Welcome to a new week!
I hope this post finds you ready for the week ahead. Ready or not, here it comes!
The days and weeks fly by if we don’t stop to notice them. To really drink them in.
I thought I would share one of those drinkable moments from my life with you in hopes of helping you notice one in your own world as we step into a new week.
Welcome to The LIFT
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FULL CIRCLE MOMENTS
My husband and I are getting ready to move.
It’s one of those moves that feels like a new chapter. We are not moving so far away that we will lose connection with our current friends and neighbors. But, it’s far enough that we know it will mean lots of changes and new connections in our daily lives.
This week, one of my jobs is to sit down and make sure I have updated all of our accounts with the new address.
At our new home, the mailbox sits right in front the house. This is very different from the mailroom in the high-rise we live in now.
A cute little white mailbox.
It even has one of those red flags that you pull up on the side to alert the postal worker that something is inside. (Or does the postal worker use it to let you know that something is inside? I don’t even know!)
The other day, we received our very first piece of mail in this cute little mailbox.
It was probably about 20 years ago that I met Dax Ross. We were neighbors in a master-planned community. I don’t even remember the exact circumstances of how we met, but I do know that we always shared a love for writing. And, it has kept us connected throughout the years.
I always admired Dax’s love of running. Little did I know that one day I would love running, too.
Dax and I never hung out or anything. We just shared a connection around writing and topics that we care about: running, nature, family, community.
I was excited when I saw Dax set up his newsletter - Old Man Riot - on Substack because I have always enjoyed reading his posts and I had lost connection with him in recent years. It felt like bumping into an old friend when I saw his name pop up.
In May, Dax shared a post in his newsletter about his new interest in painting after discovering a backpacking watercolor kit. He started painting postcards from moments in time that he wanted to capture and remember.
In his Postcard Project post, he offered to send his readers a postcard with one of his paintings in the mail - as a thank you of sorts. A way to keep himself motivated to paint and a way to honor the shared connection between him and his readers.
I took him up on the offer.
Dax reached out recently to let me know he had finished my postcard painting. He asked for my address and I gave him the new address rather than our current one just to be safe since I didn’t know exactly when he would send it.
I don’t know how to describe it, but receiving this postcard as the first piece of mail in our new mailbox - it felt like coming home. It was one of those moments in time when everything felt connected.
It stopped me in my tracks and made me recognize and honor the magic of timing and beauty and nature and community and connection. All right there on the postcard. In my new mailbox.
It was both meaningful and magical.
On the back side of the postcard, Dax shared a poem:
What a perfect message and reminder.
Life is a walk. A good walk. If we keep it simple and remember these qualifications, we see the beauty in all of it and the connections that weave it all together.
I am so grateful that Dax shared his Postcard Project. I’m glad I happened to see it. I’m grateful that I took a moment to accept the invitation.
And, I am SO glad that this special shared moment is the first thing that showed up in our new mailbox.
As we start this new chapter (and this new week), I invite you to take a walk with me.
“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
YOUR MISSION:
This week, I challenge you to take a walk. A walk outside. A walk down memory lane. A walk with a friend. And, bonus points if you do them all three together!
IN SUMMARY:
I love crossing paths with you here each week as we continue our walk of life. Thanks for being here.
See you next week?
Meanwhile, reach out to me anytime!
Karen Friend Smith
Certified Health Coach & Environmental Health Specialist
Specializing in Perimenopause & Menopause
karen@itmaybemenopause.com
www.itMayBeMenopause.com
Instagram: @itmaybemenopause
A truly wonderful message. Thank you
Love this!! There is something special about getting anything personalized and handwritten in the mailbox these days. I hope you enjoy your new home!!