#42: Transition.

The process of changing from one state or condition to another.

My kids are not particularly good at transitioning, I’m not sure any of us really are as the process of changing from one state or condition to another is rarely easy and often emotionally charged.

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, I can feel that shift playing out at home. Nerves and frustration are at an all time high, as my kids begin to imagine the next few months. We have spent the past few weeks on edge, slowly getting ready to release the structure we all strive on.

My kids are clinging to the classrooms they have grown to love, to the world they know so well. I keep reminding them (and myself) that summer will be fun, but they are having a hard time imaging their lives without their beloved teachers and familiar friends.

As I prepare for my own working hours to be cut in half, I keep reminding myself that I will soon get my time back, that the next 10 weeks are an opportunity to spend more time with my kids, that this time is an actual gift even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

Last week, my son ended up in an unexplained fit of tears. He tends to hold things in so when he finally lets them out he often does so in a very big way. He refused to share the details of his internal struggle out loud, which made supporting him through it particularly challenging.

While this is nothing knew for us, my own practice of writing out my feelings and sharing my thoughts through words, inspired me to hand my son a piece of paper and a pen. I challenged him to put his emotions onto the page and encouraged him to make sense of his own internal world through words.

Almost immediately I saw his big crocodile tears subside, the tightness in his shoulders eased, the grip he had been holding on life loosened. I saw him let go of the uncertainty and process his own thoughts, his own life quietly on that piece of paper.

And for the first time, I felt like I had handed him the exact solution he needed at the exact moment he needed it. I have since found him writing in his room multiple times and while I rarely get motherhood exactly right (none of us do), these small wins feel huge.

In watching him write, I saw myself, my own need to meet the page each day. I turned to writing when my world fell apart, when my dream fell out from under me, and while that particular transition was incredibly difficult and especially heartbreaking, I am so grateful that it helped me find and rediscover myself through words.

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Summer School starts next week!

As we all transition into summer, I wanted to hold myself (and all of you) accountable. Summer school is an opportunity to meet, right here on Substack, each week and support each other in reimagining and reigniting our own lives.

Summer School will be available to all paid subscribers for the 10 weeks my kids are out for summer, starting on June 21 and ending on August 23. This is an opportunity to reconnect with yourself through self reflection, writing prompts, and video recordings.

This offering is for you if:

• If you are feeling burnt out, stuck, or unsure of what might be next for you.

• If you are looking to deepen your sense of self or expand something inside of you.

• If you are working on a project and in need of some accountability.

• Or if you are simply want to spend your summer writing alongside me!

What to expect:

10 weeks of self reflection, writing prompts, and video recordings designed to help you deepen your sense of self and connect in a whole new way. I hope you will take this opportunity to commit to yourself, to carve out an hour each week, even if it means you have to put your kids in front of screens. This is your permission slip to reignite your life and create the life you have been dreaming about!