There’s something ancient about the snake. Its symbolism winds through so many traditions. And isn’t it fascinating that snakes shed their skin but remain fundamentally the same? They don’t transform like the butterflies on our sweet studio mural—no complete reinvention. Just a sloughing off. A return to self, newly revealed. A new version.

This past weekend was really satisfying as Bill and I tended to our home, gardens, relationship, and family. The concept of "tending" lingered in my thoughts throughout, pondering what it means to nurture rather than build or simply maintain.

When I act as though I am interconnected, I can start to feel it. I remember that I don’t exist in isolation, that I am held in an intricate web of relationships—with people, with the natural world, with something greater than ourselves. And when I feel that, I move through life differently. With more care. With more gratitude. With a sense of belonging and an increased sense of responsibility.

When I fully recognize my place in the web, I recognize the ways my presence, my choices, and my energy ripples outward.

There’s a famous Rumi quote that goes: “yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

But in truth we desperately need both.

I have set an intention to start the 21-day challenge on Thanksgiving day. I don’t think of myself as a chronic complainer, but I’m quite sure I’ll find that I complain a lot more than I thought. The book says most people take 4-6 months to get to 21 consecutive days!  Have you done this challenge? How did it go? Join me!  

Later, the sun will set. In between we’ll do things, we’ll think things, things will happen. I think of Shakespeare’s famous quote from the Tempest: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with sleep.”  It is all fragile, dreamlike, temporary. This too, shall pass. Whatever “this" “may be.

We're seven! The number seven is associated with luck and magic in a lot of different traditions. I've never really marked our anniversary before but this year, I'm full of nostalgia and gratitude for the many, many people who have built our sweet community. At Yoga Garden our secret sauce is love. And maybe some luck and magic, too.