Recover the natural rhythm of rest, dreaming, and renewal that comes with the night.

It can be so hard to rest when we feel like we need to do more, be more, or get more. You may be unconscious of how powerful this voice of insufficiency is until you recognize how very hard it is to stop.

Ultimately, I love seasons not because they are each so beautiful (although I do comment on that a lot), but because they help me move with the ups and downs of life. Seasons help me understand how to work even better with creative spurts and time devoted to caregiving or rest. They are a dance, and we can dance with them.

An insightful someone recently shared this poem with a Circle I’m part of, then asked us to consider our sorrows, and the truths that our darkness reveals. What is your list of sorrows? What truth is revealed in your darkness?

If spiritual practice is a way of seeking wholeness, then writing has long been part of my practice.

The Crone Carnival gathered women together to create, play, reflect and have conversations that honor the breadth of our experiences, our ponderings and our questions. People shared they left with greater respect for the lived experiences of themselves and each other, a felt sense of the sacred feminine and a place in meaningful community. What’s next? A Medial Women’s Circle.

Join a space where the feminine essence is revered, and the more a woman has lived, the more she’ll be exalted for her experience and knowing.

In contemplative writing circles, we practice listening deeply to each other and, in turn, listening more deeply to ourselves. Come to one or all three. This summer morning buzzes and barks and beats around me as I sit writing, and I am grateful for this practice and this full cup of coffee and the light and warmth of the other writers and seekers who sustain me on my way.