A Love Note to Summer

And deepening friendship.

I’m sitting here in the early hours of the morning, it’s still dark outside. The rain is falling, the candles are shortening and my pup Scouty rests next to me - her feet touching my leg as she breaths in and out heavily.

Fall, or Autumn as we call it in Australia - my favourite. Something about the coziness, the darkness and the natural internal pull that just speaks to my soul. I feel so like myself by candlelight.

One thing I truly love about living in Canada is the distinct change of seasons. In Australia you have hot, wet, oh god it’s so freaking hot and maybe I should bring a jacket. But here, you can really move with the seasons, honour them and live in harmony with nature and our own natural cycle.

In Fall I find myself again. I land in my body, into my practices and it truly feels like a homecoming after the output of Summer energy. I become drawn to a certain room in our home that I hardly spent anytime in during the Summer. The type of movement I crave changes and 8:30pm bedtime feels so luxurious.

The geese are starting to leave - my favourite sound and site in the sky. You can hear them honking before you see them announcing the stream of patterns you’re about to witness zigzagging across the sky. Have you noticed?

With a new season we get to set our intentions for the colder, darker months ahead.

How do you want to take care of yourself?

What would welcoming the darkness look and feel like?

What needs to be invited in or let go of to be more aligned for the season ahead?

I’m not sure if I would have really realized it or not if I didn’t have the film photos to prove it, but I’m so grateful for the friendships that deepened this Summer.

My photos were filled with the faces of people I love, doing things I love. These photos were proof to myself of the community I am building. A gentle reminder that creating a solid community takes time. Paul and I have lived in Ucluelet for just over 2.5 years now and the feeling of safety and security with the people around me has only developed this year.

I’m a bit of a slow burn and trust is something I’m continuously having to work on. But what I can trust is who I decide to be for the people in my life. My deep fear of rejection and being shunned by friends (hello school trauma) tends to keep me isolated. Isolation feels safer, but it’s definitely lonelier.

This Summer I began to rewrite that story. I chose to trust others, even though it scares me. Trusting that I have my peoples highest good at heart and that they also have mine. Trusting that I am loved as much as I love them. Choosing to believe that I am spoken of with kindness and love in return.

Creating community takes courage, trust, vulnerability and effort. What you put in you get out. And i’ll add - when it’s put in the right place for you. Learning to discern quality over quantity.

So, I’m grateful for the people who filled my Summer this year. I am grateful for the community Paul and I are building as a couple. And I am grateful for the lesson that it is safe to trust. One that I am sure I will be continuing to learn and push up against as I find more courage and bravery to love and to believe I am loved in return.

The world and your relationships deepen when your self worth begins to heal.

Being able to gift the photos of the people I love back to them is one of my love languages. To show them the beauty that I see brings everyone involved so much joy. It’s not everyday that you receive a film photo of yourself and it feels so good to be able to gift little snippets of our lives together.

What’s that quote again? Oh yeah;

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away” - Pablo Picasso

And on that note, I would love to leave you with a podcast interview by one of the loves of my life, Andi Wardrop.

Understanding the Impact of Addiction, Grief, and the Strength of Gratitude

She generously shares her gift of story telling, perspective and wisdom looking back at extremely challenging times in her life. She is a true testament to the power of gratitude and vulnerability in connecting us to our greater world and each other.

A reminder, you are loved and you don’t have to go through things alone. Your messiness makes you human and loved even more.