Don’t be afraid of the winter darlings! The light changes every single day, the long shadows and low sun of sharp winter afternoons make us thankful that just around the corner, spring is waiting. Wrap up, fill a flask with hot tea (or hot chocolate- let’s be honest here), remember that the world, just like us, needs balance - light and shade, cold and hot, happy and sad, try to accept and even embrace each seasonal change and know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; summer is on the other side and future you is there too, with the sun shining warmly on your face. Happy autumn and winter to you all xxx
Your September sounds delightful! Mine has been fairly relaxed ahead of a busy term at uni (for work and studies) so as well as teaching my exercise classes I'm going to be starting my masters dissertation looking at how exercise and our relationship with our bodies (and diet culture) interact... I'm very excited to get started but also nervous about how much work I have ahead of me...!
Ah your September sounds super aces!!! Sun and Spa time is the way!!! I felt so blessed to have the sun at the start☀️😊 but after a brief beachy break in Tenby Wales🏴 with my niece I came back with the darn covid at the same time the sun came out😔 Thus most of September has passed in a coviddy haze. Though I'm very thankful I have a garden and could get out and lie there like a recovering walrus 🦭😂. Loving the new tattoo btw and love your general rainbow vibes🌈😊... I too have some Autumn based angst😱#what? summeroveralready? 😨 but tbh I also so utterly looove halloween season! Orange leaves pumpkin time! and can't wait for pie, soup n spookiness🎃... I've already got a new spooky hoodie and leggings and socks mwa hahaha😂🕷️👻🎃x
Where has September gone?! It seems the last MJC mail was just a few days ago. Your September sounds so warm and fuzzy, Megan, really great! I can’t complain myself. I had my first holiday in a while and I spend it with friends, I haven’t seen in ages. I definitely filled my friendship cup this month. I also went to get my vitamin D level tested. Supplementing vitamin D really helped with my mood last winter, maybe that’s something to try out.
Sending a big warm hug for everyone who needs one.
Wow Megan! You packed a lot into one month! Love your tattoo. It’s as bright, colorful and beautiful as you are 😊
The month went by really quickly for me. But if September had a theme, it was Family. Celebrating and spending quality time with my parents, sister and 2 brothers throughout the month. As my parents are getting older, I recognize the value of time spent with them. I had an absolutely AH-mazing meal at my brother’s restaurant here in Delaware. Not everyone has an award-winning gourmet chef in the family! 😉 And then last week I got to take the train to Boston to visit my younger brother for a long weekend. I’d say it was a month well-spent.
Hi dearest Megan <3 Thanks for sharing your update! I'm SOOO obsessed with your tattoo - I have been wanting to add to mine for a while, and this is really beautiful. October is my birthday month so I am already thinking about wanting to do something sweet to celebrate myself with my friends but not be too much of the center of attention... maybe I should add a little Char spice and celebrate to the MAX!! I'm in my senior year of college in Connecticut and really feeling at peace. I have been having some negative body thoughts arise surprisingly in the last month or so (after so many years of these rarely coming up). I think it has to do with me having a crush (oolala) and wanting to appear attractive :( I know cognitively that this is not true, but it's an old thought pattern. I wonder how others in the body positive world deal with these old brain paths that we know aren't true but we feel them arising again? I'm trying to practice some gentle awareness and compassion toward those parts, then letting them know we actually don't need to believe that anymore. Anyways, lots of love!
