On Being, Not Doing
A Note for Imbolc
Today is Imbolc or Saint Brigid’s Day. It is a new celebration for me but has been celebrated for thousands of years. Its roots are in Gaelic traditions but was Christianized to make it more palatable in the 5th century, it marks the beginning of spring. It’s a time for letting go that which does not serve any more and the transitions in the form of healing and poetry.
Letting go is not that simple. Habits, cultural and societal expectations and even lack of awareness keep us tethered to things that strain our energy from being focused on our purpose. As both US and International societies are changing, we’re facing difficult question: What truly serves us? Our we serving only ourselves or the greater we?
While my writing is typically geared toward healthcare awareness, I want to honor my humanness. This week, in coaching conversations, I’ve talked with many people about being human beings and not human doings.
I left corporate healthcare last June, and last night I was reminded exactly why. I was invited to a full moon gathering with five other women where we made elderberry syrup together. Purple-stained fingers, laughter, the joy of celebrating a revealed pregnancy, tasting and talking and simply being. It was beautiful, special—timely.
A year ago, I wouldn't have had the space for this. If I would have attended with a running internal monologue about how I'd be interpreted at work. I wouldn't have had the psychological safety to speak freely at work about what I attended without anticipating side-eye glances or labels. Most likely I wouldn't have had the energy to go—isolation felt like the only way to refill my cup.
So I’m choosing to be my full self on this page. I’m a Master’s-prepared RN with experience navigating both the boardroom and the frontline. And I’m someone who makes elderberry syrup under full moons.
This is my reminder to you: it is ALWAYS okay to let go of what no longer serves you. It’s not always easy, and the shift isn’t always visible to others. But stir your pot, tend your garden, and remember—you are a human being.
As you return to the spring, what is one thing you can let go of that no longer serves you? If you let go of it, how will it help your human being?
Happy discovery friends and readers. I’m honored to be here with you!
I love how you name the return to being without romanticizing it or softening the cost of what you had to let go of to get there.
Your words land right alongside a mantra I’ve been living with for years now: peaceful well-being. Not productivity, not performance, not proving. Just the steady choice to live in a way that doesn’t fracture the nervous system or the soul.
What you shared about psychological safety really resonated. The freedom to be fully human without translating yourself or bracing for interpretation is everything. I love how you hold both identities without apology. The nurse who knows systems and the woman who stirs elderberry syrup and listens to the moon.
Thank you for this reminder. It feels like an invitation back into our bodies, our rhythms, our humanity. I’m really grateful to be in conversation with you, here and beyond this space.