Thank you for this message of hope. Taped on my computer, I have this quote. "Instead of dwelling on what we can’t do, think about what we can." - Father Bob Warren
Sometimes all it takes is a naming to make something tangible and doable. "Watermelon moments"--now they have a name and I will notice them more often, remember and savor them longer. Thank you Rachel for another hopeful tale (or three).
This made my writer’s heart rejoice. I never know if something that helps me will make sense to anyone else! You’ve encouraged me to keep sharing the small things I discover that feel deeply significant.
I like how once you started looking around you, you found people and squirrels (!) making life better around them. I hope we all find meliorism springing up around us when we look this next month, and for opportunities to take our own small actions of repair.
Thank you for your beautiful, encouraging and inspiring words- they always bring me comfort and give me hope. Your stories and reminders always help to shift my perspective and come at exactly the right time. One of my favorite poets and inspirational writers, Donna Ashworth, often says “random is never random” and I truly believe you are a gift from a higher power to help us see the light in what can often feel like a dark world. ❣️
Hope is such a beautiful and brave word to carry into July. Thank you so much for your kind words. They mean more than I can say. I'm deeply honored that anything I've written could bring even a little light or perspective to your world.
I love Donna Ashworth's poetry too! I had not run across her quote, “random is never random,” but it resonates deeply with me. I, too, believe we're guided toward what we need when we need it, and your note is such a generous reminder of that. Thank you for the gift of your encouragement. Here's to hope—quiet, persistent, and always finding its way through.
That's really beautifully said, Bonnie. "...the moments of feeling one with life." That really helps me connect to WHY these moments felt so restorative and replenishing.
Just what I needed to read this morning! Thank you for these stories and for the new word, meliorism, which is now synomymous with watermelon seeds in my brain!
Thank you for the self-care reminders that include small actions and service toward others. It has been heavy lately for so many of us with no end in sight, but there is a lot of beauty and good in the world, too.
I just found your page. Love this piece. And ironically, I am about to bring homemade blueberry muffins to my neighbor who just lost her husband, in addition to two adult children in the last 3 years. I'm going through my own trauma healing but connecting with others is sacred as you demonstrated in your piece.
I am so grateful to connect with you, Stephanie! As an avid muffin maker and deliverer, I feel an instant connection. Thank you for demonstrating love to your neighbor in her time of deep grief. I hope that your encounter eases your own pain a bit & brings you unexpected comfort.
Every day just feels so hard and my head is spinning with the worries and weight of the world. This reminder was just what I needed today...to be in the moment and address the need in front of me, trusting I will be able to handle whatever comes next.
Reading this post was a watermelon moment for me Rachel. It was juicy with abundance and a sweet reminding of the simple yet oh so sacred gift of presence. We have so much to share with one another if we only believe our slices are enough.
Understanding that this very moment, if I can stand still and show up in it , is the sweetness of our lives, seeds and all.
The poem you shared by Cleo Wade is pure medicine. It is nourishing my soul knowing I need only pause, breathe, repair what is in my own universe, then proceed to love bigger. For I have found it is in the repairing I cultivate more compassion, more tender care, more kindness for my self and for others. It’s in the repairing my capacity for loving expands. And aren’t we all in need of some expansion right now?the Unfurling our fists, the unclenching of our hearts. Repairing invites me to expand my lungs so I can breathe deeper in exhale as well as inhale. Expansion of my perspective allows room for fresh new narratives and possibilities to arise which expand my reach to be more warm and welcoming and inclusive to others in need.
Cleo’s words will be put in my car
,in my wallet, on a pink post-it placed on my phone, and on my bathroom mirror.
Poetry might be our very best prescription for a time such as these.
The enormity of pain being wrapped in a smaller parcel for my heart with Shannon McMahon’s words is a wonderful way to alchemize all the awful. Thank you for sharing this Rachel.
The invitation to SEE and SEEK out Watermelon Moments is a beauty full way we can behold our lives right now. Not waiting for the perfect slice of time to come to be celebrated.
It’s holding the sorrow and still allowing all the Juicy Joy in our lives to be fully felt.
It’s softening our gaze so we can also shift to seeing the grace that sits alongside what is breaking our hearts now and finding within our Big Brave to be able to handle both.
Believing the more beautiful world we know can be,
will be,
as we embrace the Meliorism Magic we each are capable of making,
beginning
this very day.
Thank you love for your companionship, your grace-guiding and your accompaniment on the journey. Having you here means more than my heart could ever express.
Oh friend… I just let your words wash over me like sunlight through trees. This comment is a watermelon moment in itself—juicy, abundant, tender, and wholly nourishing. I read it more than once.
Your reflection on the sacredness of repairing touched something deep in me. Yes—the expansion happens there, doesn’t it? In the quiet inner work, the breath between thoughts, the pause before the loving response. The way you wrote, “repairing invites me to expand my lungs…”—I felt that in my body. What a sacred reframe.
