Moving Through the August Fog With Gentleness
A Newsletter from Gentleness Ambassadors
A Newsletter from Gentleness Ambassadors
Dear fellow gentle writers and readers,
How have you been for the past two months? My energy dipped to an all-time low when I neglected my self-care while trying to take care of my two older sons during their school holidays in June, and in mid-July, our young family, except for my 4-year-old son, caught COVID.
Having the luxury to rest alone for the first couple of days having COVID, while the rest of my family was still well, was enlightening. It was so much easier to let go of the work I thought I needed to do. Instead, I felt guided to focus on one small creative project and nourish myself with simple stretches on my bed.
That small creative project was my illustrated book — My Blue Lotus and Me: A gentle dance with my Higher Self. This tiny book is a creative collaboration with my soulful and talented friend, Yuanhui Chen. It finally got published on Amazon Kindle a few days ago, and I’m thrilled to share this great news with you! This is a simple story about rediscovering and creating your magic, with some writing prompts included to help you rediscover your unique flavor of magic. I hope you’ll find this inspiring for you.
Moving Through the August Fog
Do you find it challenging to feel energized lately? My favorite energy intuitive, Lee Harris, mentioned in his August 2022 Energy Update:
“This month, there is going to be a thickness in the energy, which is designed to slow down your transformation, which can be very helpful because transformational energy has been very intense of late, as many of you will have been experiencing. But the other side of this energy fog and what it’s designed to serve is to give you a pause or serve to help you find clarity.”
I chuckled when I read this, especially after having COVID with my family. Though I’ve recovered physically, my perspective on life has shifted. I feel less inclined to hustle and overextend myself in all aspects of my life.
Do you resonate with this? I’d love to know if you’ve been experiencing this August fog and how you’ve been coping with it.
Let’s move on to the stories published in the past two months.
Our Latest Stories
Thank you, dear fellow writers, for continuing to submit your stories to this publication.
Dear readers, I hope you can spend some time to take in the wisdom in these poems and essays. Please do share your thoughts and heartfelt comments too.
Needing to be Right is a Survival Mechanism by Ginger Tran
All we are seeking for underneath is the validation of our reality, which a sense of safety (and sanity) is.
But when we go to lengths to obtain feeling ‘safe’ without actually healing our nervous systems firstly, this can look like needing black and white systems to pacify us. This is what happens when we need to make someone else or something else wrong in order to be right (feel safe).
How to Rebuild Gently by Maia Thom
Admittedly, my experience of the pandemic was a little more extreme than it was for many of them. I lived in an intense isolation for about two years, after my closest friends left the city I was living in. I went an entire year where I didn’t physically touch a single person — I remember I was out on a walk one day and I was shocked when a dog tapped her nose to the bare skin of the back of my hand. It was the most contact I’d had in months.
What My First Summer as a Freelance Writer Taught Me About Life by Kit Campoy
This year, I’ve walked my neighborhood every day. I know everyone that works at the coffee shops, and I know the best thing to order at each of them. I gave up worrying about my non-existent tan and the ten pounds I wanted to lose.
I decided I would just live.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Going On a Holiday by Ranjani Rao
We make plans based on assumptions; about us and about the world around us, until something jolts us out of our lethargy. It doesn’t take much — a job loss, a health scare, or a little virus capable of causing global havoc.
But life, like the constantly changing clouds outside my window, is ephemeral and always changing.
How Often You Need to Create Content by Shailaja V
As someone who’s been blogging for close to 15 years and more diligently in the last 8 years or so, I love the art of writing for its own sake. But I don’t feel the overwhelming need to say something just to be in the public eye.
Writing should be one of two things: Informative and/or Entertaining. But there’s no rule that it has to be frequent. In fact, the longer you write/create/present your work, the more you realize an important truth: You also need an audience.
Our New Friend Lucy by John C. Davis
You see, Lucy our resident duck decided to make a nest in our flower box. About a week ago, she began to root out the flowers that my wife and I planted there. We had been hoping that a duck would take residence there someday. We did not actively make room for a duck to come, but we certainly were not going to stop one from making a nest there.
For 35 days our Muscovy duck Lucy will nurture and incubate the beautiful thirteen eggs she so lovingly laid there.
The miracle of life is taking place right outside our kitchen window, and I could not be more excited.
How Coaching Is Like Giving Your Breakfast Cereal Box a Good Shake by Sofie Hon
One of the common fears of heart-centered coaches is not being able to help their clients resolve their issues by the end of a single session. Is this one of your main fears as a heart-centered coach too? This puts so much unnecessary pressure on both you as the coach, and your clients!
I’m sure you’ll agree that life is never about this single instant when everything is fully resolved. Life is a continuous journey and every single point in that journey matters.
6 Ways to Train Your Joy Muscles by Miri
I know very well how to walk through pain. But it’s become a habit! I forgot to also train my joy muscles!
It’s time to tip the scales back into balance. The great news is: joy hasn’t simply disappeared! It’s still there, hidden within. It will take a little bit of effort to strengthen those inner joy muscles. In the beginning, it may seem like nothing is changing because the progress is too subtle to notice, but isn’t this how everything begins? With mini steps?
