photo from my summer retreat by Brent BlackLion Nelson

Last week I ran my annual in-person writing retreat on the coast of Maine, with a group of wonderful folks joining me. It was a week full of creativity, transformation, and laughter.

I also had an appointment to tour a potential new retreat venue. We love our gathering spot, but we’ve been outgrowing the place a bit. The new place is absolutely perfect for us. It ticks all the boxes of what we love about these summer gatherings, and offers even more amenities.

Since I’ve been following my inner guidance more and more, I asked my guide Zeke what he thought of the new space. I heard, “this is the upgrade.”

I’ve since been embracing that “upgrade” energy, and things are flowing in beautiful ways. There have been lots of synchronicities, unexpected delights, and so much summer fun in my life! I’m grateful.

Here are some fun and interesting finds from the web that I hope bring you inspiration:

My dear friend and biz sister Jennifer Elizabeth Moore is running a 30-day gifting challenge over in her Empathic Mastery Facebook group – join us to expand your ability to give and receive!

Do you identify with being “too busy,” but you’re not sure how to change it? Check out Jeannette Maw’s blog post on creating miracles.

The weirdness and chaos in public life has been ramping up lately. That’s an understatement, I realize. Know that things are probably better than they seem. This is such an inspiring video!!!

If you’re like me, you have way more ideas for creative projects than you have time and energy to devote to them. Here’s a terrific article about how to prioritize which ideas to pursue.

If you’re looking for a fun virtual book club to join, Maine Public has one that’s been going for a while now. They tend to read quality mainstream fiction by local authors.

Someone told me about Fable, which is an online community for those who love stories. I haven’t checked it out in detail yet (I just downloaded the app and plan to play with it, soon), but wanted to share it in case it calls to you. Are you already on Fable? What do you think of it?

I loved the most recent season of Bridgerton on Netflix. If you’re fan, too, here’s a list of other shows you might enjoy. I can personally recommend Sex Education, Outlander, The Crown, and Derry Girls.

Recently I was inspired to start my own Substack blog, Musings from Nikki Starcat Shields. I’m enjoying it so far. I have no idea, yet, how or whether that will impact this blog, but I encourage you to come and check it out, and subscribe if you like what I’m offering.