e.i.b.: Checking In
and some reading recs.
Hi there and Happy July! And happy birthday to my mom, Benay!
I’ve been silent here for just a bit. Wanted to share some behind-the-scenes processing with you.
When I started my two newsletters, this one and Well-Resourced, I told myself that I would set a check-in date. On this date, I could revisit any element of the newsletter writing process and see what was working and what wasn’t.
When I start something new I can tend to feel like this new thing will be “forever” and the idea of “forever” can really bog down the creative process (or really any process). And also…. is there anything that is truly forever??
The check-in date acknowledges that I need not concern myself with “forever” and allow myself to, yes, commit to a task but also change the process when/if it needs to change.
I did change the frequency of this newsletter earlier on and so this self-designed practice doesn’t exclude adjusting things along the way!
It’s funny, I chose the Summer Solstice because it was about five months or so from when I started the newsletters, but I also chose it somewhat randomly. And, if you read the most recent note I sent out, you can see there’s a hint of reassessment going on.
I had actually totally forgotten about my chosen check-in date but the tides of change naturally flowed towards the Solstice! Funny how that works.
Related side note: My laptop is currently a total brick and in the midst of much frustration with tech, I declared that I’d like to be a Luddite. My partner, parents, and a dear neighbor friend reminded me I just might not want to throw all of my tech away! That has also been going on behind-the-scenes. Yesterday, I found myself a delightfully cute mini keyboard at Goodwill that I can use with the iPad we have (I’m glad I didn’t throw out the fully functioning iPad….). So now I feel much more ease in typing this to you today.
Suffice to say, writing to you has been met with some hurdles and windy self-reflective roads.
As I shared last week, I will be moving over to a new platform soon. In the midst of this digital move, I will be zooming out and soaring over all of the work I am doing right now, to witness and gain clarity of the big picture, and to see how and what I wish to share with you and others.
I’m also going on a van road trip in the coming weeks and so will take this as the opportunity to step away and trust that when I step back into sharing with you, it will continue to be meaningful, connective and aligned.
I would love to hear if you have any summer adventures, whether they are backyard explorations or further afield. Feel free to leave a comment or to reply to this emailed post so you can share privately if you wish.
I’ll be back in your inbox towards the end of this month, though I might pop back to say a “hello” or two before then.
I’ve been reading such great books and I wanted to experiment in belonging by sharing them with you—and perhaps you have some too you’d like to share about with me.
Over the weekend we here in the Pacific Northwest experienced quite a heatwave. I found myself sinking into reading a funny and informative read called Chillpreneur by Denise Duffield-Thomas and I wanted to share it with you, as I know some of you are also entrepreneurs.
Through the Spring, I read Erosion by Terry Tempest Williams as my “lunch read” and also read it through the solo retreat I took in the Spring. WOW. I had heard back her before but never read any of her work and this was an epic read. Towards the end she writes about suicide, just as a note. She writes in such an awe-some way, full of beauty whether she’s writing about the devastation to our natural spaces or the relationships she develops. I must say I’m putting off reading her other books because I’m nervous they won’t live up to Erosion but I’m going to start another one of hers soon.
The Goodness of Rain by Ann Pelo is a book I’ve known about for awhile but didn’t get my hands on until now. It’s my “lunch read” now (Erosion was my last “lunch read”) meaning it’s the book I read while I eat my lunch most days. She writes about the year she spent with a young child as her caregiver. She committed to spending all her time with this young child, Dylan, outdoors. It is a book that I believe is accessible to everyone who was once a child. HA. So yeah, everyone - not just educators, caregivers or parents. I’m not too far in just yet but I feel a sense of rootedness and awe each time I read a chapter.
If you’d like to recommend a book you’ve read or are reading now, leave a comment by clicking the link below.
I wish you well in these coming weeks. I wish you many experiments in belonging both virtually and in-person and most importantly, in whatever ways feel aligned, supportive, safe, and loving to you.
Til next time,
Cassandra
P.S. My apologies if the images are way larger than they normally are. The first-world woes of using an iPad instead of a laptop.