The After Glow

Sunset camel trek to the Pyramids in Giza, February 2025

Waking before dawn on most mornings, I sit on the deck in the dark. The air is still "chilly", but the winter winds have almost disappeared. Can it be we've arrived at a new season? I light the insect repellent coil and let its citrus-woodsy scented smoke seep into the air and wait for unformed silhouettes to burn open as the sun slowly shows itself. Forever humbled by the glistening, I, too, open myself to the day's magic.

Twilight's turn to day is marked not only by the palette change, but also by the sound of fluttering wings made by the hummingbirds that flit around our feeder. This feeding frenzy mirrors the thoughts that swirl in my head as I try to sink into the sacred quiet time that feeds my soul. Thoughts ping and pong as I play a game of mental Twister, mapping out the to-do list for the day, while also trying to perform my grounding rituals of journaling and pulling cards. Like the hummingbirds, I drink the sweet nectar of stillness and solitude and then get caught up in a flurry of what fixtures I need to order for the house, chapters I need to work on, making dentist appointments for the kids.

With the intense mental energy trying to barge its way into my inner sanctum, the planet Mercury is in the house of Aries after all, I've started meditating again. Here, I aim to create an insulated space of unattached being; a time and place of not having to figure out, answer, express or filter. I can't say the return to a practice I used to do daily has been easy, but all the more reason for it. What's come up in these efforts of cleaning the slate is that it's hard to clean a slate when life feels so full. I kind of have to accept the steamrolling and chaos and touch the hum of beingness, if only for a few moments.

One of the reasons life has been so full, minus our house construction project, tasks with parents aging and the kids coming home for spring break, is the almost 2 months of being 50 celebrations. Talk about a HUM! (and a BUZZ!) While I fully called IT in with a trip to Egypt and Survivor beach games- think relay races, puzzles and blindfolds- I had no idea what kind of shift would meet me on the other side of this milestone. To describe it seems almost sacrosanct and impossible, but I will share the take-aways with you.

RESPECT the work you've put into creating your life, the journey that unfolds, the love that comes with it.

RECEIVE the generosity of others with a generous heart.

TRUST that you are WORTHY of being celebrated, of being loved, of saying yes or no- you always have a choice.

Make TIME for things that matter and there will be more time for joy.

GRATITUDE is a constant invitation for grace to show up.

When you elevate your way of thinking, your thoughts and reality LEVEL UP.

TRUTH exists as soon as you define it.

In AUTHENTICITY, we seek our truest self and are COURAGEOUS enough to share ourselves with the world.

"LIVING is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde

With all that has been imbued into my psyche and my heart in this past month, instead of clearing slates I'll simply meditate on the many gifts I've received, the words that want to flow and the change in pace life is asking of me. And, perhaps, then I can simply give myself permission to feel the after-glow of it ALL in the mayhem and the stillness.

Stay tuned for my next book to be about this incredible rite of passage, the power of intention and calling IT in. (Yes, first I have to finish and publish my current book, and it feels great to have a second one already calling my name.)

Cheers to humming and buzzing,

St. Sunshine