A reflection on coming home to yourself and making this season count.
Hello Friends!
Last week, 30 women gathered for an afternoon of reflection and conversation around the theme, Coming Home to Yourself.
As we shared stories, one truth kept surfacing:
It’s surprisingly easy to lose touch with ourselves.
Not because we’re doing life wrong.
But because we’re busy living it.
Many of us think we become disconnected from ourselves only during difficult seasons. But what I’ve learned is that every season of life has the potential to pull us away from who we are.
In seasons of Holding, we can become consumed by responsibilities, caregiving, routines, and simply getting through the day.
In seasons of Expansion, we can become focused on what’s next—new goals, opportunities, possibilities, and expectations. We spend so much time looking ahead that we lose touch with where we are.
In seasons of Recalibration, we’re actively seeking our way back to ourselves. Yet even here, we can get sidetracked—spending so much time trying to fix, improve, or reinvent ourselves that we lose sight of the wisdom already within us.
And in seasons of Harvesting, we can become attached to accomplishments, productivity, roles, and the expectations that come with success.
The distractions may look different from season to season, but the result is often the same: we drift away from ourselves.
The invitation isn’t to withdraw from life. It’s to stay connected to ourselves while living it.
One of the ideas we explored together is that “home” is more than a place. Home is also a feeling.
For some, home feels peaceful.
For others, it feels grounded, accepted, safe, authentic, joyful, or free.
When we know what helps us feel at home within ourselves, we have an anchor we can return to no matter what season we’re experiencing.
As you consider your own season, perhaps take a few moments to sit with these questions:
🌦️ What season am I currently in?
🧲 What is most likely to pull me away from myself in this season?
🪹 What helps me feel most at home within myself?
🤏🏻 What is one small way I can return to myself this week?
Coming home to yourself isn’t a destination you arrive at once.
Sometimes the path home isn’t becoming someone new. It’s listening more closely to who you’ve been all along.
Coming home to yourself can look like:
• Noticing what feels off
• Naming what you need
• Giving yourself permission to respond
It’s a practice of remembering, reconnecting, and returning—again and again.
✨WHAT HELPS YOU RETURN TO YOURSELF?
When we asked participants what helps them return to themselves, these were some of their responses:
• Time alone without guilt
• Nature, movement, music, prayer, journaling, or silence
• Laughter and connection with people who truly know me
• Remembering what mattered to me before life got so busy
• Slowing down long enough to hear my own needs
• Boundaries
• Rest
• Creativity
• Getting out of “doing” mode and back into simply being
• Letting myself feel instead of consistently pushing through
• Revisiting parts of myself I put on hold, ignored, or silenced
• Small rituals that anchor me—coffee on the porch, walks, reading, breathing deeply, dancing in the kitchen
👉 Coming home happens in small moments of recognition.
Coming home to yourself in your season may sound like:
Expansion: “I’m discovering new parts of myself.”
Holding: “I’m carrying a lot and trying not to lose myself.”
Recalibration: “I’m redefining what matters now.”
Harvesting: “I’m recognizing what this season has taught me.”
Whatever season you are in—tend to it.
Do not rush it.
Do not compare it.
Do not apologize for it.
Seasons change. That’s their nature.
But how we move through them—with awareness, courage, and community—that is our choice.
Remember that home is not simply where you live. It’s the place within yourself where you feel grounded, authentic, and fully alive.
And no matter what season you’re in, that home is always waiting for you.
The things that help us come home to ourselves are often the same things that help us pay attention to our lives while we’re living them.
And perhaps that’s one of the gifts of summer—a chance to pay a little more attention.
Attention to what matters.
Attention to what brings us alive.
Attention to the moments that might otherwise slip by unnoticed.
Which brings me to this month’s summer-inspired This & That…
THIS & THAT - SUMMERTIME EDITION 🏖️☀️🏕️
I was talking with a friend recently when she realized she only has four more summers before her 14-year-old son graduates and likely begins building a life of his own.
That got me thinking:
How many summers do I have left?
None of us knows the answer, of course.
But what if you treated this summer as though it mattered—not because it’s your last, but because it’s one of a limited number?
What would you do differently?
What would you stop postponing?
What small joy would you make room for?
That question led me to discover the once-popular One-Second-a-Day Project.
Artist and filmmaker Cesar Kuriyama started recording one second of video every day after realizing how quickly life was passing by. The project eventually became the popular 1 Second Everyday app, helping people create a movie of their lives one second at a time.
What if you captured one second of every day this summer?
Not the perfect moment.
Not the highlight reel.
Just one second that says:
“I was here. I lived this day.”
By Labor Day, you’d have a beautiful little movie made up of ordinary moments that might otherwise be forgotten.
I’m all signed up on the app and can’t wait to see my summer replay at the end of the season. And, I’d like to view yours!
Another Summer Idea…
12 Adventures in 3 Months
Sometimes coming home to yourself isn’t about slowing down, but rather, being intentional.
Sometimes it’s about saying yes to something new or different.
This summer, challenge yourself to have 12 small adventures before Labor Day.
They don’t have to be expensive or exotic.
The goal isn’t travel—it’s novelty.
Try a new restaurant.
Visit a nearby town.
Attend a concert in the park.
Watch the sunrise. Watch for falling stars.
Take a class.
Say yes to something you’ve never done before or haven’t done in a looong time.
Research suggests that new experiences can boost happiness, engagement, and memory-making.
The best part?
You don’t need a passport—just curiosity.
If you decide to take on the challenge, I’d love to hear about your adventures. Sometimes the smallest adventures create the biggest memories.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve always loved the Summer Solstice—the longest day of the year and an invitation to pause and savor the season.
While the calendar marks the beginning of summer with a single date, the season itself unfolds gradually, one day at a time.
As you move through the months ahead, I hope you’ll give yourself permission to come home to yourself in small but meaningful ways. Not by adding more to your to-do list, but by paying attention to what makes you feel most alive, grounded, authentic, and free.
Perhaps this is the summer you revisit something you’ve neglected, silenced, or set aside.
A hobby.
A dream.
A friendship.
A part of yourself that has been patiently waiting for your attention.
After all, none of us knows how many summers we have left.
But we do have this one!
So before you close this newsletter, take a moment to identify one thing you will do this summer to come home to yourself.
Write it down.
Put it on your calendar.
Tell a friend.
Make space for it.
Because coming home to yourself isn’t something that happens someday.
It happens one choice, one moment, and one season at a time.
Wishing you a summer filled with curiosity, connection, adventure, and the quiet joy of returning to yourself.
With warmth and encouragement,
Judy
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