I’m also undone (in the best way) by the image of Cleo’s words traveling with you—on pink post-its, tucked in your wallet, taped to your bathroom mirror. Isn’t that what we do with medicine when it truly helps? We keep it close. We want to remember.
And this:
"Not waiting for the perfect slice of time to be celebrated.”
Yes. That’s the truth of it. The joy, the sorrow, the grace—they’re all here now, asking to be held side by side. Your ability to put language to that duality is such a gift.
Thank you for showing up with this much heart, honesty, and hope. I feel deeply honored to walk this path with you.
"Simply by focusing on what one heart needs" The power of this line. The truth of honoring our own heart to then honor another. By showing up for yourself, your needs, and your feelings, you are now showing up for others. Not because you have to or need to, but because it is what "Your heart needs!"
There is so much power in your transformation of feeling to action. I am forever grateful to be on this planet with a heart like yours!
May we all find time to pause so we can see the "squirrel story" gift in the mess.
Dear Cory, your reflection is such a balm. That line meant something tender to me when I wrote it, and now reading how it echoed in you makes it feel even more alive.
You put it so beautifully: "Not because you have to or need to, but because it is what your heart needs." That distinction matters so much. It's the shift from obligation to overflow. From self-sacrifice to wholehearted offering. When care comes from that place, it sustains everyone involved.
And yes... may we all keep finding space to pause, to soften, and to notice the “squirrel story” gifts hiding in life’s unexpected messes. They’re there. Sometimes wiggly and wild. Sometimes sacred and small.
I’m so grateful to be here on this planet with a heart like yours, too.
Thank you for this message of hope. Taped on my computer, I have this quote. "Instead of dwelling on what we can’t do, think about what we can." - Father Bob Warren
YES!!! This is the energy we need right now, Ginger. Thank you. I feel your hand, and it brings great comfort.
Thank you Ginger. My Dad’s name was Bob Warren so I feel like he sent this message too.😇
Sometimes all it takes is a naming to make something tangible and doable. "Watermelon moments"--now they have a name and I will notice them more often, remember and savor them longer. Thank you Rachel for another hopeful tale (or three).
This made my writer’s heart rejoice. I never know if something that helps me will make sense to anyone else! You’ve encouraged me to keep sharing the small things I discover that feel deeply significant.
I like how once you started looking around you, you found people and squirrels (!) making life better around them. I hope we all find meliorism springing up around us when we look this next month, and for opportunities to take our own small actions of repair.
Your beautiful contributions to the treehouse always make my day, dear Tiffany. Thank you for bringing your light to this little corner.
The focus word I chose for July is hope.
Thank you for your beautiful, encouraging and inspiring words- they always bring me comfort and give me hope. Your stories and reminders always help to shift my perspective and come at exactly the right time. One of my favorite poets and inspirational writers, Donna Ashworth, often says “random is never random” and I truly believe you are a gift from a higher power to help us see the light in what can often feel like a dark world. ❣️
Dearest Amy,
Hope is such a beautiful and brave word to carry into July. Thank you so much for your kind words. They mean more than I can say. I'm deeply honored that anything I've written could bring even a little light or perspective to your world.
I love Donna Ashworth's poetry too! I had not run across her quote, “random is never random,” but it resonates deeply with me. I, too, believe we're guided toward what we need when we need it, and your note is such a generous reminder of that. Thank you for the gift of your encouragement. Here's to hope—quiet, persistent, and always finding its way through.
My hand in yours.
Thank you for helping us remember the beauty of the small things, the moments of feeling one with life.
That's really beautifully said, Bonnie. "...the moments of feeling one with life." That really helps me connect to WHY these moments felt so restorative and replenishing.
Really helped my emotions today to read this....thank you.
This is truly meaningful. Thank you, ReRe. My hand in yours.
Just what I needed to read this morning! Thank you for these stories and for the new word, meliorism, which is now synomymous with watermelon seeds in my brain!
I’m so grateful to hear this! Thank you for taking time to tell me, dear Caroline.
Thank you for the self-care reminders that include small actions and service toward others. It has been heavy lately for so many of us with no end in sight, but there is a lot of beauty and good in the world, too.
Thank you for being here. Your comment brought me comfort.
Thank you from one Rachel to another. I'm going to keep an eye out for some watermelon moments.
I love your plan, dear Rachel. My hand in yours.
I just found your page. Love this piece. And ironically, I am about to bring homemade blueberry muffins to my neighbor who just lost her husband, in addition to two adult children in the last 3 years. I'm going through my own trauma healing but connecting with others is sacred as you demonstrated in your piece.
I am so grateful to connect with you, Stephanie! As an avid muffin maker and deliverer, I feel an instant connection. Thank you for demonstrating love to your neighbor in her time of deep grief. I hope that your encounter eases your own pain a bit & brings you unexpected comfort.
