My quiet season continues

a brief update and an invitation for the autumn season

Sep 09, 2024

I drafted a letter to you last week about autumn's arrival and all of the ideas I have for this newsletter. When I sat down to edit and get it ready for sending, however, I realized that it was no longer aligned with where I'm at. The plans themselves are valid, I’m just realizing this is not the time for them. Reality has set in about what’s ahead for me and where my capacity will be, making it clear that this is not a time for starting things.

I also don’t quite feel ready to come out of my summer bubble. After a wonderful dive into writing in Beth Kempton’s River of Words course, summer took me by the hand and pulled me away from the computer, the internet, and my notebooks, and into the world. It was a busy season with friends, family, travel, history, and so much water.

I stood on the coast of Massachusetts, looking out over the Atlantic, then later on the coast of Oregon looking out over the Pacific. I stood over the stone remains of the parsonage where the Salem witch hysteria began, which turned out to be right behind our Airbnb. I stood over graves of men and women who dreamed of liberty and a government for the people. I drove through passes thinking of the engineering required to make it possible and what it must have been like to make the trip by wagon. I fell in love again with the Pacific Northwest like I do every time we travel outside our door. I dropped my kids off at their first sleep away camps and spent a week alone with my husband for the first time since our son was born.

I read so many books.

I wrote a little, but not much. Mostly fiction, which feels so far from being ready to share. This was much more a summer of consumption than production. Somehow each summer I have to learn over again that it's a season for rest, travel, play, and time away from work. I need to stop being surprised and start planning for the school break to be a break for me as well.

Now the kids have gone back to school and I find myself back to having more time on my hands, but I still feel pulled more to reading than writing. Much of my time and headspace is also dedicated to preparing for a planned surgery and all that needs to be in place before I’m unable to drive or lift things more than 10 pounds and will need to spend much of my time healing.

All this to say that things will likely still be quiet here for another month or so. I have a backlog of newsletters to catch up on when I’m resting and a pile of books to read. Perhaps I’ll write. Perhaps I won’t.

I’ll be back when I’m ready. I hope you will still be here.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear about any adventures you got up to this summer, or about how you are feeling about the changing season. Feel free to reply or share in the comments on Substack.

I'll also leave you with a little theme and invitation for this autumn season. I invited you to Play this summer and now I invite you to Wonder. Bring a curious eye to your life and the culture around you. What are you learning right now? Who are you becoming? What stories are at play in your life and around you? Which are you willing to keep being a part of and which do you want to re-write? Wonder about what those new stories might be. I'd love to hear what comes up for you if you are willing to share.

Until next time,