belonging across

Dear Reader,

We've spoken about belonging before, and today we want to expand on that idea. Belonging, we believe, is anything but singular. What if it isn't meant to be contained in just one space? What if we are designed to belong to many things at once, with each one holding a different part of who we are?

The truth is, no single community can meet all of our needs or reflect every facet of our identity. We are complex, multidimensional beings, and different contexts call forward different aspects of ourselves. You might belong to your family in one way, to your work community in another, to your creative circle in yet another. Each space offers something distinct, and each one asks something different of you.

This kind of belonging requires us to let go of the expectation that one group should be everything. It invites us to recognize that the colleague who understands your professional ambitions may not be the same person who gets your spiritual questions. The friend who shares your love of adventure may not be the one you turn to in grief. And that's okay. Belonging across multiple spaces doesn't dilute our connections, it enriches them. It allows us to show up more fully because we're not asking any one relationship or community to carry the weight of our entire need for connection.

There's also a kind of belonging that exists beyond people and places. We can belong to values, to practices, to ways of moving through the world. You might belong to honesty, to creativity, to the quiet rhythm of early mornings. These belongings anchor us even when our external circumstances shift. They remind us that home isn't just a location or a group, it's also a way of being that we carry with us.

Yours in the journey,

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practicing reverence

Dear Reader,

Reverence is a word we often reserve for sacred spaces whether it's the hush of a cathedral or the quiet that falls when we witness something larger than ourselves. But what if reverence isn't just for special moments? What if it's a lens we can bring to the entirety of our lives?

To practice reverence is to approach the world with a quality of attention that honors its inherent worth. It's treating each encounter, each conversation, and each ordinary moment as if it matters, because it does. Reverence asks us to slow down enough to recognize the sacred hiding in plain sight such as the hands that prepared your meal, the tree that has watched over your street for decades, or the body that carries you through each day without asking for recognition.

This practice begins with presence. We cannot revere what we do not truly see. When we rush through our days on autopilot, treating people and moments as obstacles or checkpoints, we miss the depth of our lives. But when we pause, when we meet the world with softness and curiosity, the mundane can become meaningful. The ordinary can reveal itself as quietly miraculous.

Reverence is also relational. It changes how we listen to others, how we hold their stories, how we respond to their struggles. When we approach someone with reverence, we see them not as a problem to solve or a role to fill, but as a whole person worthy of dignity and care. This kind of seeing creates space for real connection, reminding us we are all part of something larger than ourselves.

This week, consider where you might bring more reverence into your days.

Yours in the journey,

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surrender

Dear Reader,

Surrender is often misunderstood as giving up or admitting defeat. But true surrender is something far more nuanced, more courageous, and often more difficult. It is the conscious choice to stop wrestling with what we cannot control and to trust that life will unfold as it needs to, even when we cannot see the path ahead.

We live in a culture that celebrates control. We are taught to make things happen, to push through obstacles, to never let go of the reins. And while determination absolutely has its place, there are moments when our tight grip becomes the very thing keeping us from moving forward. Surrender asks us to recognize those moments and to soften our stance, not out of weakness, but out of wisdom.

Surrender is not passive resignation. It is an active practice of discernment, learning to distinguish between what we can influence and what we must release. It's the breath we take when we stop forcing a conversation that isn't ready to happen. It's the peace we find when we accept that someone else's journey is theirs to walk, not ours to control. It's the relief that washes over us when we finally put down the burden we were never meant to carry alone.

This week, notice where you are holding on too tightly. Perhaps it's an outcome you're trying to force, a relationship you're trying to fix, or a version of yourself you're exhausted from maintaining. What might it feel like to loosen your grip, just slightly? What would change if you trusted that you don't have to orchestrate every detail for things to turn out okay?

Yours in the journey,

Looking for more Moments? Intentional Moments Archive

letting go of expectations

Dear Reader,

Expectations are a natural part of how we move through the world. We carry them, often unconsciously, into our days and our relationships. They whisper stories of how things should unfold or of how others should behave. Or even of how we ourselves should be. And yet when those stories go unmet, as they so often do, we are left with disappointment, frustration or even resentment.

Letting go of expectations is about releasing our grip on rigid outcomes and allowing life to surprise us. Embodying this idea means learning to meet each moment on its own terms rather than through the lens of what we imagined it would be. What it’s not about is giving up on our hopes or lowering our standards. 

There is a wonderful freedom in this kind of release. When we let go of the need for things to be a certain way, we actually make space for deeper presence, for true acceptance and for joy that is not contingent on perfection.

Consider a time when something didn’t go as you had hoped. Perhaps a conversation took a different turn or a plan fell apart. In the aftermath of that moment was there something unexpected that emerged? A different kind of beauty? A new insight? A shift in your understanding? Often it's only when our expectations fall away that we begin to see clearly what is actually here.

Yours in the journey,

Looking for more Moments? Intentional Moments Archive

cultivating a sense of enough

Dear Reader,

In a world that constantly urges us to reach for more, we are surrounded by messages that equate worth with productivity, success with accumulation, and joy with the next achievement just over the horizon. Yet if we pause and ask ourselves what it means to have enough, to be enough, we might begin to hear a more honest truth rising from within.

Enough is not a fixed destination. It is a deeply personal, ever-unfolding experience of alignment. It is the breath that steadies you, the embrace of what is here right now. To cultivate a sense of enough is to soften into the present moment with gratitude and clarity, to make peace with what you already carry, and to choose wholeness over striving.

Imagine sitting with your morning coffee not as a prelude to your to-do list but as a complete experience in itself. Imagine looking around your home and instead of seeing what needs to be fixed or bought or improved, noticing what already holds you. This shift does not mean abandoning your ambitions or desires. Rather, it means anchoring them in sufficiency instead of scarcity. When we live from a place of enough, we act not from lack but from love. We give more freely because we are not trying to prove anything. We rest without guilt because we trust our value is not contingent on constant doing.

This week, you might notice when the old narrative of not-enoughness arises. When it does, gently ask yourself what already exists in this moment that you can be grateful for.

Yours in the journey,

Looking for more Moments? Intentional Moments Archive