Slow Living in Montana
A Few of My Favorite Things, & Remembering How Magic is Truly Created
As I wake up today in Montana, on the New Moon in Cancer, the slow life greets me, along with the beautiful Pines and the glorious sun!
I find the magic in each day as best as I can, living in the fastness of Miami, FL—and I do—but there is nothing like spending time in Big Sky, where the intent IS to live moment-to-moment, breath-by-breath, as nature’s awe and vastness overtakes you.
It’s just a little bit easier to breathe slowly and deeply here, and feel the magic all around you.
It’s just a bit easier to…
put the phone down…
listen to your thoughts, or no thoughts at all, and to…
remember where the magic truly resides and how it is created.
In the morning coolness I take in my morning brew, along with the so many things I am grateful for in my life.
I take in the Bald Eagle flying above, and the beautiful wildflowers and hummingbirds…
I take in the curious buck.
This first sunset was not too bad either!
Each moment is like unwrapping a gift, one that you could miss if you weren’t paying attention. But the gift keeps giving. Stop for a mindful pause and a new gift arrives. 🙏🏼
But being here is more than just a gift of slowness and nature’s beauty. It’s the gift of family, memories, and traditions that will last a lifetime—well passed this land and it’s deep medicine.
It’s the rocking chairs that have held us all, including those no longer with us. I can’t help but to think of my first time here, a young 20-year-old, together with my grandparents, Amelia and Mario, now my two most fervent Guardian Angels.
Memories of “Mami and Papi” rocking on these, and later, my children, (along with everyone in the family) brings me such joy. Here we are reminded of life’s beautiful journey and what a blessing it is.
Today my son and daughter are 26 and 20, respectively. Here they were 11 and 5.
We couldn’t help but recreate the photo on the rocking chairs a few years ago!
One of my favorite things to do is pick up a few books from my Mom’s library and take in inspiration—just flipping to a specific page and learning a new practice or recipe for the soul that I will inevitably pass along to a client or a friend.
I love not knowing what yummy, fresh treat will welcome us each summer in this fabulous piggy bowl. Montana Cherries await this time!
The never-ending puzzle that gets completed only one piece at a time from summer to summer!
Dipping our feet into the very cold and crisp river. So many slow and special moments right here on this dock!
Summers here wouldn’t be the same without making s’mores and having family game nights!
And, well, I can’t help but do some ritual while I’m here. The medicine is so potent!
This week’s New Moon is a nourishing invitation to go slow. Here’s a bit about what I wrote in my monthly Astro Report for my lovely paid subscribers.
You can find the entire enchilada here.
June’s New Moon in Cancer is partnered with expansive Jupiter, bringing new excitement and expansion to our self-care and nourishment, and all things home—how we light up our home environment, and “close to home” relationships. Prioritizing our self-love and relationships with those we love is opportune with this New Moon.
Although we didn’t plan it this way, it is perfect timing for this summer’s trip, and I’m grateful for the added purpose and magic. 💫
My perfect ritual and all of natures tools the ritual requires will find me before I head back home, perhaps a new crystal, a feather, or a river rock or driftwood. Let’s see! I’m always surprised and ready to sit in stillness, calling in the energy and medicine I feel called to in the moment and plant new seeds. 😇
There’s no way to capture and share all of my favorite things from this very special place. The ones I have shared above are just from Day 1 on this summer’s journey. I am truly blessed for the many summers we have been able to visit and tap into its beautiful slowness, magic, medicine and miracles.
With each trip to Montana I’m gently reminded that, yes, some places in our world are more accessible for slowness. It truly finds us. We don’t have to seek it.
This being said, what I know for sure is that this magic is truly created among those we love most, the intention we bring to our moments together, and memories and traditions we choose to create and repeat. The memories have been created by many over these years—with new energy added as our family changes and grows. I’m grateful for all of it, and for my folks for laying this beautiful foundation for us all. I honor all of it.
In closing, it seems appropriate to share some Wabi Sabi wisdom from the first book I picked from my Mom’s Montana library:
“Wabi Sabi goes beyond the beauty of any given object of environment, to refer to one’s response to that profound beauty, Wabi Sabi is a feeling, and it is intangible. One person’s wabi wabi is not the same as another’s, because each of us experiences the world in a different way. We feel wabi wabi when we come into contact with the essence of authentic beauty.”
“Wabi Sabi is deeply connected to the kind of beauty that reminds us of the transient nature of life. The world looks very different when you learn to see and experience it from your heart, and there is great beauty, value and comfort to be found in simplicity. It’s a reminder that stillness, simplicity, and beauty can help us fully inhabit a moment in the middle of anything, and that’s a lesson for all of us.”
And as my Step-Father so beautifully described of his Montana—from the legendary John Denver—Big Sky… “You Fill Up My Senses.”
Indeed, you do, Big Sky, you do. xoxo
May the beauty and gift of slow and intentional living find you more often.
Namaste.