Hello love!
Surprise! A newly-named monthly series from yours truly courtesy of Substack. I’ve been calling the baby email I’ve been sending each month a Love Letter and self-love right now is my ultimate healing tool, so I figured why not jump in and write about it!
These monthly letters will be full of my research and practices on love and her friends - acceptance & compassion (the two pillars of meditation!), responsibility, caring, commitment, justice, empathy (& so many more). This is a baby seed of an idea and who knows how it’ll turn out!
First up: Love’s friend Belonging.
I have a whole essay written that felt a bit wonky and forced as I cram in to-dos during a busy time personally and professionally. Then my teacher Cath (you’ll hear more about her below!) reminded me: now is the time to keep things simple. So with that, I share a piece by my favorite poet - a poem that always reminds me I’m doing okay, and I belong.
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
So in all the upheaval and isolation, all the staying and the moving, in all the crushed plans and uncertain futures, in all the discomfort and the searching, in all the excitement and the pain, know this:
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, you belong. Here and now in the family of things.
Yours in our one big family,
Colby
Offering(s)
Instead of a guided meditation recording this month, I give you something WAY better: the recording of the Beyond Balance restorative workshop my yoga/life teacher and sister-in-creation Catherine Zack hosted at the end of July (shared with her permission).
These two hours were the best I’ve treated myself to in 2020 by a landslide - I’m making it my new Friday morning ritual. I shut (and locked) the door, put on my noise-cancelling headphones, gathered incense, pillows, and small stones, and sank into the pleasure of being with, of resting in, of belonging to, of loving myself. I invite you to give yourself this gift too.
For more of Cath’s healing genius check out her work on The Daily Vinyasa - she and her partner Sam are hosting two August workshops now open for registration!
Loving Lately
a snapshot of how I’m extending myself to nourish my own or another’s spiritual growth.
The Personal
buying red natural wine from Domestique (The Francin 2018 tasted like a blue warhead from the mid-90’s sparkling in my mouth)
cooking homemade meals for myself, my beloved, and his family
running again (I’m up to 5 minutes post my October ankle surgery!)
reading, learning from, and crushing on Zadie Smith
taking my first long solo drive up to Boston to be with family as I turn 31 near the end of the month
The Pillars
trust: I’m building trust in my decisions by making my intuition boss.
respect: I’m respecting others’ perspectives even if we disagree.
care: I’m practicing deep caring for my body (my only home).
commitment: I’m committed to practicing utmost safety during COVID.
knowledge: I’m studying poetry and writers I admire, and choosing to watch documentaries instead of Indiana Jones for the 65th time.
responsibility: I am taking responsibility for my inherent privilege and its impacts.
How are you loving lately? How do you want to nurture yourself & others this month?