Intro:
My dear friend Laura Lavigne is the founder of the Center for Happiness in Anacortes, Washington. I was extremely blessed to spend six weeks near the end of 2018 living with her in Anacortes and helping out in small ways at the Center. One of the first things Laura taught me was about Essence. You can learn more about Essence here.
While living in Washington, I often found myself and my friends declaring an Essence for the day like “playfulness” or “connection” or “adventure.” The idea of beginning a morning with an intention not of what I wanted to accomplish, but of the things I wanted to feel was new and exciting.
A mutual friend of Laura and I was chatting with us about Essences when he mentioned wanting to focus on an Essence each month of 2019. Enchanted with the idea, I asked Laura to share with me a list of Essences. These are my reflections.
Essence of June: Connection
Staring at the Essence document, I thought about June. Every June since I’ve lived in New York, I have returned to Pennsylvania for one week to work at a leadership camp called RYLA.
The RYLA program is one of the most important things in the world to me and something that has drastically changed my life. A big reason for that is the community that it so authentically holds.
My fellow counselors are some of the kindest, brightest, most dedicated people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I feel incredibly blessed to call them my friends. Being one of the only counselors not local to the Pennsylvania area, I treasure my short time with that community every single year.
As I sat down to write this post, I found myself naturally mentioning community a few times – to the point that I considered changing my Essence to that. But then I thought about why I feel community at RYLA. That is because of the connection.
The most beautiful thing in the world is the opportunity to feel genuine connectivity to the people around you. To be in sync with those you live with and to feel as though you are understood. To be met where you are and as you are is one of life’s greatest blessings.
In June, I hope to emulate this as I take on a new adventure – working as a counselor not just at RYLA, but at three subsequent camps throughout the rest of the summer. If I can bring connection to my world this June, to all the new faces I will meet, and to all the new friends I will walk away with, I will have lived into my Essence.
Time to lean in.
Love always,
Liz
Essence of January: Discernment
Essence of February: Trust
Essence of March: Expansiveness
Essence of April: Vision
Essence of May: Freedom
Essence of June: Connection
