Writing With Love, Resilience & Pride
Welcome June with what you celebrate in humans and the natural world
Dear Friend,
I feel a special connection to the month of June, the meeting of spring and summer. If you were a kid like me who did well enough but didn’t love school, who always felt strange compared to the others, who mostly wanted to daydream during math class–well, the freedom of summer was the magical time.
The older I get, the more I reclaim the natural and wild joy that I loved as a child–dreaming, reading, making promises and blowing dandelions–as something that’s my right to enjoy as an adult, too. Our creative lives are pathways to all of the selves who live inside of us.
And…because June is Pride Month, I’ve discovered a new glimmery creative portal to this time as an adult that also sparks my imagination. I started taking my son to march and celebrate in Pride festivities about six years ago, when he first began to understand and express his Queer and trans identities. The joy, the creativity, the caring, the liberation I find at Pride events gives me hope that someday, human beings can see the beauty in the multitude of who we are.
The current administration’s attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and especially on trans people these last few months has been demoralizing and inspired such cruel and unnecessary fear. Celebrating Pride Month takes on an even deeper meaning this year; it’s an act of resistance, of insisting on the rights of every human to be exactly who we are.
Whatever your relationship to this season, this spring-summer moment, to the month of June, to Pride, to the wonder of the natural world, to any exhaustion and despair in that you may be feeling about the world as you read these words, bring it all to the page.
Activate your creative powers by writing out your unique dreams/visions/hopes/intentions for the month of June.
Have a friend who is creative, contemplative or curious? Invite them to join us!
Writing Practice: Set aside 5-7 minutes for this practice. Write in a journal or open a ‘Journey with The Season’ document where you can return each Sunday.
Prompt:
Start with gratitude! List all that you’re thankful for in this moment. Get specific as you write.
Then consider what’s coming to life around you–blossoming in the natural world, opening in your daily life, imagination and senses. List whatever comes to mind.
Then, if you want, write a list of what you value and hold dear and are ready to stand up for.
Look over all that you’ve generated in your lists and craft your June blessing. Some phrases to get you started writing:
Thank you Earth for…
Thank you Sun for…
I am dedicated to…
I am ready to stand up for…
More and more, I value…
May this month bring…
Place your June desires/intentions where you’ll see them as you start your day. Keep them as a living document by adding and updating ideas as the month goes on.
I’d love to read your June blessings & intentions–send them my way!
Spiritual Practice for the week ahead: Take joy breaks. For real! There is so much collective pain and trauma in the world, we can easily cave. Our creative spirits need joy, too–it’s a kind of refueling. Each of us finds joy in unique ways; if you want to brainstorm joy ideas, I’m happy to! Send me a message.
Summer Solstice Writing Circle is coming up soon!
Join us on 6/19 for an hour of creativity and inspiration designed to feed your spirit as we enter the summer season. Through poetry, meditation & writing prompts, we'll explore imagery found within nature and various archetypes related to the sun and summer season.
You can join us in a few ways:
If you’re already a paid subscriber, you’re in! I’ll email you the link a few days before the event.
If you’re not a paid subscriber, you can sign up and pay for the event here.
OR…you can become a paid subscriber and receive free admission. To ring in my birthday, I’m rolling out a 21% off discount on subscriptions through June 30! As a paid subscriber, you’ll snag free entry to the Summer & Winter Solstice circles, along with accompanying journals, and receive surprise gifts throughout the year to ignite your imagination. And, of course, you’ll have my everlasting gratitude for your support!
Pssst…invite a friend who might appreciate some creative energy in their life to join the Summer Solstice Writing Circle!
May your feel creative magic and possibility blossoming within and around you! With love, Gabrielle Ariella