love notes: May in review
a test in surrender + roses!
Welcome to Love Notes, my monthly recap where I share my favourite posts, what I’ve learned, and the highs and lows of single life/life over 40! Woohoo!
Hi friends, how was your May?
May encapsulated spring for me: a beautiful but stubborn rosebud still waiting, patiently to bloom and yet…it’s not quite ready yet. It feels ready. It might feel look ready, but there’s more growth to be done.
If you didn’t already guess…I am that rosebud, friends. I feel like I am ready to bloom, expand, have and do all these incredible things on my bucket list and yet…I feel delayed. There’s been a few pauses for me along the way this month — personally and professionally — and it’s rocked me a bit. Thankfully, the work I’ve done on myself means that when I was feeling astray, I knew there were a few lessons waiting to be unearthed. I knew there was a reason attached to the delays, the pauses, the what ifs, the fear, the anxiety…
I didn’t spiral for too long. Long enough for me to pull back and tell myself: you’re not surrendering enough. You’re not trusting enough. You’re not let life flow enough.
I am a stubborn old (well, not old, but midlife? ew) Capricorn stellium with a Taurus moon. I like what I want, I want what I want, and I want what I want when I want it. This has been my philosophy since, well, birth (given I was a week late — I arrived when I wanted to!). But that’s also been my biggest lesson. How to let go more? How do I feel safe and secure in the midst of things not going according to my plan? How can I trust there’s an even better plan for me on the other side? AND…maybe most importantly, how can I let this moment be good enough as is?
May had its good moments, and onces I am very grateful for. They were slow moments, “in the moment” moments, unfolding moments…and that’s probably what May felt like most to me…there’s a lot of unfolding going on here. It’s not necessarily bad, per se…although it can feel like that when you want to BLOOM like all the other flowers around you — or like the vision you have in your head. But what if…life is already good in the unfolding? What if there’s magic in the undone-ness?
This is what I am allowing myself to lean into…surrender to…May taught me that beauty and fulfillment doesn’t need to come from completion…that there’s still a lot of beauty and fulfillment in the growth. That maybe the unfolding of it all is what makes life most profound and special.
I MEAN…WHY NOT?!
Case in point: I started walking a senior dog last week. Her name is Bernie, and she’s quite cute. I wanted to do something for my community (I connected to Bernie through the ElderDog organization) and I missed being around dogs. My spirit is fed when I’m around animals, and as much as a I love my cat, Olive, I needed something more.
So off I went with Bernie — who, I should mention, was far more inspired by treats than by me. C’est la vie. At the end of our walk, her owner handed me a rose from her garden. I texted my mom about it, and she was stunned. She told me, “I’ve been praying to St. Thérèse of Lisieux that you receive a rose.”
St. Thérèse is known for finding the sacred in the small stuff — everyday tasks, fleeting moments, the things we often overlook. She called it her “little way,” a quiet belief that nothing is too ordinary to matter if it’s done with love. The idea is that when you pray to her, you might receive a rose — a sign she’s listening. A little wink from the universe.
One quote from her that I love is this: “The value of life does not depend on the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.”
It’s a reminder that showing up with intention — even in the smallest ways — can be everything.
So that rose from Bernie’s mom felt like a blessing — not just because it meant my mom’s prayers were heard, but because it reminded me that when we do the “small” things that genuinely light us up, we make space for something bigger. As St. Thérèse said, it’s about doing things with love.
I think that was May for me…can we still love the small moments? Can those moments be bigger than what we perceive to be the bigger moments in life? What if it’s all about showing up in love, period?
I’ll leave that question to you…
💖 Favourite Post of the Month
the dating trend report: the celibacy shift
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about something that’s becoming more and more common: celibacy.
This was the most popular post of the month, and I find this to be interesting…what is this shift towards celibacy telling us about emotional connection and intimacy? It makes me wonder how many of us are feeling this shift, and still not talking about it? If you loved this post — and I know many of you did — what about it, resonates? Would love to hear your comments and thoughts! I might do a follow-up piece to it.
💖 The moment in May that made me feel the most loved
Receiving the rose from Bernie’s mom was a big plus! Especially when she told me I was like family now. That almost brought me to tears. It reminded me how much I do value family and community…I am someone who’s been career minded for her entire life (hello, Capricorn stellium!) and also…a little avoidant when it comes to emotional intimacy and relationships. This is something I’ve been aware of and why I’ve been more conscious of creating meaningful relationships and dipping my toe back into dating. My north node is in Cancer, so this is actually the path I’m supposed to lean into during this lifetime (if you’re into that sort of thing!) and that’s resonated with me hard. So I’ve been more deliberate with carving out time for friends, and making sure I have a schedule that reflects the space to be in community.
This month, I had some beautiful shared voice notes with my friend, Sunny, and I had amazing lunches with two of my former co-workers. Both Gen Z! Which reminds me…if you find a connection with someone, and they make you feel good, and you like them and you click, age is nothing but a number! I think we can learn from each other regardless of generations! I like having friendships in different age groups! It makes life more interesting.
💖 A lesson in dating I’m carrying into June
I kinda said in best in my latest TikTok. Yes, TikTok. I’ve been going on there more recently, and I have to say…it’s been liberating to connect with more people and talk about love and dating.
Anyway. Basically, what I’ve been saying on there, is…the biggest lesson I’m learning is to show up as the person I want to be in a relationship. Not playing games, not waiting for someone to choose me or go first. It’s about honesty, integrity, kindness, and respect. If someone can’t meet me there, well, then I know. But I’m not here to play a “black cat” or lean back when my authentic energy is to lean in and want to communicate. I’m not talking about overextending or overfunctioning — more about opening the door to communication and clarity because those are my values. It’s about going first, and showing up. It’s about BEING ME.
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💖 Quote of the Month
“Be the reflection of the relationship you want”
This goes to what I was saying above, and it’s something that my friend Sunny and I were discussing. Sometimes in love…it doesn’t look like what we think it ought to…but that doesn’t mean it’s not flowing correctly. That doesn’t mean it’s not working. Maybe it’s about stepping into who you want to be, what you want to have….maybe it’s about opening the door and seeing what’s on the other side. Maybe it’s about you going first, open-hearted and honest, so you set the tone and standard for the relationship you’re seeking whether it’s with a particular person or someone in general. It’s telling the Universe: this is who I am, what I want, and I am stepping into that person rather than waiting for that person to be that person to me first.
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💖 Song of the Month
I didn’t listen to a ton of music this month, but I did listen to a ton of podcasts. Here are some of my favourites:
💖 What’s Next?
Well, back in April I said I wanted to get pampered, and I did! Nails done! Waxing done! Bangs done! I didn’t flirt with life as much as I wanted…but, hey, life doesn’t always go according to plan, but what May has proved to me is that…life doesn’t go to plan. So what? How do we not make that about us? How do we see that as growth? How do we still show up in love and grace for ourselves and others?
June feels, energetically, a bit more open and expansive to me. But I am leaving it to be spacious and spontaneous. No big plans. I’m just going to let life surprise me…
What about you? Share with me in the comments your intentions for June! or tell me how was your May? Or both!
Thanks for being here!
Love, Brie xoxo
