Every Day Matters, February 2024

“Love is longing to be woven into the entire emotional fabric of our lives.”
—Kristi Nelson, Wake Up Grateful

Dear Subscriber Full Name,

At my 50th birthday gathering, I remember proudly proclaiming to everyone assembled that I was the thinnest skinned extrovert I had ever known. It was an odd kind of “come to Jesus moment” for me - I wanted to share the news that a compatibility was emerging between aspects of myself that had previously felt at odds with each other. I was recognizing and reconciling that I was both bold and tender. Courageous and sensitive. Very relational and also shy. I suspected that my epiphany was no newsflash to friends and family (it being so obviously true), but I remember it feeling like a kind of pivotal “coming out” moment for me. It was a wonderful birthday and event. And I cannot help but laugh now as I remember the social whiplash I woke up with the next day; as if the extrovert in me had danced all over my thin skin, and my heart was now literally outside my body. Oh, praise be the growth process that - thankfully - never ends.

I smile widely as I write this. I now look back with a perspective of such tender recognition for the vulnerability I have always carried and did not know how to allow and embody with ease. Vulnerability that I now see as a “steady state.” Vulnerability that in and of itself is the reconciliation of all that I spent years longing to accept. Vulnerability that cradles my heart, helps me to laugh at myself, connects me to everything and everyone that matters, and that I have learned is my non-refundable ticket to love.

This Museletter carries an invitation to let love and life have their way with you. To see love as an exquisite terrain of shared vulnerability. To see life as a privilege that renews itself in every moment that we “get to” get older. And I hope you feel the invitation to lean in and let go a bit more so as to discover the wonders of it all.

Thanks for being here. It means a lot. May a needed peace grow in your big heart and in our wanting world. With love -

Kristi Nelson
Author, Wake Up Grateful
Ambassador for Grateful Living

New Course: Aging Gratefully

Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute and Women Together Circles
present:

AGING GRATEFULLY

Five Thursdays: March 21, 28 & April 4, 11, 18

I was recently invited to develop a spring 2024 course for Eileen Fisher’s Leadership Institute as part of their Women Together Circles, and I am excited to share a new offering that has me brimming with anticipation.

For five Thursdays, March 21st through April 18th, from Noon - 1:30 pm, I will be leading an online exploration for women who want to learn to cultivate a more gracious and appreciative approach toward aging.

This online course will make use of short meditation, poetry, reflective writing exercises, dialogue in break-outs, and a variety of in-session and at-home practices to support you in aging gratefully. The course will also have a community space to post reflections, questions, and comments.

I hope you and/or others in your life will join me as we learn - together - to welcome getting older as the amazing opportunity and privilege that it is. Please explore and share the course by clicking the button below:

LEARN A LOT MORE & REGISTER

Article: Awakening the Heart of Relationship

“Many of us were taught the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This maxim was often dictated by parents or teachers who sought to corral selfish behavior in children, and to inspire their generosity and gratitude. But the Golden Rule is tricky. It assumes our needs and longings are universal and that everyone around us shares our desires for how they want to be treated…”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Museletter Archives

A friend recently asked how she could share one of my museletters with her subscribers. I was thrilled, and then realized that I had never thought to make such a wonderful thing possible! That’s how we learn. Ta da! You will now be able to refer back to a year’s worth of museletters on the Musings page of my website. Click below to peruse. (And thanks, Tuti!)

PERUSE PAST MUSELETTERS

Song: The Power (of Love) is Here Now

“The Power is Here Now” by Alexia Chellun has become a kind of lullaby chant for me. I invite you to get quiet, perhaps place your hand over your heart, and listen. May you receive it as a blessing. May it tend your heart.

LISTEN TO THE SONG

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New Course: Aging Gratefully

Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute and Women Together Circlespresent:AGING GRATEFULLY

Article: Awakening the Heart of Relationship

Museletter Archives

Song: The Power (of Love) is Here Now

Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute and Women Together Circles
present:

AGING GRATEFULLY