by Kat | Jul 28, 2025 | General, Words
Welcome dear friends!
We have arrived at the last Monday of July… the day we all share our updates with how our word showed up for us, how we focused on our word (or not… it is very okay if you did not think about your word!) I had some unexpected surprises this month and I kept Yutori in my focus as you will read. I am eager to read about how you did this month as well and you will find the link to share your update at the bottom of this post!
Let July be July. Let August be August. And let yourself just be even in the uncertainty. You don’t have to fix everything. You don’t have to solve everything. And you can still find peace and grow in the wild of changing things. — Morgan Harper Nichols
It was a happy accident that I stumbled across this Morgan Harper Nichols quote… and just what I needed for my focus for this month.
And so, I reminded myself daily to… let July be July. Hot and muggy…the epitome of summer. July absolutely reminded me daily that it was Full On Summer!
And, like July, my days were “hot and muggy” with uncertainty… Full On Uncertainty! I spent lots of time being still with myself, my worries, and my concerns and I reminded myself frequently… I am not the fixer or the solver! I can just be in the uncertainty. If only that was as easy to do as it is to say.
I have arrived at the portion of my life where I am daily “living the questions”… and I would really like to get to the point of living into the answer… living the questions is not easy especially when the desire for the answer… i.e. fixing/solving… is overwhelming.
I let myself sit in the uncertainty. I meditated on the uncertainty. I was still with the uncertainty. I tried to get comfortable with the uncertainty. And, like letting July be July, I just let the uncertainty be uncertain. I did find some answers… but I also learned that answers are not always solutions… but rather a door to more uncertainty.
I wish I could tell you that I have magically arrived at peace as July winds down… I have not. But I have begun to make peace with the uncertainty. I am not quite at the point of “loving the unsolved,” as Rilke suggests. But I am not fighting with it today. I am letting the uncertainty be uncertain… and holding peace in the same space. Not perfectly… it is a work in progress, but I had some brief moments of success.
Do I still have worries and concerns? Yes, I do! But I am realizing that I can have worries, concerns and they don’t have to overwhelm me… I can also hold peace at the same time. I am learning that sitting with worries is a bit like arriving early for an appointment… it is amazing when you are still and just take in what is happening…inside and out… you find more than you expected.
Perfection? Nope… but perhaps something even better, the discovery that there can be uncertainty and peace at the same time. Is it a work in progress? Absolutely… but I am not shying away from the work.
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below. I hope your July was magnificent!
Header photo by Johannes Plenio
by Kat | Jun 30, 2025 | General, Words
Greetings fellow OLW friends and welcome to the June update! I hope that all of you had a most amazing month as you contemplated your word and you will find the link up at the bottom of this post!
Little did I know when I began June and my “plan” for Yutori this month how vital that would all be as I end the month. So come along with me as I circle back to more deeply examine the idea of external and internal space… and trying to hold both in some sort of balance.
By taking up space, standing up for ourselves, and reassessing a future with crystal-clear perspectives, we gain clarity and make room for self-care, well-being, and joy. — Erik Pevernagie
Strangely, joy quotes kept showing up for me this month and little did I know that by month’s end how vital saving all those bits of joy would be. As if the external space knew something I was yet to perceive…
I spent much of the month doing physical self care of myself… PT and Pilates topping the list. I also spent a good bit of time weeding in my garden beds… thank you Spring Rains for the weed boom! For those of you who don’t garden, weeding is great physical work and I worked up a good sweat each time I tackled those weeds! Pulling those weeds is also a great way to relieve stress and it is a great frustration buster as well!
I closed out the month taking a challenging class on Continental Knitting (which is not my method of knitting!) Three hours of challenging my brain and my hands to try new and very unfamiliar things! I am sharing my samples… the grey sample I knit in my “usual” manner of knitting and the fuchsia sample all done with Continental knitting. The knit stitches were not as troublesome as those blasted purls!
Grey swatch… roughly 2 hours of knitting time. Swatch perfection… my knits and my purls are the same size! Ribbing doing that ribbing thing nicely! Fuchsia swatch… roughly 3 hours of knitting time and lots of “rowing out” especially when I began stockinette! And that ribbing… well, as you can see it is not ribbing much but this swatch does get the award for basically laying flat pre-soaking!
I am amazed at the stark differences in my samples which were knit on the same needle and the yarn is the same gauge! Good reminders that trying new things has a purpose… it stretches you… it makes you reassess things… and those perspectives are a good thing to keep in focus as the month closes out.
Why? Well, while PT was highly successful in one way… it seems the problem I am still having is not being caused by something PT can fix. This news was, quite honestly, devastating. I believed it was all going “to plan” and suddenly I found myself having to reassess… and my perspective is not so crystal clear right now. But I can see how vastly different the “swatch” of life before is from the “swatch” I am learning now. But here is what I am reminding myself of… it is still my life! I am still taking up the same space as before. I am not standing up alone (as the physician reminded me of when we met last week) and, while this hurdle was not one I planned for… I am still here!