I love/ loved Hampstead Heath. Spent so much time there as a child. Went to this amazing socially nourishing school on Hampstead Heath called ChristChurch. Only 100 kids, of various colour and nationalities, Rich ones and poor ones- a beautiful melting pot 🌈🌈🌈
I haven’t been in touch for ages. Always find your writings and doings and beings life affirming. I see that there have been so many parallels in your life and my eldest daughter’s life. And then I have that connection of having been brought up in the same house as Biff and Paul, Paul being a good friend of my mum and protector of me when my mum was ill. But I digress, my other daughter, Rachael, who has additional needs due to physical and intellectual challenges ( I don’t like the word disabled - it’s so disabling!! and invalid- in valid? - what the fuck! - and handicapped! I mean….. My daughter isn’t disabled- she is very able- in extraordinary ways. ) Anyway , o just wanted to say apropos to your writings, one of Rachael’s favourite t- shirts says “but what if it goes right?”😊
Your lovely September seeps right through the screen and into my body!! I had an unexpectedly good September as well. I too react physically and emotionally to the chance in time and light…”here we come depression” I think. But I’m reality, despite more rain than I prefer, September was productive and enjoyable. I celebrated my 49th birthday last week, and I thought it might be hard for me…birthdays are tough because they are heading into the dark season and bc they are so close to the anniversary of my partners suicide. But this year I woke up on my birthday feeling a calm and contentment that I can barely describe. I felt truly hopeful for the first time in a very long time. A kind of “this is my year” glaze covered me and I had a lovely celebration with my family and heard from lots of friends. It was lovely. I received the new Beats 3 headphones with wireless connection for music and calls and I’m most excited to try them out! Hoping to carry this contentment with me one day at a time in October. Sending love and happy birthday to Char!!
Oct 2, 2023·edited Oct 2, 2023Liked by Megan Jayne Crabbe
Your tattoo is beautiful! I'm awed by what tattoo artists can create nowadays. If it's not too personal, can I ask what inspired that design? I feel like it fits/suits you so perfectly.
💜MJC💜 your September sounds lovely. Here in Melbourne, Australia we have welcomed Spring... so I am soaking in your messages about enjoying the warm weather, rather than running terrified from exposing my bod. I also had my graduation ceremony on 28/9, to officially end my journey to complete my doctorate. However.... I am gathering my brave bones to step away from academic culture and do what makes my heart truly sing 🎶 supporting others and sharing some of the gifts I have received along my path to healing... can I do it ??!!! I will let you know in next month's comments!!! Love you, Megan - enjoy autumn, and snuggling with your bae and mugs of tea xx
I love that you made the most of the sun this month - so good to fill our tanks when we can ☀️
And maybe this IS how we’re supposed to be being alive
My obsession (yes) with beating myself up around productivity and achievement has calmed down a bit since realising that ‘doing’ is basically just moving stuff around, it’s handy if you need to do it to survive but it doesn’t actually make you any more worthy
Hey Megan sounds like a fun packed September i am glad you had listened to your mind and body and rested too.
I moved in to a halls flat on my own and it's been not so good I have switched from a life by the sea that was quiet and I was enjoying my photography but I moved for uni and I feel like it's sucked all my enjoyment and I'm having a depressive episode and not been able to attend my lectures hopefully next week is a better week. I am grateful for such a supportive university and i couldn't do without their support but everything I had feels like I've lost.
I love getting mail every month it's a chance for us to vent. No one said it was easier going to uni and out of comfort zones but with added extras i.e fibromyalgia and multiple other illnesses including mental health , it's dam tough!
I am sending love to anyone who needs it and I hope my spark comes back soon until then I will ride out the waves in hope the waves are calmer.
Much love from the north to anyone that needs it right now 🤗🤗
Well I’m in rural Ireland now , driving my dear old, very old campervan called Nellie around. So it feels like I’m on one great big heath and I have plenty of adventures- some invited some uninvited ( like in the dark when it’s lashing rain and the 33 year old headlights peak about two yards ahead of me - yards! I’m showing my age😂!!)
We’re all well. Rachael keeps me on my toes, chauffeuring her here there and everywhere especially to her big sis, Hannah. I’m booked for Sunday! Trying hard to find Rachael a place to live independently with her own supportive staff. It will happen . Just have to negotiate unimaginative bureaucracy. Hannah is kept on her toes by all four children but especially her youngest, Josh. She told me today she calls him her joy boy! He has autism and is non verbal but certainly keeps her life’s full ! ( of surprises, mischief, challenges and joy)
Thank you so much for sharing that you are already starting to feel the change of the seasons. I have been feeling the exact same way and it is nice to know I am not alone. I still have fall but the thought of winter bums me right out. But we got this!
