Wendy Wassertein
“Every year I resolve to be a little less the me I know and leave a little room for the me I could be.”
TRANSITIONS NEWSLETTER
April has been an amazing month of sunshine, blossoms, rain, and awakening. This month was off to a great start with fun on April Fools’ Day and my birthday (Aries). I visited my oldest son and his wife who are expecting a baby boy in October! We recently celebrated Earth Day as well as the beginning of Passover. April is also National Poetry Month and I have featured one of my favorite poets, Emory Hall, in the Spirit section of my newsletter below. I played my first round of golf a week ago in 65-degree weather and could feel my body relax surrounded by nature, deer, and sunshine.
The photo above was taken earlier this month at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan at sunset. I recently read that when we are near water our brains enter a semi-meditative state known as “drifting”. Drifting is a special form of attention where we are engaged with the world around us but not focused on getting something done. I love that description. No wonder being around water soothes the soul.
April is a time of renewal and paying attention to nature, the daily miracles, and lessons. The Japanese noun, oubaitori, “the idea that people, like flowers, bloom in their own time, and in their own ways” expands on these learnings. Sometimes we find ourselves wishing or superimposing our plans for another person onto them. However, if we heed lessons from nature, there is no rush, no right path, every blossom and every person blooms in their own time and is of utmost beauty.
So this month, get out and walk noticing the trees, and flowers, listening to the birds, and feeling the sun and wind on your face. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker.” There are benefits of getting outside in nature calming your nervous system, and relieving stress and anxiety. Sarah Ban Breathnach in Simple Abundance walks for a “moving meditation-fitness of spirit”. She further says…”for here in the present moment, one step at a time, I have found peace.”
Can you walk in nature today?
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A YEAR IN BALANCE: A SPIRITUAL GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR NEXT RIGHT STEP
Check out my book in the links below, A YEAR IN BALANCE: A Spiritual Guide to Finding Your Next Right Step. Enjoy a monthly theme and a word, quote, story, and challenge to help you welcome any changes coming your way. My book guides you to pause, reflect, and take a break from your routines. Treat yourself or choose it for a friend, family member, teacher, coach, or colleague for a gift via the links above.
| Here is the April theme: APRILRENEW “Come to the water. Live in the moment, and be. Refresh your mind. Rest your body. Renew your spirit. Regain a gentle heart and peaceful soul. Reclaim yourself. Restore in The Power that is greater than you.”-Bonnie L. Mohr To renew, you must pause and slow down enough to realize you are tired, weary, and in need of fuel to nourish the mind, body, and soul. April showers bring May flowers – a time for renewal and rebirth. It is a time to spring forward and come back to life after winter; a time of rebirth, beginning again, starting out refreshed. Find the practices, activities, and people that leave you feeling renewed with elevated energy, mood, and being. How do you renew your mind, body and spirit? |
This newsletter will provide tips for you to feel more balanced through life’s transitions: seasons, jobs, divorces, marriages, grief, health challenges, college, graduation, retirement, births, and moving.
It will help you find your ground when the earth below you just moved from beneath you. It will help you grow and plant new roots and find more ease in your struggles.
How much time do we spend resisting change? Yet, change is one of the only things we can depend on. What if we laid down our resistance, fear, and need to control, and moved toward the change flowing WITH it rather than trying so hard to cling to what was? May you find comfort and support in these words for whatever wave of change comes your way.
The newsletter is divided into three sections: Mind, Body, and Spirit focusing on finding balance for optimum wellness. Please subscribe at the end of this newsletter or forward it to someone who you think may enjoy it.
MIND | Recycle
Recycling turns things into other things. Which is like MAGIC
-Uknown
There is a giant troll sculpture called “Benny the Beard Fisher” in Michigan’s upper peninsula on the banks of the Manistique River at Northland Outfitters in Germfask. It is made from leftover cedar plank pieces from an Amish lumber mill and branches and saplings found locally. The troll is 30 ft long and 14 ft tall. It is made by Danish artist Thomas Dambo who is a recycle artist and activist. In 2024 he is working on over 20 sculptures made out of recycled materials in Texas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Denmark, and France. What a great example for us on Earth Day and every day to get more creative in ways we reuse items for another purpose and reduce our waste. In the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Knowing that you love the Earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the Earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.” To learn more about Thomas Dambo and his work, click the link below.
What new effort can you make to recycle?
BODY | Quiescence (kwee-ESS-uhns)
“A state of quietness stillness, or tranquility. It refers to a period or condition of inactivity, rest, or calmness, often characterized by a peaceful and serene atmosphere.’
I recently heard the song “The Slow Life” by Chris Pierce and have attached it below for you to listen to. His voice, music, and lyrics catch your attention for this critical message to slow down to experience more. Here are my favorite lyrics:
“When the day is done and the hustle comes to a stop
and everybody in this world is humbled by God
I want to live the slow life with you”
Sometimes we find ourselves running from one activity to another or one place to another. Our “busyness” perhaps defines our productivity and self-worth. This pace becomes our routine and our place of comfort. What if we purposely slow down? Would we notice more important things? Would we be more present? There are lessons all around us, but can we slow down enough to notice them?
What does living the slow life mean to you?
SPIRIT | Peace
“Peace is always beautiful”
-Walt Whitman
I was mesmerized by this recording by Trevor and Emory Hall called “i have been a thousand different women”. Her voice, music, and her words are transcendent. It is a poem about transformation, aging, becoming more and more our authentic selves, and recognizing and appreciating all of them. Emory is a writer, photographer, and creative from Darien, Connecticut. Her work focuses on grief, loss, love, and motherhood. Her debut collection of poetry released in 2023, Made of Rivers, reached the top of Amazon’s poetry bestseller list.
“i have been a thousand different women”
make peace
with all the women
you once were.
lay flowers
at their feet.
offer them incense
and honey
and forgiveness.
honor them
and give them
your silence.
listen.
bless them
and let them be.
for they are the bones
of the temple
you sit in now.
for they are
the rivers
of wisdom
leading you toward
the sea.
i have been a thousand different women
Listen below to the beautiful poem in her voice by Emory Hall with music by Trevor Hall. I also provided a link to Made of Rivers.
Where do you find peace?
Mind, Body, & Spirit Challenge for April:
What small step will you make for your well-being?
I would love to hear from you!
Please click the Feedback button with any thoughts on the newsletter, your experience with these ideas, and other ideas that have supported you in your transitions.
I look forward to hearing from YOU!
Be Well…
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April Quote of the Month
“Some people get addicted to chain-smoking their problems. They spend all day going from sorrow to sorrow. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can live each day going from joy to joy- like a sunflower that turns to face the sun as it moves across the sky. It’s not about having a problem-free life, but about focusing on the light. Sunflowers still have shadows, but they are always behind them.”
-James Clear author of Atomic Habits
