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fri 20 sep 2024

i’m writing to you from the starbucks close to my gym, with my first pumpkin spiced latte of the season (despite being a coffee snob, i always have at least one) and noodly post-workout arms. i’m feeling a bit rusty, to be honest, since this is the first newsletter i’m writing in months - after the biggest break from it i’ve ever taken.

life has changed a LOT since i last wrote to you here. you might have been following along with it if you watched my last video or you’re a patron, or if you’ve missed those things, it might just seem like i disappeared for half a year.

so i’m going to spend most of this letter catching you up, connecting those dots and sharing the exciting new projects you might have missed.

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✦ the almanac

EARLY AUTUMN / N. hemisphere

• 🌰 foraging, bramble, apple, elderberry, conkers
• 🍎 back to school, fresher’s week, fresh stationary & a new academic year
• 🍂 leaves begin to turn, temperature cools, jumper weather

🌓 WANING MOON

• winding down, completion, releasing

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✦ the return to coffee

in February, i started doing coffee shifts again part time, alongside running my business. if you missed it, i tell the story of how that came about in this video 👇

​i decided to make coffee instead of content. here’s what happened​

(if you want the full picture, feel free to go watch that video now and come back to read the rest of this.)

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✦ the clarification

though i went through a lot of stress and turmoil getting to that decision, it ended up being exactly the right thing and forced me to rethink and streamline my solo work - which i absolutely needed to do, and has reinvigorated it massively.

it took several months to adjust to all this. i’d gone from working full time for myself, with the help of a part time VA (the lovely christi, who is now focusing on her fiction writing) to spending half my week pouring flat whites and having to figure out how to do my work and run my business in the time leftover.

first, i took some time just to adjust to being back in coffee, getting to know my new shop and coworkers, and taking a mental break from my solo work. when i was ready to start getting back to things i rethought my workload, the projects and offerings i was committed to, and i stripped everything back. i narrowed my focus to my patreon, and overhauled the benefits and work i was making there, focusing on things i could make myself at the pace i needed to. the changes have been great. Patreon has become the bread and butter of my solo work now, and i love it that way.

my offerings on Patreon are super simple now: field notes (photo flipbooks of my everyday life every few weeks) and periodicals (chunky pieces of monthly content).

this is the kind of thing i share in the field notes...

and here are some recent periodicals 🥰

🕯 my ritual for writing fiction (and how i fell in love with it again)

🔮 a dabbler’s guide to reading tarot

✨ two tiny daily spells i use to manage my mood & energy

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✦ the complete constellation system series

with a new simplified workload for patreon each month, i then got to thinking about my work on the Constellation System again and what the next steps for it would be. and after a lot of mulling and soul searching, the idea finally solidified: what if i rolled out the entire system as a series on Patreon??

i absolutely loved teaching Constellation Clarity live and the cameraderie and excitement that brought, but i knew that running live events with my new part time schedule would be a nightmare. i also hoped to find a way to share the system in a way that was more accessible for more people, while also sustaining me through the process. a series housed inside the Periodical seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

so, i kicked off the Complete Constellation System Series a couple months ago and have been working on it ever since! you can find all the details about how this works here if you’re curious.

these are the first three installments that are available now.

✹ introducing: the complete constellation system series

✵ this is why you're overwhelmed: neural fatigue and the psychology of organising | 1

✶ the domains: dividing life into six sacred spheres, even in end-stage capitalism | 2

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✦ the constellation deck

once that was up and running, i also finally felt ready to return to working on the constellation deck. the project had stalled for several months - both as my new work situation took all of my focus and because i’d run up against a functional design issue i just hadn’t been able to solve yet.

but i DID solve it recently! with thrilling results, and so i’ve been back in touch with our wonderful artist Jenny Lloyd and we’ve been collaborating on it again with much excitement and ✨🌞 many 💐💫 emojis 🍂🪄

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and i THINK that about brings us up to date!

my plate feels pretty full with all of the above right now, so i’m not sure when i’ll next be writing to you, or when my next youtube video will be.

so - i’ll see you when i see you!

i hope your september is going well and you’ve been able to enjoy some treats of the season (no matter which hemisphere you’re in) 🍁💐

take care,