It's a sunny Friday in Boulder, Colorado. The Flatirons are behind me, and today is Anastasia's birthday. We're taking some time to celebrate her, and I wanted to say a little about what it feels like to share my life with her.
One of the things I love most is how much we laugh. There's a joy in waking up next to her and knowing that at some point in the day, probably quite early on, we'll find something to be silly about. My life can get quite serious. I spend a lot of it leading circles and thinking about work that means a great deal to me. With Anastasia, I get to play.
A life beyond the work
For a couple of decades, retreat life has been what I know best. Heart iQ and New Eden have given me a life I'm deeply grateful for. I also know how easily I can get glued to my phone, or let what I do for a living take up most of my sense of who I am.
Anastasia gently invites me to look beyond that. Sometimes I find it hard to put the work down, even when there's nothing pressing I need to attend to. Then there are days like this one, out in the November sun, when I can feel how good it is to be here together and give the day our attention.
The word I kept coming back to as I recorded this was devoted. I see it in the care she brings to what she does. I feel it when I'm with her, in how easily I can settle and how excited I am about the life we're building. We're expecting our son in March, and when I think about raising him together, what I feel is a very quiet certainty. I love her to bits.
Watching Anastasia in the room
Last weekend, 37 of us gathered at Casa Sagrada in Loveland for Love, Relationships & You. Anastasia and I facilitated with Sumir Brown. I fell in love with that group and the way they took in what we were offering.
Anastasia led the embodiment practices. I've watched her grow into that role over the past year, and I loved seeing how it landed in this room. She guided people to come out of their heads and feel more connected to themselves and to the people around them.
I used to wonder if I'd ever be able to share the work that's so close to my heart with the person I come home to. Seeing Anastasia bring her own gifts to that room, and then getting to spend these quiet days with her in Boulder, made me feel how fortunate I am to share both with her.
A few more days in Colorado
We came over on the Queen Mary 2, spent Halloween weekend in Manhattan and then made our way to Colorado. This time in Boulder has felt like a little babymoon. We've had warm, sunny days in November and some time together before the baby comes.
Next we're heading south to The Hideaway for Accelerated Awakening, our week of circle work near Colorado Springs. Then we'll be back in the Netherlands to end the year at New Eden. Each time we return to the US, it feels a little more like coming home to another home.
For today, though, it's Anastasia's birthday. Happy birthday, my love. I'm so glad I get to do life with you.
Christian
