Hello you,
It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve chatted. I miss checking in more regularly and connecting more often with you. But, my life just can’t hold space for weekly letters and podcasts right now.
At some point, though, in the middle of April, I spontaneously decided to begin posting on my 14 year old Instagram account again. Apparently, I have space and inspiration for that right now in my life. I went silent there after my dad passed away in 2023 and, since then, have been on an unplanned Instagram sabbatical for an undetermined amount of time. However, it seems that something has now called me back. I don’t know why I was drawn back to Instagram, it was not a conscious decision at all. But, it sure is fun to tap back into it and bring it back to life during the season of rebirth and renewal.
So, if you fancy a few more frequent updates from me, or are just curious about my day to day life, or want to connect with me more often than two times a month, then feel free to pop in over there.
I’ll leave a link in the show notes and in a button in my Substack letter.👇🏼
Looking back on April
Before I jump into the joy of welcoming in the month of May, I feel like I need a moment to process and reflect on April. I think I need a moment to process because I was so in tune with the rhythms of the month throughout April that I felt like I was exploring new territory. Unlike my usual way of approaching spring (which is, to feel completely lost and disconnected from it), I didn’t fight the active, awakening energy that had been quietly gathering all winter under ground and was now ready to be released. This year, I leaned into it. I flowed with it. I let it just move through me and rise up through me. And that kept me more active and engaged and busy than I usually am at any time during the year.
I did not consciously do this, though. Rather, it was just that I somehow naturally moved in tune with the rhythms of the earth as she woke and came to life. I simply allowed myself to awaken and come back to life as well, and accepted whatever that looked like. I even set aside my usual times for longer meditation and writing in order to tend more to practical, everyday activities that would move me forward in my life. I worked for my plans and dreams, instead of meditating and writing about them. I jumped on opportunities, had difficult conversations, challenged myself at work, and took care of a lot of things at home. Of course, I made sure to have grounding space every day, though, through morning journaling, walks in nature, cozy evenings with friends, and nights for just relaxing and binging One Tree Hill on Netflix.
It was easy to stay in this rhythm, even if it felt a bit foreign to me, because of the early arrival of spring up here in Sweden. The month of April showed me the way and guided me with her energy as the trees budded, the leaves opened, the flowers bloomed. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced it so green in the end of April as it has been this year. And, while I am certain it is due to horrible climate issues, I silently gave thanks to Mother Nature for guiding me this month and teaching me how to slowly unfurl, open up, and embrace the energy of spring.
So, as April comes to a close and we look around and see how spring really has sprung, in Sweden, we end the month with the ancient celebration of Valborg, a time of bonfires, champagne, and welcoming in the warm months of the year. It is a festive day, that leads us into May with joy, excitement, and a feeling of the carefree days and long, bright nordic nights of summer ahead. On Valborg, we finally cast away winter completely and celebrate the beginning of the season of free-spiritedness and complete joy.
So, Glad Valborg, everyone!
Beltane and Samhain
And now, as May begins, many of us also celebrate a turn on wheel of the year. A new season begins. And, in exactly six months, we’ll celebrate Halloween and Samhain, the darker sister of this season, as we release the warm half of the year and sink down into the cold, dark, wise magic of winter. But, for now, we welcome and celebrate the ancient festival of Beltane, a time of frivolity, fertility, and feminism, rising energy, and the greening of the earth. We have arrived at the official end of winter and the beginning of summer.
Set on opposite ends of the wheel of the year, Valborg and Halloween, Beltane and Samhain, remind us that we need both light and dark. That our year is divided into two halves, both necessary for the cycle of life. A season for growing and abundance, and a season for resting and renewal.
These two festivals, six months apart, are gateways for us that hold deep, wild, mysterious, liminal energy. Both Beltane and Samhain are cross-quarter days (also like Lughnasadh and Imbolc, on August 1st and February 1st, respectively). Cross-quarter days are midpoints between equinoxes and solstices. They are earth festivals, where we mark the seasons and celebrate the rhythms of nature. They are also practical reminders of the work and the energy of the season that lies ahead.
The energy of May
At Beltane, the energy of the earth continues to rise, like the kundalini energy that rises from our root chakra and moves up through our body, coming to life and connecting us to our highest self and the source of life. This energy, both in the earth and in ourselves is a feminine energy - one that is fertile and life-giving, wild and powerful, joyful and free-spirited. And this is the energy that carries us into and through the month of May.
Appropriately, I believe, May is named for the Greek goddess Maia, a nurturer and earth goddess. She oversees the growth of plants and is a perfect archetype to connect with during this season, as we allow ourselves to tap into our own wild, earth goddess-y ways.
As we begin May, in most places in the northern hemisphere, the world around us has exploded into a bright green. There is a rustling in the breeze again as the leaves move against each other in the wind. Birds chirp and sing and flit about. Rooted firmly in the earth, the natural world has opened up. Flowers rise up and fill our lives with rich, deep, happy colors. People move about, laughing, celebrating, living life, soaking in the good moments as they come. And it’s as if I can feel life pulsing in and through everything.
This is the month of love, pleasure, and luxury. A time to squeeze out all we can of our life. To share moments of laughter with others, to soak in the bliss of simply being alive. There is an undercurrent of joy flowing through and within all of nature, including ourselves. And that is exactly what I plan to tap into this May.
Joy.
Finding our joy
But, what brings us joy? Do we even remember?
Perhaps this month we need to take a little time to remember what joy means to us, what it looks like and feels like. What really makes our soul overflow? When do we feel the most alive? What, or who, makes us smile? Perhaps May is the perfect month in which to rediscover our answers to all of these questions.
In Rebecca Beattie’s book The Wheel of the Year, I discovered the perfect journaling activity for finding my joy. In the chapter on Beltane, Rebecca lays out an exercise, a journaling practice, for doing just that.
I’ll share my version, taken from and inspired by her, with you here.
Think back over the following periods in your life: 0-12 years, 13-17 years, 18-22 years, 23-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years, 51-60 years, 61+.
For each period:
List one accomplishment that gave you the greatest sense of joy. Focus on what you loved, not something others thought was good. Go with whatever comes to mind first.
Ask yourself the following questions for each period of time and write your answers in your journal.
What was the activity that gave you the greatest sense of joy? Why?
What did you actually do?
After you’ve done that for each period, ask yourself these questions. Journal your answers:
Throughout your life, what sorts of activity tend to give you the greatest sense of joy?
What skills or abilities to you engage with the most?
What do you most like about yourself?
What patterns and trends do you see in your answers and throughout your life, if any?
And, now, just sit back and soak it all in.
Then, throughout May, continue to ponder your joy. If you’ve discovered or found some insight or inspiration, then make space for more of whatever it is in your life. The whole point is to create joy, feel joy, share joy. The whole point is to live and experience joy all month long.
May is here to make us feel alive and to remind us of the beauty and abundance of it all. There is no time like the present to tap into the blissful, empowering, free-spirited, joyful energy of May. Discover and channel your inner earth goddess.
This is the month for living our best life - and, when, and if, hard times come this month, trust that it is all unfolding as it should. And know that nothing lasts forever. Nature, moments, even our own lives, cycle on. It may difficult, be determined to hunt for those pockets of joy and bliss - seek one tiny thing each day to truly soak in and enjoy. Let’s decide to do that, ok?
Here’s to wishing you a beautiful May filled with all of the wild, empowering, magic that your soul desires.
xoxo. liz.
May’s playlist
Welcome to early summer energy! Sun, warmth, and light are our companions . Set the mood with the grounding, growing energy of this magical season. Find your joy as summer slowly arrives.
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