Break: Leaves

I am following a totally made-up calendar.

Hi There!

Today is Thursday. I usually write to you on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Maybe you’re thinking, WHAT GIVES?

The answer is that I was listening to the book “Wintering” by Katherine May, and she wrote about how she went to Stone Henge one time to “turn the year” during the solstice. Then she interviewed someone familiar with Druidic traditions, and that guy explained that the druids celebrate something eight times a year, which means that there’s something to look forward to roughly every six weeks, and that that’s just the right amount of time to have to look forward to something. And I thought, “Huh. That’s right!”

So I made the following calendar for myself:

This is for 2023, but I’m starting now. And this week I am celebrating leaves.

That means that I am canceling as many plans as possible this week, and I am collecting leaves. I’m eating food that sounds good and listening to music, and I am collecting leaves. I am collecting leaves, and I’m not putting out my newsletter. Except for right now, with this announcement to you, that I have been collecting leaves.

Next year, I want to have some people over, maybe, to collect leaves with me — and maybe to make rubbings of them. Obviously, it isn’t wise to do this on October 31 EXACTLY, because that’s another holiday — but basically, it’s Leaves Week. And after Leaves Week is over, I will start looking forward to December 20, the solstice, when I plan to light a fire. Friends can come.

I think six weeks is a good amount of time to let things come to an end and then to start over again, too — so I’m going to also use this calendar as a way to reflect and set intentions; to let go of things that aren’t working and to consider new things that might work. Newsletter-wise, I’m thinking about the last several months, and how the ranks of paid subscribers have grown. (WHAT A GIFT. It is one of the things I am most grateful for, truly.) So I think every six weeks, I’ll have a Re-Introduce Yourself Monday Thread following my hiatus. If you pay for this newsletter, be on the lookout for that next week! If you don’t pay for this newsletter, consider it! The Monday thread is my favorite part of this whole endeavor. (ALSO: If you really want to join the paid ranks but can’t financially swing it right now, email me. I’m happy to gift subscriptions to folks in a crunch. I have no idea why I haven’t said this sooner, since it has always been true.)

I believe in rest, but I don’t always take it for myself. A reader emailed me recently and lovingly told me that I needed to model these things, not just tell other people to do them. I’ll see you next week, with a sort of rebirth, looking with joy into the coming winter, when we get to “turn the year.”

Love,

Sophie