Newsletter September 2026 Volume 203
Hello there! Hope you are well.
I haven’t written in a bit. Summer got so busy and I got out of the habit.
I hope your summer has been good.
It was a beautiful summer.
Both children were home at my house, which made the weeks busy and kept the house messy, but it was wonderful to have them home.
I feel like there are many things to love in every season, but fall does hold some melancholy for me. The back to school, which wasn’t always my favorite as a kid. The darkness staying longer in the morning and coming in earlier in the afternoon always feels like a surprise.
Every year.
How am I waking up in the dark?
Why is it dark already?
But there is so much to appreciate in the changing leaves and the turning-in. Fall is quieter, the birds are so sedate.
A time for a bit more contemplation. We have a woodstove, so lots of cozy fires and staying home.
I know I will ease into it, but right now I’m just acknowledging the discomfort of change. The grief of another summer gone, and those thougts – “I didn’t swim enough, didn’t go to the ocean enough, didn’t look up the stars enough” All of that to be felt and released.
I’m headed to a four-day silent meditation retreat at the IMS Insight Meditation Society in Barre Mass. I used to do 2 silent 10 day retreats a year before I had children. I went to the last one when I was pregnant with Lily so it has been 24 years since I’ve been on a silent retreat! That’s such a long time and also feels like it just happened!
It’s so challenging to get everything organized, pack everything up, try and tie up all the loose ends so I won’t be stressing about them. The retreat leaders discourage reading, writing and phone access during the four days which all seemed marvelous in theory, but now as I get closer, I realize that I use my phone for keeping up with friends and family, news and social media, I read my books for enrichment, pleasure, and mental anesthesia and I write to process and document. I listen to music to accentuate or shift a mood.
So with all of my trappings taken away, what will I do? Who will I be? What will I miss? What if my children or my family need me?
All of those things are coming up for me so I guess this is just a reminder that change is difficult, doing something for ourselves that is new feels so unsettling, even if we know it is good for us.
My friend just said, which took some pressure off, “Whatever happens; it will be revealing.”
And I think that is a great attitude to have.
Curiosity about what I will learn, curiosity about who I am without my phone, without my responsibilities without my labels.
One of the things that I have adored in the past about silently retreats is feeling safe and surrounded by well-meaning people, but not being responsible for those people, not having to take care of people, but instead, just noticing where I am in each moment.
It seems impossibly novel.
I’ll Let you know how it goes.
How are you feeling going into fall? There’s a lot happening.
How can you not abandon yourself but instead be curious?
As my other friend said, “You might be lonely, you might be distracted, you might feel pain or ambivalence or resistance but also you get to be with yourself, be loving to yourself and spend time with yourself.
What a gift.
You’ve been wanting to do this for so many years and now you are doing it.”
(OK so it wasn’t a friend. It was my therapist.)
I suppose that’s a goal in all the changes that life brings us; working to reach a point where we can enjoy and delight in our own self, even with our flaws, aches, pain, complaints and limitations.
At least some of the time.
I hope your transitions are smooth – and if not smooth – then interesting and revealing.
I’m excited to be hosting a Full moon circle on September 25! We will come together for the Harvest Moon celebrating the light that shines in the darkness and would love to have you there at Sanctuary in Northampton. 7 to 830p.
Sign up here:
I am also intending to really focus on getting my own 8 week class Flourish with the Moon online (I know I have been saying that for a whole year! But I have limited many commitments in October and I’m going to really focus.)
I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be a beautiful offering, and I can’t wait to be able to share it with you.
Much love to you all.
xoxo
Katherine
These are the only upcoming Full Moon Circles for the rest of 2026!
- 9/25
- 10/23
So, if you want to join us put the dates on your calendar and come!
I’m not certain I will be continuing the Full Moon Circles in the coming year so make sure to join us if is something you are wanting to do!
