A perspective on change, quantifying our 'more' or 'less', and the different ways we experience regret.



MONTHLY REMINDER

Change - even of the welcomed variety - is as much a symbolic death as it is a (re)birth.

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

  • What’s ended for me recently?
  • What new portal am I stepping into?
  • What losses (material/intangible) will I be grieving?
  • What newness will I be welcoming?

SEPTEMBER'S REFLECTION PROMPTS

In September, I want more…

In September, I want less…

Reader, your reflections can be abstract or tangible (e.g. joy or sleep). Be sure to get specific and be realistic. Define and quantify your ‘more’ or ‘less’.

Consider what practically needs to happen to gratefully welcome and lovingly release these ideas, behaviours, thoughts, items, feelings etc.


2 QUOTES WORTH PONDERING

1. American actress, Phylicia Rashad shares 2 aphorisms her mother taught her:

"My mother gave us aphorisms to learn as children... There are two that stand out foremost in my mind. One is: 'The inner reality creates the outer form'. I learned this when I was in grade school...and the other is: 'The Universe bears no ill to me; I bear no ill to it'."
(Source: Her 1987 interview with Bill Boggs)

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

  • What timeless piece of wisdom did I receive when I was a child, and from whom?
  • How has that piece of wisdom influenced the way I've navigated life?

2. Composer, Tina Davidson on discovering beauty in the broken:

“Let your heart be broken. Allow, expect, look forward to. The life that you have so carefully protected and cared for. Broken, cracked, rent in two. Heartbreakingly, your heart breaks, and in the two halves, rocking on the table, is revealed rich earth. Moist, dark soil, ready for new life to begin.”
(Source: Her memoir, 'Let your heart be broken: Life and music from a Classical Composer')

REFLECTION PROMPTS:

  • What has heartbreak taught me?
  • What broke my heart but healed my vision?
  • What parts of my inner being are on the mend but still tender?

POPULAR IN AUGUST

PODCAST EPISODE 79: The different ways we experience regret

(a 2-minute listen)

BLOG POST: Section 2: Two types of loss | How to process loss and grief

(a 3-min read + exercise + reflection prompts)


USEFUL LINKS

Let's stay connected. Here's where else you can find me:

Website | Podcast | Blog | Recommended Reading List*

Not yet subscribed? You can sign up to this muse-letter here.


About this muse-letter: You're receiving this email because you've subscribed to my mailing list. You'll typically receive an email from me once a month. Rarely will I send stand-alone emails about promotions, new products or services, and partnerships. Affiliate links within my emails are marked with an asterisk (*).

Update your subscription preferences: You can unsubscribe from 'Reflect with Rebecca-Monique', or manage your subscriber profile via the respective links below.

Rebecca-Monique (rbccmnq)

Read more from Rebecca-Monique (rbccmnq)
community of folks sitting under a tree

MONTHLY REMINDER Reader, you do not have to heal perfectly to be healing well. We can sometimes treat healing as something to optimise, monitor, and master. Yet healing rarely unfolds in straight lines. It is interrupted by life, relationships, seasons, responsibilities, joy, exhaustion, and ordinary human messiness. Sometimes it looks like resting instead of journalling. Sometimes it looks like forgetting a practice and returning to it later. Sometimes it looks like getting frustrated,...

community of folks sitting under a tree

MONTHLY REMINDER Reader, patterns are proof. When the same behaviour repeats, believe it once it becomes clear. We can spend a long time negotiating with what we already understand, hoping for a different outcome, a different explanation, or a different version of someone or something. Discernment asks us to pay attention to what is consistently true. REFLECTION PROMPTS: What have I already understood but not yet fully accepted? Where am I hoping for an exception instead of noticing the...

community of folks sitting under a tree

MONTHLY REMINDER Reader, you cannot expect people to be who they are not. Some grief comes from the gap between who we hoped someone would be and who they have shown themselves to be. Acceptance does not always mean approval; sometimes it means finally telling the truth without dressing it in potential. This month, may you release the exhausting labour of trying to make reality become more loving, available, honest, or capable than it is. REFLECTION PROMPTS: Where am I relating to someone’s...