pm and then, after laying awake for a few minutes, I get up for “just one more look". I find myself simply walking around the apartment, gazing out the windows, taking it all in. I breathe in and out, long, deep breaths of gratitude and wonder.
Finally, I force myself into sleep mode. And give into my twilight slumber.
As I follow the rhythms of the seasons and the cycles of nature, one week at a time, I realize how my own life also follows those rhythms, waxing and waning from week to week; but also filled with energy during part of the year and snuggled down into the deep magic of rest during other times of the year.
Right now, the June rain speaks to me of romanticizing my life, of feeling the sweetness of a sunny day, but also the moody, romantic, cozy, bright summer days of rain-pattered windows. All of it reminding me to take it slow. To bask in the sun to feel wild and alive, to indulge in the long, bright nights of mystical magic, and to soak in the lush, rainy days that nourish both the earth and my soul.
My dear reader, I hope you have been well this week. But, no matter if you have faced tough challenges or basked in moments of joy, my deepest hope is that you have felt the deep power of the rhythms of the earth guiding you forward, spiraling you inward and outward, balancing you and keeping you grounded, even as change and growth are ever present. May you romanticize your everyday life in the upcoming solstice week- come rain or shine.
Love to you. xoxo. liz.
Every other day | June 20 - July 2 | part of my Seven Sacred Days series
It gives me such hope to learn about the work you’re doing with young people, Liz. What a beautiful vocation for a sensitive and insightful person like you. This entire letter warms my heart and inspires me to continue to celebrate every ordinary day.
Liz it’s still “March” here in Seattle too. It is so hard not to have more warm sunshine to bask in. I’m trying to appreciate the small things about the rainy, cold and cloudy weather too. Yesterday we went to a party at the lake and after the rainstorm the sky was magical with sunbeams shining through- not to mention a big wide rainbow. :). I want to tell you how much your work is valued. I could have used your help with my son as he struggled so much with school refusal. I could never get him to go to anywhere when he really needed more than what I could do for him.Your program seems so positive and relaxed in a way they don’t seem to be here. In any case, you’re giving so much to those kids but also to their parents and families. It’s beyond measure the impact you are having on the world. 💕