The Sunday Soother is going on sabbatical
Happy Sunday, Soothers. Some news! Starting August to early November, I'll be taking a hiatus from almost all of my work! And that includes this here newsletter, as well as the Sunday Soother podcast, too.
After 5 years with hardly a vacation, it was definitely time. (And I mean if you consider school as work, which I think, with the way it's run, is, and then work work — I've had some sort of summer or school-year job since I was 14 — then I really haven't had a period of none-work like this since I was in middle school. That's 30 years! Thanks capitalism!)
I've long considered taking a sabbatical but was scared to do it — financially, identity-wise, work wise (what if everybody forgets about me and I become totally irrelevant?!?!) (and money wise, I'm still scared!) but trusting the universe. I can squeak it by with my savings, and I realize it's an enormous privilege to be able to do this. I'm grateful. I'm very intrigued by what I'm going to experience and learn, and also pretty scared. I know better than to think, wooooooo, 3-month vacation! A LOT of stuff comes up in voids like this, and a lot of fears, so I expect there will be some of that. But I'm buckling up for the rollercoaster, and again, can't state how grateful and privileged I am to have the ability to do this. It's a rare opportunity for most, so I hope when I return I can write a lot about what unfolded, how I did it, what came up for me, and more.
Anyways, the thing that finally got me to do this, after months and probably a year or two of thinking about it, was this big kick in the butt — during the last six weeks I had a health scare — I discovered an area in my breast needed to be addressed, first with a diagnostic mammogram, then a biopsy, and it involved lots of terrified waiting and considering what the message behind this was (while obviously health issues are multifactorial, and for me personally, I do believe they are also always some sort of message from spirit).
Turns out everything is (mostly) fine — it's a diagnosis of Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia, which is atypical cell growth (not pre-cancer, but does increase your risk, so needs to be monitored and addressed with lifestyle stuff too). I'm considering options going forward for my medical care.
(Rant warning, BTW, does anybody else feel like the cancer crisis — and other health/autoimmune issues — is a slow-motion extinction-level asteroid of our own creation? I know SO MANY YOUNG/YOUNGER PEOPLE getting diagnosed. When I thought there was a chance it could be coming my way I went down an insane rabbit hole so I could have both a conventional and a holistic medical plan ready, and learned that at the beginning of the 19th century, 1 in 20 people were diagnosed with cancer. In the 1940s, 1 in 16. By the 1970s, 1 in 10. I've read the new statistics are that 1 in 2 of us can expect to deal with cancer in our lifetimes, and diagnoses are getting younger and younger. When my mother had breast cancer at 44 in the 1990s, she was an anomaly. Now, how many women in their THIRTIES and even TWENTIES are being diagnosed? My sister told me of her coworker who's had breast cancer for the past 5 years - SINCE SHE WAS 25. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? ARE WE JUST GOING TO HANG OUT NONCHALANTLY UNTIL TEENAGERS ARE GETTING BREAST CANCER? I feel like I've joined a small group of seemingly crazy people who are screaming and waving our arms trying to wake people up about this slow motion asteroid (or not so slow) heading towards us, but most people are just like, "NBD! This is normal!" [Insert the "this is fine" dog on fire meme.] SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG IN OUR ENVIRONMENTS. Cancer in 95% of cases is NOT genetic, is the other thing I've learned, and even if it were our genetic code is not changing this fast — it's an environmental, lifestyle and metabolic disease, meaning 95% of cancers have to do with the health of our cells and their energy processes. And monitoring and changing our diets and doing exercise used to be enough to help a lot, but it's not anymore. I have SO MUCH to say on this, and so many valuable resources, and if I break my sabbatical at all it's going to be to put them together in a free, easily-digestible checklist for a starting point for anybody dealing with any sort of health issue from a more unconventional perspective. Sorry for all the all-caps but this really whips me into a rage, if you can't tell. We are being so deeply failed by our current systems of medical care and health.)
ANYHOODLES.
The message for me ultimately that came through this health scare and experience (aided by continual Tarot pulls of the Queen of Cups and the Queen of Swords) was that...
1. it's time for me to stop putting so much out into the world, and redirect that effort and energy back into myself as self-nurturance (breast health issues are a heart chakra energetic issue, which often has to do with over-giving and under-receiving)
2. it's time to write a book (I've wanted to write a book forever but have made all the excuses - "When I have X (more time, more money, etc), THEN I'll do it" - yadda yadda). The book is started, I have 20,000 words, and it's gonna be all about Tarot, so stay tuned. (And if you have any agents or publishers you want to send my way, that's very welcome!)
I might even get some wedding planning done :) We're aiming for late October, a very small, family-only backyard wedding.
Or maybe I'll do a bunch of nothing, too — that's the mystery and the invitation of doing something like this, I think. I can plan and think I know what it will be like, but I honestly have no idea, so here we go with some surrender and loss of control (our favorite!!!).
My amazing assistant Sarah (whom you should hire for your operational needs!) will schedule a Sunday Soother archives essay every two weeks for the duration of my break, so you'll still be getting some good content from the vault. But I won't be answering emails, and I won't be on Instagram, either.
If you're a paid Substack subscriber of the Soother, I'll be pausing those subscriptions as well.
If you want to support me while I'm on sabbatical, you can consider purchasing any of my self-paced workshops or courses. I also have over 200 podcast episodes in the archives for you to browse, and many archived essays from the past several years to return to, too.
I'm grateful for this community and thankful for all of your support and what I know will be warm wishes! I'll see you in November <3
xo
Catherine
PS: When I return, as I've done for the past few years, I'll be hosting my intentional new year's eve retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains! We'll learn Tarot, intentional goal-setting, circadian living, do yoga, meditation, and sound clearing, and eat delicious food in a community of other HSPs. Head to this link to find out more and reserve your spot: https://www.catherinedandrews.com/nye-retreat