Don’t be afraid of the winter darlings! The light changes every single day, the long shadows and low sun of sharp winter afternoons make us thankful that just around the corner, spring is waiting. Wrap up, fill a flask with hot tea (or hot chocolate- let’s be honest here), remember that the world, just like us, needs balance - light and shade, cold and hot, happy and sad, try to accept and even embrace each seasonal change and know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; summer is on the other side and future you is there too, with the sun shining warmly on your face. Happy autumn and winter to you all xxx
Your September sounds delightful! Mine has been fairly relaxed ahead of a busy term at uni (for work and studies) so as well as teaching my exercise classes I'm going to be starting my masters dissertation looking at how exercise and our relationship with our bodies (and diet culture) interact... I'm very excited to get started but also nervous about how much work I have ahead of me...!
Ah your September sounds super aces!!! Sun and Spa time is the way!!! I felt so blessed to have the sun at the start☀️😊 but after a brief beachy break in Tenby Wales🏴 with my niece I came back with the darn covid at the same time the sun came out😔 Thus most of September has passed in a coviddy haze. Though I'm very thankful I have a garden and could get out and lie there like a recovering walrus 🦭😂. Loving the new tattoo btw and love your general rainbow vibes🌈😊... I too have some Autumn based angst😱#what? summeroveralready? 😨 but tbh I also so utterly looove halloween season! Orange leaves pumpkin time! and can't wait for pie, soup n spookiness🎃... I've already got a new spooky hoodie and leggings and socks mwa hahaha😂🕷️👻🎃x
Where has September gone?! It seems the last MJC mail was just a few days ago. Your September sounds so warm and fuzzy, Megan, really great! I can’t complain myself. I had my first holiday in a while and I spend it with friends, I haven’t seen in ages. I definitely filled my friendship cup this month. I also went to get my vitamin D level tested. Supplementing vitamin D really helped with my mood last winter, maybe that’s something to try out.
Sending a big warm hug for everyone who needs one.
Wow Megan! You packed a lot into one month! Love your tattoo. It’s as bright, colorful and beautiful as you are 😊
The month went by really quickly for me. But if September had a theme, it was Family. Celebrating and spending quality time with my parents, sister and 2 brothers throughout the month. As my parents are getting older, I recognize the value of time spent with them. I had an absolutely AH-mazing meal at my brother’s restaurant here in Delaware. Not everyone has an award-winning gourmet chef in the family! 😉 And then last week I got to take the train to Boston to visit my younger brother for a long weekend. I’d say it was a month well-spent.
Hi dearest Megan <3 Thanks for sharing your update! I'm SOOO obsessed with your tattoo - I have been wanting to add to mine for a while, and this is really beautiful. October is my birthday month so I am already thinking about wanting to do something sweet to celebrate myself with my friends but not be too much of the center of attention... maybe I should add a little Char spice and celebrate to the MAX!! I'm in my senior year of college in Connecticut and really feeling at peace. I have been having some negative body thoughts arise surprisingly in the last month or so (after so many years of these rarely coming up). I think it has to do with me having a crush (oolala) and wanting to appear attractive :( I know cognitively that this is not true, but it's an old thought pattern. I wonder how others in the body positive world deal with these old brain paths that we know aren't true but we feel them arising again? I'm trying to practice some gentle awareness and compassion toward those parts, then letting them know we actually don't need to believe that anymore. Anyways, lots of love!
