Yesterday, I woke up at dawn mainly because, from my bed, I can see the sunrise through the east-facing kitchen window. The Gallenas Mountains in the distance were still purple in the dark, but glowing along their ridges from the coral and gold climbing up behind them.
What a beautiful image this would make, I thought, but my phone is over there and it's 26 degrees this morning in the high desert. Maybe Sam will get up first and start a fire.
He did. Then last night, I left my phone by my bed.
See?
What's the deal with New Mexico?
Sam and I lived in southern Colorado for many years, and when the snow got too deep or spring was slow in coming, we'd head south to our cattle leases, or to Abiquiu, Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
I used to say you could drop me blindfolded into New Mexico and I'd know I was there. The air is different. It smells like the sound crystal goblets make when you clink them - clear and bright - and up here at 6500 feet, there's sage and cedar too. Of course the giant sky is turquoise, and on a moonless night, the milky way spreads overhead like a thousand miles of pixie dust, so bright you can nearly read by it.
Sam has taken a job here on a cattle ranch until Spring. Our horses are here and they have jobs now too. Sam and I will be the ones with the large axes breaking ice in the cattle troughs. It's snowing right now in fact.
Advent.
I wasn't sure this western adventure would make sense, but somehow it does. The stillness, the space - it's a dream scenario for a squirrel-chasing writer like me. I'm editing Death to Sparkleprincess: A Beginners Guide to Midlife, Faith and Meaningful Work now, planning for a spring publication.
But it's more than that.
Advent began on Sunday and I started to practice again with the good folks at Hallow. Advent means arrival in Latin. It's the four weeks before Christmas, where Christians slow down and prepare for The Christ; waiting with joy, hopeful expectancy and prayer.
The high desert of New Mexico makes it clear when it's time to germinate, so focusing on stillness and the quiet of Advent makes sense to me.
But is that how Christmas usually goes? Hardly. We usually do the exact opposite, and I always feel a little sad in January, like I missed something time-bound and precious in the season. I feel unrested, overfed and distant from the things of God.
I miss being with God when I'm far away and distracted. Something in me yearns to dwell in ineffible things that only settle on me when I stop running.
Of course there's time for frivolity and shopping, but I wonder if we might be more satisfied in January if we balance our devotion to Nordstrom with some rest in God - letting Him love us in the quiet hours of the morning.
If that feels like a tall order, steal the time from your phone. The Advent Challenge on Hallow is only on day two, so you can easily catch up.
What else is germinating.
The world is changing. I'm changing. Maybe you are too, and what women tell me they want most right now, is not more learning. They want embodied experience and communal adventure with other women who become friends - family even.
We've done 14 women's retreats in the last eight years, in the US and Europe. I love those events, so I have decided to create more of them, but in a different way.
They're not retreats exactly anymore, but I'm not sure what to call them. Friendship, community, exploration and adventure is the meat and potatoes, midlife purpose is the gravy. On a Girl Catch Fire Adventure, you come one way and leave another.
Last night in our Second Mountain Society gathering, our Chief Joy Officer and long time client JSteele put words to what we are doing around here, and have been for years.
It's like a life coach but it's also a therapist, but it's also the community and network and accountability. People just don't have that other places. Not like this...We're kind of a one-stop shop of really focused, specific, no bones about it, all pretend selves aside... it's a place we grow, it's a space I've grown for a long time. I'm grateful for that.
A new kind of gathering.
Imagine a small circle of midlife women, together for an extra-long weekend in New Mexico, with desert light and sage in bloom, local food, hot springs, and unhurried conversations about what's now and what's next; with gentle structure from me and plenty of room to breathe, hike and explore.
Nothing is set yet. No dates, no prices. Right now I only want to know one thing: Does this stir something in you?
Yes, put me on the interest list please
If you feel even a small tug, add your name to the list.
It is not a commitment. It just tells me you want to see details if we move forward. If it's a big yes, you can get on the list and reply to this email with what you need/want and would love to see built in.
See you out West in the spring?
One last thing.
I'm fanatical about putting my plans on paper. Phones are for scheduling but planners are for planning, because how often do you block time for dreamwork on your phone?
Each year I create a Firegirl Planner and the 2026 version just went up on Amazon. Because you asked, we made it smaller and thinner this year, more purse friendly. It's 6x9, 14 ounces and a straight-up workhorse, with our frameworks in the front and the weeks all laid on side by side throughout.
Use it to schedule things that are important but not urgent - learning French, going to yoga, building your side hustle...all the stuff that lives in your heart outside 8-5.
It's $27. Grab it here.
That's all from me for now. I hope this December you make space for devotion and letting God love you full.
Responses