And then on Friday, came the best boon of all… in Krista Tippet’s summer series, it was the week of Joanna Macy… somehow the external space knew exactly when to deliver this bit of wisdom. Of course, Rilke sent me a lifeline… giving me the mantra I would need to go forward and that is how I will close this month out. I have heard and read this poem dozens of times before and it never really struck me until I heard it on Friday morning when it became clear exactly why my beloved Rilke wrote it…and as I let his words wash over me, it very much feels like he is speaking directly to me… giving me a bit of light on the path ahead.
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
You can hear Joanna read it here.
Header photo by Pixabay
I welcome you to leave your June update at the link up below. I am eager to see how your month went for you!
by Kat | May 26, 2025 | General, Words
Welcome everyone who has an update to share for May! We are five months into our words and I am hoping that this month you are finding unexpected things with your word! An “ah-ha” moment or two perhaps! The link up is at the end of this post and I am eager to see how your month progressed!
May has been the most curious month for me… I have spent a good bit of time waiting which is my least favorite thing to do. To me it seems such a colossal waste… sitting and waiting.
But this month I focused on viewing it differently… changing my perspective and my attitude. My “Waiting Time” fell into two categories…
Waiting to start…and Waiting for improvement…
If you have recently visited a health care professional, then you likely understand my “waiting to start”… I love how in my “medical care network” the requirement for the patient (me!) is to show up at least 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment. And isn’t it just fantastic how every appointment starts on time… NOT! It is no different at PT appointments and when you have weekly appointments it feels like I am wasting so much time. At least that is how it felt until I tried a different tactic!
One of the things I read when I began my trying to incorporate Yutori into my life was this:
One specific example of embodying yutori is by leaving early enough to arrive at a destination before it’s required, allowing yourself time to look around and soak in the environment without feeling rushed.
So this month, I have practiced “soaking in the environment” as I wait for my PT session… I set myself some guidelines, No Doom Scrolling on my phone. No knitting. No reading and tuning out. Just sit in and absorb the environment… and soon I began to notice a delightful hum… therapists encouraging patients, patients on stationary bikes encouraging each other, and even a wife encouraging her husband (she is my weekly favorite – her encouragement is a thing of beauty!) It is a place where stress could be high, but it is a very calm environment. After a few weeks of just taking in everything happening around me… I began to notice a change in how I felt. I actually looked forward to arriving early to just be part of all that is going on around me. It was calming and so very relaxing – a good thing because I have at least another 4 weeks of PT appointments! (Now, lest you think that every single person who arrives at PT is all zen and happy to wait… it is not. Every week there is at least one person who is frustrated with the process… of course, right? I try and channel some of my calm their way and I wonder if others are doing the same.)
I wish the second portion of my challenge this month was as successful as “waiting to start” was… The working towards improvement has been slow going. I am showing up every day though and I keep reminding myself… this is a problem I ignored for a long time so it won’t be fixed overnight. This week, I shared with my therapist my frustrations on how slow improvement was… and she reminded me of the improvements that I have made since I began just 4 weeks ago. It was not a long list but it was a good reminder that there is some improvement and enough of a list to encourage me in my continued efforts!
If you have an update to share, please leave your link below and thank you so much for joining me this month!
Header photo by wutthichai charoenburi
by Kat | Apr 28, 2025 | General, Words
Greetings Fellow Word Guru’s!
I have written this post “earlier” (last week) as I am in Erie on vacation right now. April… our fourth month with our word and hopefully we are finding our feet firmly on the path with our word. Or, are you like me, struggling a bit this month? Either place is absolutely okay! If you’d like to share, you will find the link up at the bottom of this post!
Holding space is an act that is at once totally present and totally invisible… — Harrison Owen
There is a fine line for me about blogging… a duel between being real and crossing over to being too real.
And so the above quote fits my life perfectly this month as I am working through some health struggles I am struggling to stay present with myself and doing so “invisibly” for all intents and purposes.
And, sadly, it does not make for great blog fodder.
But one thing I found incredibly interesting was the idea of holding space for myself! I am sure I don’t need to tell you that most women are not good at doing this. We put ourselves last every day. Our focus is on everyone around us and if we have any time left, we might feel guilty about using it for ourselves.
FYI this tendency does not go away when your kids are grown and on their own! I am admitting here how uncomfortable it is to hold space for myself… to be focused on what is best for me first.
So, come along with me as I share with you my struggles with giving myself some extra space this month.
I decided after visiting the third doctor last month that I needed to take to heart their thoughts on slowing down. Pre-Frankie I spent a good bit of uninterrupted time most mornings practicing a “loose” meditation. Loose being the key component. I struggled with the eyes shut, focused on your breathing, being quiet kind of meditation. My meditation focused on writing some in my journal, reading some poetry… all with my eyes open and my focus was on what I was doing. Frankie has gotten a bit better about the length of time he can “be still” but me? Well, that is still a work in progress!
But I realized that in order to slow down, I needed to, you know, actually slow down. So I have been doing some focused, eyes closed, think about breaths in and breaths out meditation. Whew, even with a guided meditation those times during 7-10 minutes feel like an eternity! And I am not sure I am achieving a “zen-like” calm, but I am going to stay the course.
