The Second Beginning

Hello, Saturday readers! For those of you who receive my monthly letter, you’ll recognize an excerpt below from the recent September letter. For those of you who don’t, here’s a solution. Wink.

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Loves, this is my favorite season. When the warmth of a gentler sun fills the days, and clear, cool breezes fill the nights. When leaves of vibrant green transform into stained glass before your very eyes. When wood is chopped and lit. When smoke curls grayish blue. When all you want to do in spare minutes is make sure every nook and cranny of every room and shed is swept, straightened, and ready for winter.

It is, always in my mind, the second beginning of the year. And with that, boys back in college and high school (high school!), husband flying his last month of the season over smoky skies, and new and exciting projects spilling over themselves and onto my notebook, my calendar, my desk, and beyond.

Maybe you do this, too? Check in with the values, the lifestyle, the goals to see how they’re fitting (or not). Take expectations that’ve been locked in so long they’ve rusted shut, turn them on their heads. Look at days and hours from here instead of there. Take baby steps with a newly minted mindset. Mostly, learn. Learn more and again and new, trimming it all to the pattern of simplicity.

For me, for now, this means quieting and curating what’s coming in, what’s going out. In the end, I want to be inspired, not overwhelmed. In the end, I want to be inspiring, not overwhelming.

What this means, loves, is that you’ll find a quiet pause here on the blog for the month of September. I’ll be away, focusing in, working on things that I’m excited to share with you when I make my October return.

Ah, it is good. To turn the page, flip the calendar, sharpen the pencil, open the notebook, set intentions, begin. Knowing that simplicity is born out of complexities that must be mastered first (thank you, Jeffrey Dungan).

Live well while I’m away.