♡ Hi Friends ♡
This month my letter will be short and sweet, much like the short-lived but deeply sensual era of the apple blossom: In this part of Maine, the flowering trees bursted all at once. It happened precisely mid-month and suddenly perfumed the airwaves with the lightest touch of seasonal intoxication. Formerly barren trees changed into fluffy cloud-like sculptures almost overnight, beckoning humans and animals both towards their creature-like contours. Driving with the windows down became my favorite way to get from here to there, and going on walks was an act of utter sensuality. I felt lured out of the cozy corners I’ve been inhabiting all winter long, and back into the bright and beautiful world that, it turns out, gives us our best lessons in the pleasures of transformation.
What pleasures have been calling to you this month? How has the natural world been speaking to your animal self, or the parts of you that follow desire as a matter of instinctual tide-holding? Sometimes there aren’t words to put to the feelings that come up in spring. But I urge you to hold those that do arise lightly in your mind, your heart, your body and your breath. Close your eyes and connect with that which is being awakened and inspired right now. Ask the soft, animal part of you what it needs from this season. Ask it what it desires.
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In the spirit of transformational delight at the thresholds of change, I also rounded out my 30s this month and crested into 40. It was a moment I’ve been slyly regarding all year, wondering how I would make this leap cognitively and emotionally – and even physically as I dealt with all my recent health issues. By the time it arrived, however, I realized I’d been looking forward to this moment all along. Underneath the cultural wars on women’s aging, a part of me is so proud to have made it this far, especially after facing the stark reality of my own mortality. And moreover, I'm excited: The older I get, the wiser I feel, and the more deeply I understand my own motivations, wants, and desires. The zoomed out photo of what a lifetime can mean becomes clearer by the day, and with this clarity comes a kind of calm. Rather than ignoring the voices arising in my heart, I listen. Rather than frantically adopting the mores of the moment, I know now to pause and ask if they even feel right, or serve my higher goals and wellbeing. Forty is a magical time, friends. It means giving less fucks and having more freedom to be yourself. It is the feeling I wish I'd had in my 20s and 30s, and I’m so happy to be making its acquaintance. I have a good feeling about the decade ahead… and what can be a better birthday present than that?
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This month’s offerings speak to finding rebirth even as we age, and inner renewal through spring’s ancient rhythms. May’s playlist was built around sonic sensuality: a backdrop of pleasure you can both move and zen-out to. It’s a soundtrack to pop on while creating in your studio, cooking, gardening, or even just going about your spring cleaning chores – basically any activities that involve transformation, beauty, and pleasure.
I also was lucky enough to have a recent essay – “This Luminous Life” – released by North Country Public Radio as part of their morning Northern Lights programming. If you’re a regular reader of my monthly Letters, you might notice that it was drawn in part from January’s installment. In the radio version I speak to the challenges and gifts of my cancer diagnosis – it’s raw, open, and vulnerable as it gets. Check out the link below to listen! I hope it moves you to connect more deeply with the luminosity present in your own lives ♡
Fun Spring Emergence Alert!! : For those in the back who are unaware of my **obsession** with creating SWAG, I'm trying out a new way to channel this passion that blends my divinatory practice, art, and (hopefully) future collaborations with other creators. Via S | G | L w o r k s, my online art gallery and marketplace, I’m now offering a collection of o b j e c t ⊹ s p e l l s – everyday items created with fresh artwork, designs, and yes, spells. Each is created using divinatory practices aimed at infusing blessings, protection, and inspiration into your daily life. My hope is to spark joy! I will be adding to this collection more frequently than my artwork collections, so check back periodically if you’re curious. Link to snag the inaugural swag below!
Lastly, I want to shout out two beautiful and prolific artists I’ve had the pleasure of working with through the years, and tell you about their upcoming performances in early June. For those in Vermont: I urge you to check out TENDER HEARTS, a new show by ANIMAL dance – led by my talented friend Hanna Satterlee – that explores our inherent vulnerability and what happens when we meet each other this way. And for those in Maine: PortFringe is coming up, and that means you’ll have not one, not two, but four chances to see my friend Michael Galligan’s one-person show, BANANA. Yes, he is a man trapped inside a banana suit trapped inside a box. But through the laughs you’ll also see the tender insides that these layers protect… Yep, it’s another sweet and original take on vulnerability, and I hope both of these shows urge you to connect with the bud-like parts inside of you that are still aching to blossom. Links for tickets below!
+ sensuous harmonies, melody spells + yearning beats, pleasure wells + meet the void, release the past + bless the next forty, built to last +
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"A couple of years ago, we added the music of Lake Placid musician, writer and artist Caitlin Scholl to our Underscore Project. It's a space on-air and on our website where we share the music of many, talented North Country musicians. She had just released her album, "Following the Light".
Most of the time, we hear about a musicians life experiences through their music, but sometimes it's important to hear just their words. When Caitlin Scholl was diagnosed with breast cancer, she wrote an essay, titled "This Luminous Life", and shared it with us." –– Doyle Dean, NCPR
Excited to share the first item in the collection
from my online art gallery and marketplace,
It's a roomy, organic cotton eco-tote, but that's not all, friends: created using divinatory processes, the hand-drawn artwork and original design is infused with spell-energy. This particular item is serving up both bee and blossom vibes – a reminder that the more we trust our instincts to move towards that which we're drawn, the more beauty emerges all around us.
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"Tender Hearts" is an evening length dance performance that weaves together personal and mythical story, directed by Hanna Satterlee and performed by Jessie Owens, Mireya Guerra, Nicole Dagesse and Marisa Hall. A tour of the human emotional experience through an abstract movement journey, this show offers a look at love and relationships through the lens of other people's experiences.Learn more about the show here, and get tickets here for June 2, 3, or 4 ♡
Is he banana? Or is he human? Michael Galligan ('...of considerable wit and guile' – The List) is stuck in a box with only thirty minutes before he ripens. You'll witness physical comedy, magic, striptease and more in this Banana Burlesque, a solo clown show exploring themes of isolation, denial, and the human need for connection.Learn more about the show here, and get tickets here for June 3, 4, 7 or 9 ♡
Here’s to the beauty and pleasures of spring, seasonal renewal,
and the deep vulnerability it takes to bloom ~
Caitlin