Hey there Healers,
‼️ Before I dive in, wanted to let you know the frequency of my newsletter will be shifting for this summer season (read on below). Even though they will be a little less frequent I will certainly make it worth your time when you do get them.....and now on to the tea...
I hope your summer is well underway and you are enjoying the shift that this season is bringing.
I gotta be honest. Summer is a hard season for me - and it frustrates me to say that because I kinda feel like summer should be about FUN. 😤
As a Leo 🦁 Sun (ie. August baby if you aren't into astrology) the summer was always exciting for me growing up.
Every year, on the first day of summer, my mom would come to me with excitement in her eyes and say :
"OK what do you want your birthday theme to be this year"
and we'd spend all summer planning my birthday party - from what outfits I'd be wearing to the hubbah bubba gum tape rolls in my loot bags, summer felt magical! ✨
But as I grew into my career as a practitioner, summers became less about birthday celebrations and swimming in lakes are more about continuing the status quo of a busy practice - and became kinda the same as any other season quite frankly.
But interestingly, summers really started to lose their appeal when I noticed a bizarre pattern that seemed to reoccur annually...
Summers became a season of DRAMA and CONFLICT.
It seemed that every summer since opening my large clinic, something would blow up in my face.
AND I MEAN BLOW THE F$%K UP!🌋
💥One of the first years it felt like a really difficult summer was the year my clinic partner/co-owner decided to walk away from our not-so-profitable practice where I had the choice of choosing to keep an indebted practice going or declare the business bankrupt and accept that I'd have to fight my landlords in court over 100s of thousands of dollars. ( I chose to work the practice out of debt which took a few years and left me with my first batch of grey hair 👵🏻)
💥One summer I had two RMTs who I'd work with for years decide to team up and leave the practice together at the same time. They told they didn't care about our contract and engaged a lawyer to try and make a point. It resolved but was messy and awful and no one won in the end.
💥Another summer, after immigrating a practitioner from abroad who demanded I increase her pay immediately upon arrival (despite me having already paid thousands of dollars to immigation lawyers and us having firm contractual agreements in place) she threatened to file a human rights complaint against me to extort more money. Also resolved, but man - I do not wish that on anyone.
You can imagine how summers quickly lost their magic for me when year after year, there seemed to be new dramas, new conflicts and no shortage of things to do and manage - professionally and otherwise - always showing up as soon as July hit.
One thing that all these summers had in common is they were all VERY busy. Too many clients. Too many open loops. Too many things on my plate.
Trying to be a good practitioner, good clinic owner, good leader and good human...and feeling like I was failing at all of them.
This year, I've made different plans.
A week after my father passed I went out to BC to visit some close friends. While there, I realized that I could no longer keep doing things the way I'd been doing them.
I needed to...
...SLOW....
...DOWN....
But when you're used to going 100 miles an hour it's hard to find the ripcord for the parachute that you never strapped to yourself in the first place. 🪂
The first painful and difficult thing I needed to cut as part of my summer slow down was my assistant. 😢 💔
We've worked together for 1.5 years and have genuinely loved working together - but I knew I just didn't have it in me to keep going at the pace I would need to in order to keep her employed.
I also realized that I needed to bring things back to basics.
No building programs.
No working to get to the next phase.
Just seeing my patients in clinic.
Support my Emotional Anatomy and Wellthy Healer communities.
Staying on top of the systems that keep my business running and grounded.
Writing emails from inspiration, not a schedule.
Being there for my mom in this time of transition.
And the rest of the summer is for slow, intentional fun.
I've realized the summers I loved as a kid were magical because there was spaciousness.
No school.
No major obligations (beyond my movie theater job when I was 15 - which was actually the best 🤓).
Just long days.
Swimming in lakes.
Reading books.
Calling my friends and talking for hours.
Collecting stickers and making crafts.
So over the past few weeks I've been doing the "grown up" version of those things.
Swimming in Lakes. 🏊🏻♀️
Reading books.(smuttier ones now 😉)
Doing arts and crafts for my garden and home.🏡
Calling my friends and talking for hours.🤙
This summer I am committing to a slow summer for MYSELF.
For MY health.
For MY enjoyment.
If you've been here long enough you know my ethos is: the healthier and happier the practitioner - the better for everyone!
So I am sticking to that this summer.
I'm choosing joy for this summer.
I'm planning a birthday party - and there's gonna be themes and maybe even lootbags! 🥲
And if you find your summers go by too quickly too - always wondering where all that summertime joy has gone - consider this your permission slip to cut the excess and make it joyful again!
Maybe you DON'T need to go on an epic roadtrip with lots of to-dos and prep....
Instead, this is the summer you go to get Dairy Queen dipped cones daily with the kids and walk to the splash pad.
Maybe you DON'T need to research buying a new rental property.
Instead you just rent a cottage for 2 weeks, enjoy it being rustic and walk away, completely not responsible for upkeep, cleaning or airbnb guest management.
Maybe you DON'T need to plan staff events to keep everyone "engaged".
Instead, you plan picinics at the beach for you and your friends with a bottle of rosé poured into sippy cups.
Whatever you THINK you need to do this summer to get ahead - ask yourself - DO YOU REALLY?
What if slowing down was what really got you ahead in the long run?
Because money follows joy....
And Joy IS for the long run...
Wishing you a delicious slow summer!
💛 Slow Leo ♌️ Geneviève
PS. I'm curious, what does SLOW SUMMER look like for you? What are you afraid to let go of - and what would you rather be doing instead? Or even better, what should I put into my birthday loot bags 🍭 😝?
Hit reply 📩 and let me know. I’d genuinely love to hear because I care about you and this community!
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