Today is my first official day back in the office after a few weeks off. And I’m asking myself: what do I want to take with me from the summer, from my time off? Which routines, patterns, habits, experiments? Which feelings or activities do I want more of?
For me, this is more of a recalibration than a radical change: mostly I want to hold on to the spaciousness that the sea and big horizons make me feel, the focus and attention I get in the garden. I want to sow, grow and harvest more. I want to find even more non-structured time (more on that in August’s paid subscriber post). I want more writing, more creating, more experimenting.
I’m sharing a few snippets of my summer below, and would love to hear from you too: what are you taking with you from the summer, whether you took time off or not?
An update 🦔
A while back I mentioned our resident garden hedgehog Erik, and some of you requested pictures 😅 We finally got our act together and invested in a wildlife camera, which then captured many, many, many cats.
Until this week, when we finally saw Erik in all his glory—and discovered that if the internet is to be trusted, Erik is most probably biologically female.
For all things hedgehog and (sub)urban gardens, I can’t recommend
and her newsletter (and book!) One Garden Against the World enough.(If you’re reading this in your inbox, the video will open in a new window)
Thank you as always for inviting me into your inbox. If you’re returning back to work this week too, I hope you can hold on to that summer-feeling bit longer too. xx
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Oh my, the video is just such a beautiful experience to watch. I will show it to my children :-). Thank you for sharing it Astrid.
I also love the pictures. They are truly beautiful.
What you write and especially your words — spaciousness, non-structured time, focus, and attention — really resonate with me and the awarenesses I got during my summer break.
This pause helped me realize how easy it is to get lost in creating a business, to forget to be present, and to take real pauses. I did a digital detox, which reminded me that while I’m building a business, I also want it to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters.
I have also realised that I desire to cultivate focus and attention on what’s important (both at a business and personal level), spaciousness for myself — (I truly want to get better at taking care of my body, mind, and spirit), and create a truly healthy lifestyle.
The break also renewed my energy to dedicate time to my vegan nutrition studies.
Ps: reading your newsletter is always a pure pleasure. I can't wait to catch up with the content I have missed.
When I go away, I gravitate toward places where you don't need a car. I always want to bring back freedom from driving- but my city/neighborhood/house are not set up for that. I try to incorporate walking to places when I can- but definitely know that the next place I live will have more of a focus on living without a car.