I love this one. 😍 Speaking of squirrels, check out Mark Rober's squirrel obstacle courses, if you haven't already. Sure to bring a smile. 🐿
I will absolutely check that out! Sounds delightful! Thank you, Deborah!
Every day just feels so hard and my head is spinning with the worries and weight of the world. This reminder was just what I needed today...to be in the moment and address the need in front of me, trusting I will be able to handle whatever comes next.
Beautifully said, Deborah. I am on board with this practical, self-compassionate approach to navigating these difficult days.
Reading this post was a watermelon moment for me Rachel. It was juicy with abundance and a sweet reminding of the simple yet oh so sacred gift of presence. We have so much to share with one another if we only believe our slices are enough.
Understanding that this very moment, if I can stand still and show up in it , is the sweetness of our lives, seeds and all.
The poem you shared by Cleo Wade is pure medicine. It is nourishing my soul knowing I need only pause, breathe, repair what is in my own universe, then proceed to love bigger. For I have found it is in the repairing I cultivate more compassion, more tender care, more kindness for my self and for others. It’s in the repairing my capacity for loving expands. And aren’t we all in need of some expansion right now?the Unfurling our fists, the unclenching of our hearts. Repairing invites me to expand my lungs so I can breathe deeper in exhale as well as inhale. Expansion of my perspective allows room for fresh new narratives and possibilities to arise which expand my reach to be more warm and welcoming and inclusive to others in need.
Cleo’s words will be put in my car
,in my wallet, on a pink post-it placed on my phone, and on my bathroom mirror.
Poetry might be our very best prescription for a time such as these.
The enormity of pain being wrapped in a smaller parcel for my heart with Shannon McMahon’s words is a wonderful way to alchemize all the awful. Thank you for sharing this Rachel.
The invitation to SEE and SEEK out Watermelon Moments is a beauty full way we can behold our lives right now. Not waiting for the perfect slice of time to come to be celebrated.
It’s holding the sorrow and still allowing all the Juicy Joy in our lives to be fully felt.
It’s softening our gaze so we can also shift to seeing the grace that sits alongside what is breaking our hearts now and finding within our Big Brave to be able to handle both.
Believing the more beautiful world we know can be,
will be,
as we embrace the Meliorism Magic we each are capable of making,
beginning
this very day.
Thank you love for your companionship, your grace-guiding and your accompaniment on the journey. Having you here means more than my heart could ever express.
Oh friend… I just let your words wash over me like sunlight through trees. This comment is a watermelon moment in itself—juicy, abundant, tender, and wholly nourishing. I read it more than once.
Your reflection on the sacredness of repairing touched something deep in me. Yes—the expansion happens there, doesn’t it? In the quiet inner work, the breath between thoughts, the pause before the loving response. The way you wrote, “repairing invites me to expand my lungs…”—I felt that in my body. What a sacred reframe.
I’m also undone (in the best way) by the image of Cleo’s words traveling with you—on pink post-its, tucked in your wallet, taped to your bathroom mirror. Isn’t that what we do with medicine when it truly helps? We keep it close. We want to remember.
And this:
"Not waiting for the perfect slice of time to be celebrated.”
Yes. That’s the truth of it. The joy, the sorrow, the grace—they’re all here now, asking to be held side by side. Your ability to put language to that duality is such a gift.
Thank you for showing up with this much heart, honesty, and hope. I feel deeply honored to walk this path with you.
"Simply by focusing on what one heart needs" The power of this line. The truth of honoring our own heart to then honor another. By showing up for yourself, your needs, and your feelings, you are now showing up for others. Not because you have to or need to, but because it is what "Your heart needs!"
There is so much power in your transformation of feeling to action. I am forever grateful to be on this planet with a heart like yours!
May we all find time to pause so we can see the "squirrel story" gift in the mess.
Dear Cory, your reflection is such a balm. That line meant something tender to me when I wrote it, and now reading how it echoed in you makes it feel even more alive.
You put it so beautifully: "Not because you have to or need to, but because it is what your heart needs." That distinction matters so much. It's the shift from obligation to overflow. From self-sacrifice to wholehearted offering. When care comes from that place, it sustains everyone involved.
And yes... may we all keep finding space to pause, to soften, and to notice the “squirrel story” gifts hiding in life’s unexpected messes. They’re there. Sometimes wiggly and wild. Sometimes sacred and small.
I’m so grateful to be here on this planet with a heart like yours, too.
Love this reminder. Thank you for your Love messages reminding us that we can create change one moment at a time.
I appreciate you, dear one.
Thank you Rachel for the countless ripples you create. They may start small but the difference are huge
Thank you for this beautiful, loving affirmation. Feels like a hug... and I needed that! Hugging you back in my mind.