Hey,

We sat in a circle, grounded on the old floor of the chateau living room. Floorboards older than any of us, their surface marked with rivulets and imprints from people long past. Candles, soft music, mint tea.

We talked about the moon—some might call it woo, but I felt it genuine and interesting. I felt a lot, in all of it. There was a group meditation, then we each wrote down something we wanted to let go of and burned our little shards of unease in the fire. We ended with a long, stretching sharing circle, talking about the things we want to release and invite in. I was moved by the openness and honesty around me. Inspired.

Except we didn't end there. We stepped outside and watched the moon rise, from a bank of cloud, with such brightness that it cast our shadows far behind us. Sam stepped into the clearing and sang a Scots folk song.

This is it, I think. This is the thing.

It’s about place and connection, but it can be any place. It’s about presence, in self and collective. It’s about a common cause, lightly held. The blue super moon was an excuse, an easy bind to slip into for that sense of togetherness.

How nice, I thought. How right to be here doing this. To be in communion. To be in community. To think about the world and our place in it and which bits reflect one another.

This is why I love coliving and a roving lifestyle. The opportunity to go deep, quickly, occurs at such a higher cadence without ever growing tired or formulaic. It feels like the opposite should be true, but there’s a beautiful self-selecting nature to this lifestyle that means we all arrive with a pass to go past some of the superficial stuff and get comfortable in the squishy unstable parts of being human—together.

That big blue moon’s about, lads. Emotion abounds, intuition calls. Feel into it and see what you can find in the murky depths of yourself—see if you can love it or see if you want to watch it burn up in bright blue flames.

Slow down guide

Need a little help moving slower?

Ease your way out of Friday afternoon with this newsletter, a nice cup of something, and a little background music. Steal my setup if you aren't sure where to start.

After I press send, I’m sipping on a iced coffee. It rained all night, all morning. The château started leaking. It was maximum autumn. Then the sun came out and promises another last stretch of summertime. Allow yourself this moment, get those ice cubes out and don’t release the sunshine just yet.

Accompanying the chilled drink is a chilled little R&B/soul number from CARRTOONS and Rae Khalil. Light little riffs, firm piano, and gentle backing vocals. Like a cold coffee on a summer’s afternoon, it tickles and delights and makes me feel like there’s pleasure around every corner.

have grace for your people / love is the only sure thing

Take it easy,