Hello my loves,

This time of year often feels a bit funny energetically. It can have a sort of barrenness to it, almost as if everything’s on pause. In my garden, the inactivity is palpable - the autumn crops are now finished, and it’s just that little bit too early for spring planting (although my pomegranate tree is starting to courageously bud). We‘re in the depths of winter, and there’s really not a lot going on. I think of it as the in-between, nature’s pause for a sigh and a rest, before she ramps back up again for spring.

This year it’s particularly interesting, as we’re in a very in-betweeny world too. We’ve been living with Covid for months now. Some of us are in lockdown, some of us aren’t, and some of us are wondering if we’ll be back there again soon. The pre-Covid world feels like a distant memory, but it’s hard to imagine where we’ll end up. So many of our usual distractions are unavailable to us too - that winter skiing holiday, or an escape to somewhere warm, is definitely not happening this year.

In 2020, we’re being asked to sit fully in the in-between: there’s quite simply nowhere else to go. My life feels incredibly in between-ish right now. Lots of things are coming to an end, but new beginnings are yet to sprout. The lease on Hearth is almost up, but the location for my next venue has yet to arrive. Our house is well and truly sold, but our new home is still waiting bashfully in the wings. I can see both these new paths so clearly, but they’re yet to make themselves tangibly known. Like I said, it’s the in-between.

So what the hell do you do, in this faintly desolate energy that always leaves me feeling restless, and if I’m honest, a little impatient. What do you do when you can't move forward? My darling, I have good news: it’s time to dream. This stillness, this energetic nothingness, is here for a reason. You’re supposed to stop. You’re supposed to reflect. You’re supposed to take stock. So do it. Find a cosy spot to curl yourself up, grab a journal or your Pinterest board, or whatever calls to you. And just dream. Forget about every single limiting belief you’ve ever absorbed, and instead float away into a delicious world where there are no limits, where everything you’ve ever wanted is absolutely possible. Who do you want to be? What kind of life do you really want? Feel into these energies, doodle or draw or write or pin all of the things that light up your soul. Because that’s the thing. Everything you’ve ever wanted is possible, if you believe it to be. I know this to be true. Over the last three years, I’ve literally re-designed my life, and now I live my dream every day. And honestly, I’m not that special. I mean, I am, of course we're all special, but I’m also just a human living a life, just like you. No one gave me a magic wand. All I did was dare to dream, and then dare to take one step at a time to make that dream a reality. What reality could you create for yourself if you dropped all the ‘I can’t because…’ thoughts right out of your head?

But there now, this isn’t the time to get preachy, it's the time to get dreamy. Deliciously, softly, sweetly, gorgeously dreamy. It’s beautiful gift to give yourself. Enjoy it. Just dream, without attachment, without agenda, without limits, without the need for a plan. Just dream. What a way to spend an afternoon, or indeed an entire weekend. It’s how I’ll be spending mine.

Love, Rachel xxx