Hello friends,
Last week, we began our journey with a tender question:
What used to light me up?
We looked back at the small joys and exciting moments of childhood — not to dwell in the past, but to reclaim something essential about who we are.
This week, we turn toward the places that help us remember.
Not just physical places — though those count. But also the sensory, emotional, and imagined landscapes that bring us home to ourselves.
A Place That Lives in Me
For me, one of those places has always been Switzerland.
Switzerland has been calling to me for as long as I can remember.
I’ve never set foot there, but somehow, it lives in me — quietly, insistently — like a long-lost friend I’ve yet to meet.
Maybe the call began with the dress my grandmother gave me in Grade One — delicately stitched, a bit formal, a bit magical. I remember how special I felt in it, as though it had come from a place where beauty was made slowly and with care. I’m not sure when that changed — I don’t like wearing dresses now — but I sure looked sweet in my little dress from Switzerland.
Or maybe it was Heidi, the book I loved as a child. I remember being over-the-moon excited when I found a copy at a garage sale. There’s something about that alpine life — the goats, the cheese, the wildflowers, the fresh air — that always called to me. It felt simple, spirited, whole. Maybe what I longed for wasn’t just Switzerland, but the feeling it stirred in me — a sense of freedom and rootedness all at once.
A few years ago, my granddaughter read Heidi to me. Her small voice beside me, her curiosity wide open — and just like that, I felt a tug on my heart. As if something had come full circle. As if the longing I had carried was being passed gently forward, like an heirloom.
Even now, Switzerland calls to me. I don’t know exactly why, or when I’ll finally go, but the yearning itself feels sacred. Like it’s less about geography, and more about a feeling: simplicity, stillness, wonder. Something timeless and essential.
Returning Through Place
This week in The Art of Returning, we’re honoring the places — real, remembered, or longed-for — that feel like home. Places that have shaped us, even if we haven’t yet stood in their soil.
We all have places like this.
Places we’ve visited. Places we’ve only imagined.
Places from childhood.
Places that exist more in memory or emotion than on any map.
These places, real or remembered, help us return to who we are at our core.
💫 Gentle Prompts for Reflection
Pick one (or a few) to sit with this week:
What places — real or imagined — have always called to me?
Where did I feel most like myself as a child?
Are there places I haven’t been, but feel deeply connected to?
What feelings do those places stir in me — stillness, wonder, belonging, joy?
How might I bring a small piece of that place (or feeling) into my everyday life?
🎨 A Creative Invitation: Choose Your Own Adventure
Option 1: Make a Soul Map
Draw or collage a map — not of where you’ve been, but of the places that live inside you.
Include:
Places you’ve loved
Places you long for
Imagined landscapes
Childhood hideaways
Even just a feeling of a place
Label them with what they’ve given you: peace, wonder, courage, possibility.
Option 2: Write a "Postcard to Self"
Choose one of your special places — real or imagined — and write a short postcard from there.
You might begin with:
Dear Me, I’m writing to you from…
Describe what you see, smell, hear, and feel. Let it be vivid. Let it bring you back.
🕯 A Stillness Practice: A 5-Minute Grounding
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in a place that brings you peace.
It can be a real place or an imagined one.
Breathe slowly. Notice the details:
the light, the sound, the feeling in your body.
Stay here for five minutes.
Let it settle you. Let it remind you:
you carry this place with you.
Hope you'll join us at The Kitchen Table on Friday, June 27th. This month at the Kitchen Table, we gather with suitcases full of stories, hearts cracked open by beauty, and maybe even a little sand still in our shoes.
Inspired by the theme “The Art of Returning,” we’ll explore what it means to come home—not just physically, but emotionally and soulfully—after stepping away from our everyday lives. Whether you’ve recently travelled far or simply taken a pause from routine, time away has a way of shifting something inside us. We’ll reflect on how holidays—of any kind—leave us changed, awakened, softened, and somehow a little more ourselves again.
As always, we’ll share gentle conversation, meaningful reflection, and a creative project to anchor our experience.
This month’s creative invitation:
You’ll be guided in creating a simple handmade card inspired by a travel memory—real or imagined. Your card will serve as a soulful keepsake of a time you felt truly alive and present.
Bring your tea, your stories, and watch for a list of supplies you'll require for the creative project. Let’s gather and gently honor the magic of stepping away—and the beauty of what we find when we return.
Hope you can join us!