Fierce Self-Protection by Camille Grady
“No”, Is the first word I could summon up.
“I have been through an incredibly hard time.” I asserted.
I could feel my body twitching with adrenaline, itching to go into full defence mode, but I held myself strong. It doesn’t matter what they think I kept reassuring myself internally. They don’t get to tell my story. I do.
By Bingz Huang (Founder and editor)
You Can Dance Through the Pain
When words fail to describe this collective grief mixed in with some personal sorrow, I tried numbing it out. Plonking my body on my bed, bingeing on a Netflix series I just had to finish. The consequence — feeling too cluttered in my energy to contribute anything of value, and so I continue to consume entertainment conveniently accessed with a few taps on my phone…mindlessly.
A vicious cycle, where I kept strangling myself, till my Gentleness instinct asked me to dance it out.
What’s the Gentlest Way for You To Be Joyful?
There is so much joy and support all around us. We don’t need to work too hard to be joyful. It’s easy to reach out with gentleness and follow our intuition to receive what we want.
I’m curious: What’s the gentlest way for you to be joyful? I invite you to share your answers as a response to this article.
Be Gentle With Yourself and Just Write What Comes to Mind
Vidya’s messages in this Whatsapp conversation made my heart swell with gratitude. It truly felt like an energetic transmission of loving-kindness. She melted away my crippling perfectionism and gently reminded me of what I want to transmit through my articles — gentle, loving energies.
Thank you, Vidya, for the kindness you radiate so effortlessly with your presence and words.
An Unexpected Gift That Reminds Me To Keep Writing and Dancing
When I had to take care of my two older boys during their school holidays for the entire month of June, I lost momentum in writing and dancing. It was so frustrating. I lost my mojo and felt more drained than usual, making me resentful in taking care of my kids.
Luckily, a new human angel came into my life and renewed my passion for writing and dancing again. Towards the end of June, my friend Ping invited me to design a bling pen using her new website and test out the assembly of my personalized pens. She also invited me to write my pen story to describe what inspired me to create this design. My pen design and story are now proudly listed on her website, along with other beautiful pen designs and stories.
Tagging All Writers of Gentleness Ambassadors
Ava W. Burton, Camille Grady, Haley Whitehall, Maia Thom, Gregory Vahanian, Aymes Sarah, Agnes Eveline Anton, Aimée Gramblin, Alice Toneatto, Anonymous Bird, Anthony Beckman, Ellyn Ash, Bob Metivier, Brig Berthold, Carolyn Riker, Darren Richardson, Celine Hosea, Claire Kelly, Colleen Adrian, Darshak Rana, Destiny S. Harris, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Diana C., Elies Hadi, Ellie Jacobson, Emma Willmer, Evelyn Lim, 🌸Exorcistinpink💮, Faith Teo, Gabriela Marie Milton, Gentry Bronson, Ginger Tran, Gisel La Fleur, Ida Kristiansen Balle, Jace Loi, Janice Melmed, Jess L, John C. Davis, John Walter 📣, Juanita Nieuwoudt, Judy Walker, Julia Thie, June Kirri, Karen Eckford, Kasturi Patra, Kathleen Murphy, Katrina Bos, K Grace Howes, Kim McKinney, K.Kumar, Kit Campoy, Krista Bauer, Kunal Mehra, Amanda Laughtland, Lauren Rayburn, Lina Arango Jakusik, Madeline Phang, Marcus aka Gregory Maidman, Mari Moore, Marla Bishop, Mary Chang Story Writer, Mary V, Melissa Bee, jules, MOIIN, Myriam Ben Salem🦋, Nadine Bjursten, Natalie Marie Collins, Obinna Uruakpa, Oliver Page, Pavitra Gurumurthi, Promising Poetry, Randye S Spina, MBA, Ranjani Rao, Ravyne Hawke, Reo, Bob Pepe, Rimi Yoshida, Rippy Gauba, Robin Klammer, Roxana Anton, Ruchi Das, Sandi Parsons, Sara Moton, Sean Abramowitz, Brigitte Gemme, Shabaira Junaid, Shailaja V, Shanna Loga, Skyward Trends by Trudy Carol, Sofie Hon, Tara Whitney, Allison Cecile, Tracy Stengel, Trista Signe Ainsworth, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, Vidya Kasarla, Yana Bostongirl, Miri.
I just wanted to add an occasional gentle shout-out to all writers in this publication. I will not be doing this in every newsletter, so don’t worry (:
You’re most welcome to contribute an article or poem on gentleness. Please note that I live in Singapore, so my daytime is your nighttime if you’re living in USA/Canada.
If you no longer want to be a part of this publication, please leave me a private note, and I’ll be happy to remove your account from the publication.
Thank you for being a part of the Gentleness Ambassadors publication.
We look forward to publishing, reading, and sharing all your stories and poetry on Gentleness :)
With love and gratitude,
Bingz and Camille Grady