This Season Isn’t A Setback

Dear Soul Sister,

There are some seasons where the clarity comes quickly…you know what you’re working toward, what you’re letting go of, and how it’s all unfolding. And then there are seasons like this one. Where clarity comes slowly. Where the answers aren’t loud, but your body is. Where the calendar keeps moving, but your spirit feels still.

That’s the space I’ve been in.

Not lost. Not gone. Just… deep in the rework.

Back in early spring, something changed. I realized I was carrying more than just responsibilities. There was actual weight…on my body, yes…in excessive excess! But not only in my body, but also in my breath. My energy. My capacity. It was the heaviest I’d ever been, physically and apparently emotionally. And for the first time, instead of pushing past it or trying to “bounce back,” I stopped and paid attention.

I started releasing in quiet ways: Moving with more purpose.
Feeding my body with more care. Creating space instead of piling more on. Thirty pounds lighter, and I’m still letting go of what I no longer need, not just on the outside, but on the inside too.

Something else opened up for me, too: My heart.

I let someone in again. I opened myself up to the possibility of THAT kind of love, yall! Before you get too excited, it was more like an interlude than a full album. HOWEVER, while that connection didn’t last, the lesson did: I had actually never truly been ready for the love I am seeking before. Like, the real love. The kind of love where I am seen in the fullness of who I am, now… But I am now.

And I’m not waiting for someone to choose me, to feel whole.
I'm staying ready, grounded in myself, and allowing love to meet me when it’s aligned. Ok, OK…enough about that!

So, of course, life doesn’t pause when we finally feel like we’re getting a rhythm going. Family emergencies happened. My A/C went out in the middle of summer last month. We had to get rid of our pet cat. And I literally just finished packing suitcases… not for vacation, but to support someone I love through recovery.

During one of those family health emergencies earlier this year, something else unexpected unfolded: Someone tried to drive a wedge between me and one of the most foundational people in my life…my childhood best friend, we’ll call them, QC. Because of this third party, we didn’t speak for a few months. Now that the dust has settled, I can see clearly how much we both needed each other during that time, and how silence, and possibly envy, tried to steal something sacred.

But I am so glad that grace showed up, as it always does when we’re willing to name what’s true. We laid everything on the table. Uncovered the lies. Told the truth. And we’ve been rebuilding ever since…with more honesty, more softness, and more clarity than we ever had before.

Isn’t it wild how just a few months ago, in the dead of winter, my heat went out, and now, in the thick of summer, my air conditioning did too? The universe speaks LOUD when you keep ignorning. Two opposite seasons, both asking me to sit in discomfort I didn’t choose. In the cold, I had to learn to receive warmth from others. In the heat, I had to learn how to stay grounded even when everything around me felt overwhelming. Neither one broke me. Both stretched me. And in both, I learned how to regulate my energy in ways no calendar ever taught me.

Everything I thought I’d be launching or finalizing right now?
It’s on pause. Not canceled. Not forgotten. Just paused. And surprisingly, I’m at peace with that. Because I know what kind of year I’m in.

I’m in a Personal Year 4, and collectively, we’re in a Universal Year 9. Simply put, while the world is closing old cycles, I’m being asked to rebuild what’s real. This isn’t the breakthrough year. It’s the one that slows you down so you can build something that lasts. It’s about realignment. Reworking habits. Tending to what actually sustains you…not just what looks good on paper.

So if things feel slower than expected… If your capacity doesn’t match your vision just yet… You’re not behind. You’re just honoring the season you’re truly in. As for me and this business:

The rebrand is still happening. The community is still forming. The work is still sacred…it’s just not moving on the timeline I thought it would. But it is moving. And I’m moving with it.

What I am learning is that, before I could build a community rooted in deep, intentional friendships… I had to repair one of my own. And not just any friendship, one of my very firsts in this lifetime. This reconnection with QC reminded me that this shift I’ve been sensing: from performance to presence, from content to connection, from healing to honest relationship…it isn’t just vision. It’s real. It’s personal. It’s already happening. It showed me that the kind of connection I want to help others rebuild must start with the ones I’ve almost lost myself. What I’m building isn’t performative sisterhood. It’s real relationship… the kind that’s tested, returned to, and rebuilt from truth.

So let me ask you:

What have you quietly outgrown, even if you haven’t said it out loud yet?
And what might be waiting to be rebuilt, if only you gave it space to breathe?

Sometimes, we’re not in a season of starting. We’re in a season of staying honest. And that’s more than enough.

As I continue supporting my family through this stretch, I’ll be taking a little more time offline, including from the blog, to stay present where it matters most. I plan to return to writing again in August or September, with fresh updates and space to reconnect more deeply. Until then, just know that I’m still here… walking through it, just like you. Choosing softness. Choosing honesty. Choosing to honor the process even when it’s quieter than expected.

Remember: You don’t have to rush back to anything you had the courage to release. (I don’t know who that’s for, but it’s for someone!)

I believe in you. I support you. I got you.

With peace & SO much love,

Coach Lori