The Purpose Post, June ‘21
Hi Everyone!
Welcome to our June newsletter! Wow we are half way through 2021 already.
How are things wherever you are in the world? I do love seeing the pictures of things opening up in the US and the UK and seeing people reuniting with each other.
Here in Singapore we have been back in lock down again for the past month and back to home schooling. Somehow its felt a little bit easier this time or maybe the kids are a year old and I was a year more prepared for the challenge of multi-tasking again.
That said, I have been procrastinating about writing the newsletter this month, I haven’t found the solid mental space and uninterrupted time I needed. So, this month’s post is a bit like a patchwork quilt of different things that I’ve been thinking about and noticing, stitched together in a very homely fashion!
Moonly reflections
Today as I write, it’s a couple of days after the New Moon Eclipse in Gemini. As a Cancerian, the older I have become the more I have become aware of how sensitive I am to the cycles of the moon.
The last Full Moon was such a big emotional vortex for me and many! I’m noticing that I was grateful for this new energy of the new moon. This new moon is all about letting go, clearing the space as my loving my soulful guiding process from The Lunar Project.
Imagine this phase is a period of weeding your garden, clearing out everything that’s no longer helpful. Really pulling up old ideas and beliefs from the roots so you can plan a whole new garden, plant some new seeds that will come to fruition in 6 months time.
In nature we really know that things can’t be rushed and then why do we force and rush ourselves as human beings to have gone from idea to fruition in a few weeks?
I’m sensitive to the importance of fast, the hyper-growth era of tech start-ups and lots of my work is in FMCG’s where fast is king. But, sometimes slow and steady is what is need to make sustainable long-term progress. This is what I keep reminding myself of this month:
Slow down, create deep deep roots… and plant seeds of ideas of wishes, of dreams, of new beliefs.
This moon cycle will bear its fruits in 6 months time. I’m hoping by then we can be reunited with our families and travel is a bit freer in and out of Singapore.
COVID has definitely made many people in the expat community think about living overseas. You can make peace with being apart from your oldest and dearest friends and family when you know you can pop back and forwards if necessary.
The restrictions in Singapore at the moment have made it virtually impossible to travel in and out of Singapore, in fact borders are currently closed and you can’t get back into Singapore if you are a foreigner. So many friends estranged from family members and with no date in sight of when things are going to improve – we are seeing a mass summer exodus of people returning home ‘for good’ this summer.
Lots of goodbyes, lots of sadness and grieving both friendships and also the summer holiday trips that become so precious to return home and reunite with people. I don’t know when the boys and I will get back to UK for our next trip. Our last trip together was summer 2019 which seems such a different lifetime ago now.
So this is this month’s post, is about grief, change, rest and finding meaning in it all.
inspiration this month
Embracing Grief
The past year grief, sadness, trauma and loss have all been big topics on my mind and feeling all the feelings, both my own and those around me in family, friends and clients. Everyone has their own story of some deeply sad things which this past year has inflicted on them.
I have found myself returning to grief this past month. Grief at the ongoing losses of life, grief for the lack of freedom, grief for plans not made or able to be followed through on and a deep sense of loss and sadness…
2. Practicing Self-love
& Resting Hard
I did my first #instalive this month with a great community I found on Instagram called @thepeopleofpsychology.
We talked about Self-love and the 7 types of rest and why this is so important for those of us in helpful professions
I was also grateful to learn from Dani who runs the People of Psychology community page and have some reverse mentoring from her on #instalives!
3. Why people want purpose and meaning more than ever
Whether we wanted it or not and whatever our experience has been of 2020 and 2021, we all got lots more time than we probably ever wanted to think and reflect on what’s important in our lives.
This is really important for organisations to know that many of their employees have been thinking deeply about what they really want from life, how their work contributes to a bigger higher purpose and if not, what work they could be doing to make a bigger difference.
Words for June
LOVE
What if the world of work was a place of love not fear, of compassion not competition? What if everyone could practice self-love and heal?
CHANGE
So much change at the moment, we can’t stop changing but sometimes we need to let go of the past and put our energy into the future, focus on what we want, not want we don’t want.
SUPPORT
Build the support network around you to do your best work. Asking is the beginning of receiving. It’s a vulnerable act to ask for help but it could be the difference between surviving or thriving.
Thank You
Much gratitude as always this month to @thepurposecollective founding tribe members Christina, Samantha, and Freddie for supporting me to get all of my thoughts out of my head and into print. You can read more about each of these fabulous ladies here…
I’m here for virtual coffees, chats, learning and sharing so please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be of service to you or your organisation.
Please do share this with anyone who might benefit and sign up here if you’d like to receive this each month.
Much love, Carla x
