Inhale. Exhale. Refresh

What do you need to bring back into your life?

A new year is upon us and I want to extend a big thank you to all of you for your patience as I stepped away from writing these Soul Notes this past year. The break was much longer than I had anticipated and if you are here reading this now, I truly appreciate you for joining me again on this journey!

While the winter months are best suited for taking our energy inward to play in the waters of deep reflection and rest, these months don’t typically hold the energy of a refresh.

However, the transition from one year to the next is often taken as a time to hit the refresh button as we reflect on the year we are leaving behind and envision the experiences we want to invite into the year ahead.

This past year has been a real re-set for me. I’ll share more in next week’s Soul Note. For now I just want to say that it’s been a year with a lot of change - which is why Soul Notes have been on pause since last spring.
As I reflect, not only on 2024, but on an entire cycle of my life that is coming to a close, I can finally say it feels like I’m entering the other side of something that was really big.

If feels refreshing to come up to the surface again. Like a big breath of fresh air is available to me now after having been deep in the waters of self reflection and healing for much longer than I thought I would be.

A winter cycle of life has come to an end.

And as I start to let go of this winter cycle and prepare for spring, I am starting to see parts of my younger self that are longing to come back to life.

Parts of me that somewhere along the way faded into the background so I could surrender to letting the winter have her way with me.

We can’t stay in the bright happy days of summer all the time. If we do, we miss the lessons the shadows of winter have to teach us.

The frustration, disappointments, grief, confusion, stuckness - they all have purpose. 
Sometimes we try to find the quickest off switch for them because that’s what we’ve been taught to do.

But the thing is - when you turn towards the shadows and shine light on them, they change you.
What being in the shadows has taught me is this - love is the only energy that heals. Every shadow I came across was just a lost part of me wanting to be loved.

It’s love that got me through the hardest time of my life.

And as I begin to plant new seeds of hope for a future that is yet to be realized, I am starting to connect with the parts of me again that needed to be put on hold for a little while.

Spontaneous dance parties to old school 90’s music, living room remote control karaoke (ie. the remote control becomes my microphone!), singing and swaying while I wash the dishes (my least favourite chore to do).

You know, the simply things that when your body is in joy come naturally.
These are just the ways joy bubbles up in me. I’m sure it will be very different for you.

If you are in a winter cycle right now, joy might feel like light years away. And that is ok. Your spring will come as the cycles of your life unfold for you, in their perfect timing.

Maybe it’s not joy that is asking to come back into your life right now. Maybe it’s something else.

Regardless of what season of life you find yourself in, as you plant your own seeds of hope for 2025 - a future yet to be realized, I invite you to take a moment and ask yourself . . .

What do you need to bring back into your life?

With Love,
Kristen
XO