Elizabeth Gilbert

The Lesson of 'Not This'

Tea.jpg

Hello, internet friends…hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

I’ve started making mint tea for myself, similar to this beautiful way it’s served at my local cafe. It feels like abundance—stuffing all that mint in the tea pot (that’s how I make mine at home). Something for you to try if you have mint in the garden. Fresh mint tea is just surprisingly better: not difficult, just better.

Today I’ve been thinking about how we change, and what we need to invite into our lives to grow into the next version of ourselves. It always makes me think of Elizabeth Gilbert’s words turned into a beautiful card by the amazing Emily Henderson at Em and Friends. You can find this card here.

Elizabeth Gilbert Not This.jpg

Through every season of my life, I’ve run headlong into some Not This moments. Maybe you have too. And because we don’t know what’s next, it’s easy to feel like we’re stuck…but we’re not.

We’re feeling ‘Not This.’

All we need to do with Not This is sit for a while—for as long as it takes—and listen until our truth shows up.

I don’t know about you, but it’s so easy for me to argue with my own deepest truth, to try to convince myself that I’m not hearing what I’m hearing, that I shouldn’t feel this way, that I’m maybe too old or inexperienced. I worry that I lack the talent, connections or opportunities.

But the deepest truth hangs around and whispers to us: Not this…it’s THIS. Try this. See what happens.

We can get better at so many things: waiting a bit, listening to our hearts, knowing our deepest truth, taking a small step forward. That’s my plan right now. I hope it’s yours, too.

Enjoy your weekend. I’m cheering for us all.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

  • My favourite book by Elizabeth Gilbert is Big Magic, and I’ve been meaning to read her novel, The Signature of All Things, published in 2014. City of Girls was not for me—that’s how I always talk about books and art because I know how hard they are to create and every book is for someone. You may love it…America in the 1940s.

  • Tea and a book…always a beautiful combination!