What are yours?
If any of the themes below resonate with you, I’d love to hear from you.
with love ✨, CATHERINE
Observations on moving, breathing and being. These are mine.
I’ve been writing them down since 2020.
I took a long pause. I’m back now.
On replanting
Home is where you lay your head. At least, that's what the military brat in me learned in my early years, moving around every two to three years. Not unlike Move Breathe Be's own mark, the dandelion, that scatters its seeds, not knowing where they'll land, trusting that they'll take hold, all in due time. I could learn a lot from the dandelion.
On connection
I often don't allow myself to lean into emotion the way I did last week. I tuned inward, into my body and its sensations. Into the heaviness and emptiness alike. My yard becoming my medicine, my solace.
This week, my yard remained my medicine, but in community. The weight was light, the space full.
On rejection
The job search is hard. For anyone in it, you know it’s not for the faint of heart. It toys with our emotions. Some weeks are high, some weeks are low. Last week? A low for me. I had two opportunities out there that were good in and of themselves. As someone underemployed yet again, I had built them up to be great—end all, be all great.
And then rejection came.
On beginning again
I woke up this morning, as did those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, to the Spring Equinox, the beginning of a new season and that which comes with it— light, energy, hope. We awaken from the months of the Winter prior, whereby we operated at a slower pace.
Yet we weren’t quiet. Underneath the surface, sometimes hidden from ourselves, seeds were being planted, preparing us for what’s to come.
On perfectionism
I’ve struggled over the years with playfulness. I believe we are all innately playful, yet somehow I’ve allowed that natural tendency to be suppressed, year after year, due to my greater struggle—perfectionism.
I used to think perfectionism was a badge of honour. Oh, how I was wrong! Rather, it’s been one of my greatest sources of weakness over the years.
On Spring cleaning
Tomorrow marks the Spring Equinox for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere—when day and night are of equal length with the sun crossing the equator, promising longer days and signaling rebirth all around us. In many ways, this time period feels like the beginning of the new year, providing an opportunity to reflect more so than the busy, distracting holiday season that is the end of the calendar year.
On balance
Our bodies are very smart. They’ll spotlight A LOT for us if we just accept the invitation to look inwards and observe.
Are we (or are we not) sleeping well?
Are we eating more (or less) than we normally might?
Are we getting headaches more frequently than before?
On smiling
I’ve been smiling (and laughing) a lot lately. It’s been through connecting to people, places and activities that bring me joy. It’s been through releasing that which doesn’t through journalling, meditating and walking, e.g. Through it all, I’ve turned more inwards than ever before, noticing how “alive” I feel from allowing myself to be in the present moment—smiling and laughing and experiencing that which is around me.