I also have “rewatched” the Suzan Colón’s medKNITation class several times. Suzan’s voice is the most soothing thing on the planet… I have also started reading her book, MedKNITation, slowly. I am doing some knitting while I allow her to direct my focus so I am doing something, but right now it feels a bit “calmer” that my struggle with other types of meditation.
Is this a “sudden” fix? No… or perhaps the better response is… not yet. But I am persevering… and giving myself the space to find comfort in the process.
I see the idea of holding space for myself to be an ongoing “project” for myself this year. I think this is the foundation of Yutori… “the conscious act of slowing down…” and I am going to keep at it until it feels natural.
Thanks for joining me today as we support each other as we work through our year! I will be back here next Monday, May 5th!
Header photo by Pixabay
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 31, 2025 | General, Words
I would like to welcome you all to the monthly check in with our words! And I am hoping that you all had the best month with your word! At the end of this post you will find the link up to share your post!
Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge. — Eckhart Tolle
This quote very much sums up my month with Yutori. It has been a month of changes… and so many questions. From simple questions like: Why can’t I keep my desk clean? to more difficult questions like: Why am I experiencing health issues?
Most definitely “my plans” for the month were tossed out the window early and “life’s plans” took over and dragged me along for the ride (and yes, sometimes that included me kicking and screaming!)
It has been a month where each step finds a new hurdle… and I am not a very good “jumper” of hurdles. I am more the go around the hurdle in the avoidance method but these are ones that cannot be ignored. Sigh.
Somewhere last week, I lost entirely all my “making mojo” and as such I am severely behind on my days of stitching and the 100 Day Stitch Book. I have not picked up my knitting in the same amount of time… I just don’t have the brain-bandwidth right now to focus. So I pulled out an old project… the mitered square ‘blanket’ and surprisingly… and it felt exactly right for me in this moment. The simple knitting of a small square block, building on the blocks before it is reminding me that this knitting… like life… progresses in much the same way… one bit built on all the other bits. The perfect reminder of how my new hurdles need to be addressed… one bit at a time.
One block after another… comfort knitting, FTW!
In the chaos of this month, I also revisited my dear friend, Rilke. I needed his assurance to “live the onslaught of questions” and in reading Rilke, I found some new tidbits that have been easing my days:
“Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.”
and
“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.”
And so I am reminded that navigating hurdles, exasperation at messy desks, and the loss of making mojo are the stuff of life. And that stuff of life … and the things to come… are already taking up their spaces, both physical and mental and what I need to do is simply believe in the process. And perhaps allow myself more space to sit quietly and just be with myself.
Header photo by Akil Mazumder
If you wrote a post about how your word showed up for you this month, please leave your link below. It will be open until next Sunday, April 6 to accommodate you for whenever you want to post about your word!
by Kat | Feb 24, 2025 | General, Words
Dear February… for such a short month you sure are feeling incredibly long!
Yes, this month I began to work on what I have now confirmed will be the most challenging aspect of Yutori…at least for me… the embrace of silence.
Never miss a good chance to shut up! — Will Rogers
Truer words were never spoken… sigh. Back in the day I had a boss who shared a “sales tip” about silence… “he who speaks first… loses.” I was not comfortable with the silence then… and not much has changed since then. Silence is challenging for me.
But I tried to approach it from a different angle… listening more… and by listening, I mean actual, active listening. (not “reactive listening“) Big news… this was as much a challenge in my house as settling in with silence.
However, I did make some big changes to my “normal routine” and while it was still a struggle, it did get a bit easier. The Biggest Change… no audiobook in my ears for any walks with Frankie… instead be focused on listening to the change in the sounds around me. As you might imagine, my very early walk with Frankie is almost completely silent… no cars, no birds, no planes (we are in a flight path of the Pittsburgh Airport) and it is just the most amazing time… the only sounds are the ones Frankie and I make as we amble along. It has become my favorite time of the day… we even heard what I think was likely a coyote early one morning… something I would have missed if a narrator was talking in my ears! No other walk has the same silence… the noises of the day are companions as we amble along… kids shouting, cars coming and going, so many planes (which have their own hilarious quality… Frankie is fascinated by them and he watches them as they soar over head as they prepare to land at the airport!)
There has been a marked increase in birdsong as February has inched along! I can listen to “territory wars” from a plethora of birds! I am thankful that the birds are reminding me that spring is coming… and they are preparing for it by picking the perfect spot to “claim” as their own for nesting season!
I reinforced my return to “morning quiet time” … at least on the mornings Steve is not home… sigh. Quiet with Steve home is a challenge. But I have managed to stretch quiet mornings 4 days a week to a magnificent 40-50 minutes! My journals are reflecting this really excellent silence… now it is not totally silent… I can hear the hum of the refrigerator, and the furnace, and, most recently, the wild wintry winds… companions to the scratch of my pen as I write.
I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. — Chaim Potok
I still have miles to go on finding comfort in the silence, but I have made what I hope is a good start and that start will, hopefully, be the foundation I build on as the year progresses!
So I ask this question to all of you who are examining what a word might bring to your days… what did you learn this month as you contemplated your words?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below!
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