I love/ loved Hampstead Heath. Spent so much time there as a child. Went to this amazing socially nourishing school on Hampstead Heath called ChristChurch. Only 100 kids, of various colour and nationalities, Rich ones and poor ones- a beautiful melting pot 🌈🌈🌈
Hi Megan ,
I haven’t been in touch for ages. Always find your writings and doings and beings life affirming. I see that there have been so many parallels in your life and my eldest daughter’s life. And then I have that connection of having been brought up in the same house as Biff and Paul, Paul being a good friend of my mum and protector of me when my mum was ill. But I digress, my other daughter, Rachael, who has additional needs due to physical and intellectual challenges ( I don’t like the word disabled - it’s so disabling!! and invalid- in valid? - what the fuck! - and handicapped! I mean….. My daughter isn’t disabled- she is very able- in extraordinary ways. ) Anyway , o just wanted to say apropos to your writings, one of Rachael’s favourite t- shirts says “but what if it goes right?”😊
Your lovely September seeps right through the screen and into my body!! I had an unexpectedly good September as well. I too react physically and emotionally to the chance in time and light…”here we come depression” I think. But I’m reality, despite more rain than I prefer, September was productive and enjoyable. I celebrated my 49th birthday last week, and I thought it might be hard for me…birthdays are tough because they are heading into the dark season and bc they are so close to the anniversary of my partners suicide. But this year I woke up on my birthday feeling a calm and contentment that I can barely describe. I felt truly hopeful for the first time in a very long time. A kind of “this is my year” glaze covered me and I had a lovely celebration with my family and heard from lots of friends. It was lovely. I received the new Beats 3 headphones with wireless connection for music and calls and I’m most excited to try them out! Hoping to carry this contentment with me one day at a time in October. Sending love and happy birthday to Char!!
Your tattoo is beautiful! I'm awed by what tattoo artists can create nowadays. If it's not too personal, can I ask what inspired that design? I feel like it fits/suits you so perfectly.
💜MJC💜 your September sounds lovely. Here in Melbourne, Australia we have welcomed Spring... so I am soaking in your messages about enjoying the warm weather, rather than running terrified from exposing my bod. I also had my graduation ceremony on 28/9, to officially end my journey to complete my doctorate. However.... I am gathering my brave bones to step away from academic culture and do what makes my heart truly sing 🎶 supporting others and sharing some of the gifts I have received along my path to healing... can I do it ??!!! I will let you know in next month's comments!!! Love you, Megan - enjoy autumn, and snuggling with your bae and mugs of tea xx
Another wonderful post, thank you Angel
I love that you made the most of the sun this month - so good to fill our tanks when we can ☀️
And maybe this IS how we’re supposed to be being alive
My obsession (yes) with beating myself up around productivity and achievement has calmed down a bit since realising that ‘doing’ is basically just moving stuff around, it’s handy if you need to do it to survive but it doesn’t actually make you any more worthy
I love you xxxxxxx
Hey Megan sounds like a fun packed September i am glad you had listened to your mind and body and rested too.
I moved in to a halls flat on my own and it's been not so good I have switched from a life by the sea that was quiet and I was enjoying my photography but I moved for uni and I feel like it's sucked all my enjoyment and I'm having a depressive episode and not been able to attend my lectures hopefully next week is a better week. I am grateful for such a supportive university and i couldn't do without their support but everything I had feels like I've lost.
I love getting mail every month it's a chance for us to vent. No one said it was easier going to uni and out of comfort zones but with added extras i.e fibromyalgia and multiple other illnesses including mental health , it's dam tough!
I am sending love to anyone who needs it and I hope my spark comes back soon until then I will ride out the waves in hope the waves are calmer.
Much love from the north to anyone that needs it right now 🤗🤗
👍🏽❤️👍🏽
Well I’m in rural Ireland now , driving my dear old, very old campervan called Nellie around. So it feels like I’m on one great big heath and I have plenty of adventures- some invited some uninvited ( like in the dark when it’s lashing rain and the 33 year old headlights peak about two yards ahead of me - yards! I’m showing my age😂!!)
We’re all well. Rachael keeps me on my toes, chauffeuring her here there and everywhere especially to her big sis, Hannah. I’m booked for Sunday! Trying hard to find Rachael a place to live independently with her own supportive staff. It will happen . Just have to negotiate unimaginative bureaucracy. Hannah is kept on her toes by all four children but especially her youngest, Josh. She told me today she calls him her joy boy! He has autism and is non verbal but certainly keeps her life’s full ! ( of surprises, mischief, challenges and joy)
Thank you so much for sharing that you are already starting to feel the change of the seasons. I have been feeling the exact same way and it is nice to know I am not alone. I still have fall but the thought of winter bums me right out. But we got this!