Hi friends. Thank you for all the beautiful emails this past week after my sad news. I appreciate you all, even though I didn’t have the emotional energy to respond and be present for my family. Thank you for your virtual (((hugs))) and thoughtfulness, flowers and cards. It meant the world to me.

For your Sunday, here’s something I read worth sharing. It’s a reminder from Dr Caroline Leaf on our desire to control the future.

That last line struck me as true: you need to trust your future self to handle future problems.

That’s why, right now, we can relax. Our future self will handle future problems. And also—perhaps even more importantly—that’s why we need to take our shot, and do the thing that scares us.

• Make the call.

• Send out the book proposal.

• Reach out to a potential new friend (new partner?)

• Sign up for the class.

• Step outside the comfort zone that your mind has built for yourself, where you are safe, and the same, and you’re trying so hard to control your security.

It’s a cliche because it’s true: all the magic and growth happens outside our comfort zone.

Your future self will take care of you, no matter what happens: if you’re rejected, if you feel embarrassed or ashamed…and even if, like my beautiful sister and her family, you experience loss that seems too devastating to face.

Your future self will be wiser, stronger, and there for you.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday.

Love, Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff!

• For sisters everywhere: this made me laugh so much, and I needed it.

• I told you I’d report back on these shoes. The verdict? I love them for summer. They’re a bit narrow, so I used my shoe stretcher and it worked so well. Why are they good? Because they’re flats that look like wedges. You could walk for days…

• But I also love these stacked wedge sandals available in Australia—brilliant for wide feet—and so, so comfortable. The photos don’t do them justice. Affordable, not leather, but so comfortable and cute.

• If you want a fun middle grade novel for a Christmas present, my English writer-friend Susie Bower just released her third book and it’s fabulous. Find it here — also pictured with our beautiful Violin & Cello on sale today for $19.99. (If you could rate and review, that really helps authors!)