January 4, 2024
Hello dear friend,
I have two items to share this email. The first a reminder that if you’re in the Lethbridge area, I will be doing a reading from my new book, Wildflower Seeds: the Beauties of a Reflective Life. I’m sharing the evening with my friend and fellow author Vickie MacArthur. We would love to have you join us, and appreciate all your support. It will also be recorded for Rogers TV as a special event.
The second item is my letter to new subscribers to my email list, where you get notices of my new blog posts and occasional letters such as this one. A very warm welcome to those of you who have subscribed in the last few weeks! Since those of you who have been subscribed for much longer have not received this new letter, I thought I’d send it to everyone to let you all know what to expect from your subscription to my email list.
Along with the milestone of publishing my book just a few months ago, I’ve also completely re-hauled my website (through the gifted work of dear friend Stacy Oler) plus adopting an email subscription service through Mailerlite this past year. It’s all been a tremendous amount of work plus frustrations with technology (the blog function still isn’t working properly, though Mailerlite assures me they’re working on it — I send out these letters to you in a rather clunky way. But it works — most of the time!). So with a bunch of tears, unearthly patience, and a little help from my friends, I’m adapting to the reality of technology that promises much, . . . . but doesn’t always deliver smoothly. In any case, I’m so glad to have this ability to share my thoughts and reflections with you, in the hope that they will accompany you as you live your life of intention, purpose, and meaning, finding joy in the everyday.
And now, my Welcome Letter:
Dear Soulfriend,
Thank you for joining my subscription list! I want to welcome you and tell you a little of what to expect from me in your email box.
I’m Cat Charissage, a contemplative educator, artist, and writer, and I do Soulwork. What do I mean by that? Well, the short answer is that I want to remind all of us, myself included, that life is not complete unless we remain conscious of the Greater and Deeper aspects of our lives, and explore ways that we might delve into our inner lives with the intention of living our best lives with intention and meaning. The long answer is what I try to articulate in my blog and social media posts. I call my subscribers my “Soulfriends” on the assumption that we share an interest in these ideas and practices.
I write about Soulwork, and post a new blogpost about every week or two, along with other thoughts and glimpses into my life on Facebook and Instragram. You will receive these blogposts through your email. One of the most common topics that I write about is the challenge of living a reflective, contemplative, mindful life in the swirl of the frantic pace of the culture, the heartbreaking news cycles of our contemporary human experience, and the fact that I ALWAYS have many more ideas than I have the time or health to manifest. You see, I live with chronic illness and pain. I also paint in acrylics and watercolors, do some mixed media, and write poetry. You’ll hear about some of that in my blogposts.
I’ve been at this for a long time now, but until recently only blogged monthly. I consider it a little drop in the bucket of the internet that can add a positive, thoughtful, and inspiring note to those who might find it welcome. There are 10 years of Archives accessible on my website.
In addition to this foray into the internet wilds, I’m the author of a poetry chapbook, OPEN TO MYSTERY, and the non-fiction WILDFLOWER SEEDS: THE BEAUTIES OF A REFLECTIVE LIFE where I share how and why having an inner life is a political act. All of us contribute to influencing the world by our actions, and it’s important that our actions be motivated by our deep values and desires. The book contains almost 100 ways to develop this inner life of values and analyze how our gifts can change the world, 20 minutes at a time. Both books are available on Amazon worldwide.
Again, thank you for joining me in these explorations.
With warmth,
Cat Charissage
Soulwork: Finding Your Why, Making Your Way
Mysteries Unfolding with Cat Charissage 