Hello friends, and hello to new friends who’ve signed up to my newsletter in the past two weeks. I’ve just got back from a whirlwind trip to Canada to celebrate my mother’s 93rd birthday. I had plans to write to you while I was away, but wobbly internet connections and busy times got in the way.
How have you been? (How have you been really?)
While I was in Canada, I felt my own heart stretching…towards love, reconciliation, repair and growth. Towards giving up my childhood impressions of things and people, and moving into a new way of looking at the world.
I stayed in the city where I left home to go to boarding school at age fifteen. I saw high school friends I hadn’t seen in 40 years.
Like American author Anne Lamott, I had this moment of imagining that I was gently letting people off the hook.
(It was the image above: a row of hooks at a front door, with people and hurts and hung there by the scruff of their jackets. I began to gently lift them down).
If Life has been extra Life-y for you, letting someone off the hook might be just what you need to do, too. A beautiful friend in the aftermath of a tough divorce told me, “Not ever knowing the truth IS my truth.” She took her ex off the hook so she could heal.
While sitting at Vancouver airport for a long four-hour layover on my way back to Sydney, I read a simple thought from an American poet, Andrea Gibson.
I feel the same.
Hearts are meant to be stretched. It’s never easy, but it’s worth it. And letting people off the hook just might be part of that.
Thank you for being here with me. I’m hoping that something unexpectedly good happens to you today — a surprise, a kind word, or a new way of looking at your world.
Love, Catherine x
P.S. The Fun Stuff!
Sydney friends - join me on Friday for an author chat at The Baytree in Greenwich! Details below. Call 1800 723 723.
Wowwwww, $8. Aussies, my book, The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe, is on a fabulous sale both at Amazon and BigW. Makes a great gift! Thank you for sharing the love.
Favourite Canadian earrings: definitely at Hillberg and Berk. Wherever I go, people stop me to ask about these. Literally EVERY time. H&B will Fedex worldwide. (Photo isn’t great but the earrings are absolutely beautiful).
Made the best lasagne on Friday night.
Summer in Canada…I want to try this method of cooking corn to perfection!
