All the updates!
Upcoming events, fall candles, and the small things are big.
I’ve been finding myself quite breathless since turning in my book a couple of weeks ago. The state of the world (last week’s news cycle alone was so unbelievable) doesn’t help, obviously. Every time I’ve thought about sitting down to write something meaningful to you, I just can’t seem to find that rhythm—like I’ve forgotten how to be here.
So, I’m taking a deep breath, remembering I have a body, and jumping in with what I’ve got today—which is a bunch of updates and something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently.
I’ve got several events coming up—join me.
The Bigger Yes Online Course — We begin THIS Thursday, Sept 18! This six-week journey is designed to help you align with your deeper callings. Love Story paid subscribers get a special discount. Learn more. Register below with a discount. ⬇️
Sept 25-28: THRESHOLD Retreat, Colorado — Join me, Elena Brower, and Kemi Nekpavil for a small-group retreat for women navigating transitions at True Nature in Carbondale, Colorado. A few spots are still available. Register for Threshold.
October 8: An Evening with Laura McKowen at Newton-Wellesley — Boston-area folks, I’ll be speaking at Newton-Wellesley Hospital on Wednesday, October 8, at 6 pm. Please join me for an evening of conversation and reflection. Register now.
Oct 17-29: Push Off from Here Retreat, Stockbridge, MA. My annual Kripalu retreat is sold out for in-person attendance, but (*NEW!*) you can now attend virtually. You can also add yourself to the waitlist to participate live (and people do cancel). Join the waitlist to attend live.
I had the best time in New York this weekend with
talking about her new book, FAWNING. I was feeling a little blah after turning in my book, and NYC energy was the perfect palette cleanser/energizer. Order it if you haven’t already; it’s a game-changer.
Alma Joe fall candles have arrived!
ICYMI, earlier this year, I launched a candle company with my brother and sister in-law called Alma Joe.
This week, we’ve launched our fall line, which includes four new candles: The Mystic, The Nurterer, The Hearth-Keeper, and The Magician. Our archetype candles evoke a different part of human nature through story, scent, and mood.
The best part: we donate 10% of profits to support child wellness and literacy.
The Small Things Are Big
I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of doing new things. Even—maybe especially—seemingly “small” things. It was a conversation I had with my friends Kelly and Katherine on Friday night. These are two incredibly intelligent, capable, successful women, and they’d both recently done new things they felt were relatively silly and were surprised/embarrassed by how intimidated they were. But also, how proud they felt afterward. I’ve had this same experience several times in the past year, and I feel like we don’t talk about it enough. We talk about the big things, but not the small ones.
I’m convinced this is a universal thing and one that’s maybe even more prevalent post-COVID? I joined a local running club six weeks ago, but I've been putting off their weekly group run for six weeks because I’m nervous. And I’m a runner! I’ve run two marathons! Ran consistently for twenty-five years! Nobody in my daily life would see me as unconfident. But those kinds of things make me feel like walking into the junior high lunch room. Why?!
I’ve been thinking about this as it relates to dating and the stories I’ve been carrying about me and men for, oh, forty-eight years. This weekend, I did something I’ve never done before and went out of my way to give a guy in NYC my phone number. There were endless reasons why I shouldn’t (I don’t live in New York, what if he’s married, what if he’s creeped out, etc., etc., blah), but the thing was: I wanted to. So I did! And, friends, doing it felt so good. Doing it was the important part, regardless of what happened next. (He was not married; he did not think I was creepy).
Anyway, it’s a thread I’m pulling, and I’m going to write about it more next week. It’s also something we’re going to focus on in The Bigger Yes, which starts this Thursday! Join me.
Okay, that wasn’t so bad. I’m finding my legs again. More soon. xo
Laura
You are reading Love Story, a weekly newsletter about relationships, recovery, and writing from Laura McKowen. Laura is the founder of The Luckiest Club, an international sobriety support community, and the bestselling author of two books, We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life and Push Off from Here: 9 Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else).
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