A Love Letter to August

I’ve always had a little extra love for August. Maybe because it’s my birthday month, maybe because the summer sun feels like it has finally settled into its full expression, or maybe because August has always made me want to celebrate being alive a little louder. There is something about this month that makes me want to put on the good outfit, make the reservation, call my people, open the windows, and remember that there is still so much life left to live.

I usually write these letters on the first of every month, but this one felt different from the beginning. I’m writing this on a Sunday, the day I was born, and I probably won’t publish it until 8/8. Somehow that feels right. There are certain little alignments in life that make you stop and look around. Not because you need an explanation for them, but because they make you smile. This birthday feels like that for me. A full circle moment, but not one that feels finished. More like standing at the edge of something beautiful and realizing I’m actually excited to see what happens next.

The last couple of years have changed me in ways I could not have predicted. I have become much more unapologetic about my shifts. I’ve changed my mind, changed direction, let things go, started again, and outgrown things I once thought I needed. I’ve learned that becoming more of yourself can sometimes require disappointing the version of you that thought she had everything figured out. And honestly, I’m grateful for that.

If you’ve ever spent time with me, whether through a Reiki session, at an event, in the shop, or simply in passing, you probably know I have a habit of speaking life into people. Encouragement has always been one of the ways I know how to love. I can see something in someone and want to remind them of it before they forget. For a long time, I gave that kind of belief away so freely that I didn’t always notice when I was running low on my own. This season has taught me something different. I can pour into people without pouring myself out. I can love generously and still have boundaries. I can give and receive. I can be the person holding the light and still step underneath it myself.

And I have been doing exactly that.

July into August has felt like play, wandering, and remembering. Palace One Eleven celebrated another trip around the sun. The Sunchild collection came to life, which felt especially personal because so much of it was inspired by the part of me that still knows how to find joy in a summer day. Then I took an extended trip and, for once, I didn’t do an ounce of work. I stayed longer than I planned. I revisited places I used to frequent. I ate meals that aligned with me. I had conversations that seemed to arrive at exactly the right time. I let myself be somewhere without constantly checking the clock or calculating when I needed to return.

Somewhere between airports, familiar streets, long walks, good food and being with the right person, something in me recalibrated. I remembered that a one way ticket can be very good for the nervous system when you trust where you are going and who you are going with. Sometimes freedom isn’t having the entire itinerary. Sometimes freedom is realizing you don’t need one.

Sometimes freedom isn’t having the entire itinerary. Sometimes freedom is realizing you don’t need one.

That has been one of the biggest lessons of this season for me. I don’t need to know every detail before I allow myself to enjoy the moment I’m standing in. I don’t need to have the next five steps mapped out before I take the first one. Sometimes you can just be there. Sometimes you can let the day be the day.

I’ve also noticed how much my prayers have changed. They have never really been centered around material things, but even the things I ask for feel different now. I want presence. Meaningful experiences. Deeper connection. More laughter. More rest. More opportunities to be surprised by my own life. I want to notice the details. I want to be fully present when I am sitting across from someone I love. I want to remember what the meal tasted like. I want to remember the song playing in the background. I want to remember how the air felt that night.

Because maybe being exactly where you are isn’t about having everything figured out. Maybe it is about being present enough to recognize when you are already living something you once hoped for.

And that brings me to August.

This month, I want you to remember that your light was never borrowed from anyone else. Not from a relationship. Not from a job. Not from an accomplishment. Not from being chosen. Not from being understood. Not even from the sun itself.

The light is yours.

It was there before anyone applauded you. It was there before anyone knew your name. It was there through every version of you that had to figure something out the hard way.

So let August be the month you stop negotiating with your own brightness.

Wear the outfit. Buy yourself the flowers. Make the reservation. Take yourself somewhere beautiful. Plan lunch with the people who make you laugh until your stomach hurts. Send the text. Take the picture. Watch the sunset. Dance when the song comes on. Let yourself be excited. Let yourself be celebrated. Let yourself have a little fun.

Leo brings big heart energy, and things become so much more savory when your heart is actually in them. This is the season to put your heart back into the things that matter. Your relationships. Your creativity. Your home. Your body. Your dreams. Your own life.

And yes, there will be hiccups. There will be misunderstandings. There will be days when the plan doesn’t go according to plan. Love will sometimes ask you to repair, reconsider, communicate, and try again. That is part of loving. Everything meaningful will not always be perfect. Some things become stronger because we cared enough to mend them.

Open your heart anyway.

There is still so much life waiting for you.

And if you’ve been waiting for a sign to step a little closer to the life that feels like yours, maybe this is it.

Stay lionhearted. ☀️🦁

The Heart of the Sun

Leo Season • Late July through Late August

Leo gets reduced to confidence, attention, and a love of being seen, but there is so much more happening underneath that surface. Leo is heart energy. It is warmth, generosity, creativity, loyalty, play, and pride in the things you love. It is the instinct to celebrate the people around you and remind them that their existence matters.

The Sun does not have to compete with the moon to prove that it belongs in the sky. It simply shines. That is one of the greatest lessons Leo energy carries. You do not have to make yourself smaller to make someone else comfortable. You do not have to dim your enthusiasm because someone else doesn’t understand it. You do not have to apologize for caring deeply about the things that bring you alive.

Leos have a beautiful relationship with celebration because they understand something we sometimes forget as adults. Celebration doesn’t have to wait for a major accomplishment. A birthday is a reason. A good meal is a reason. A new outfit is a reason. Your best friend getting good news is a reason. Making it through a difficult season is a reason. Waking up with another opportunity to experience your life is a reason.

There is something beautifully childlike about Leo energy, and I think that’s part of its medicine. The ability to get excited. To play. To create something simply because you can and because you have the free will to decide what makes your life feel good. There is freedom in that. There is creativity in that. There is a reminder that adulthood does not require us to abandon the parts of ourselves that know how to have fun.

But there is another side to the Leo heart that deserves to be acknowledged. The person who spends so much time encouraging everyone else can forget that they deserve encouragement too. The person who celebrates everyone else’s birthday can forget to let someone celebrate theirs. The person who knows exactly what to say when someone else is doubting themselves can sometimes be much harder on themselves.

So Leo, this one is for you.

You don’t have to earn your flowers by exhausting yourself first. You don’t have to perform your worth. You don’t have to be useful every second to deserve love. You don’t have to have the perfect response, the perfect plan or the perfect version of yourself before you let yourself enjoy being here.

Let yourself receive. Let yourself be adored. Let yourself be seen.

The people who love you want to see you happy. They want to see you celebrated. They want to see what happens when you stop holding back the parts of yourself that make you who you are.

The world needs your warmth.

But so do you.

Overall Energy

August is about embodied light.

Without performance. Without exploration. Without needing a reason.

Just remembering it.

There is a difference between knowing something intellectually and actually allowing it to change the way you move through the world. You can know you are worthy and still hesitate to receive. You can know you are talented and still minimize your work. You can know you are loved and still question whether you are too much.

August asks us to practice believing ourselves.

Look at your life with a little more tenderness. Look at the things you’ve built. Look at the relationships you’ve maintained. Look at the risks you took when you were scared. Look at the versions of yourself you had to outgrow to get here. There are things you once prayed for that are now so familiar you barely notice them.

Notice them.

You are allowed to be proud of yourself while you are still becoming and transitioning. You are allowed to want more without deciding that what you have isn’t enough. You are allowed to rest without calling it laziness. You are allowed to change without explaining every reason. You are allowed to be ambitious and still have a life.

August carries the Leo duality of heart and backbone. Soft enough to love deeply. Strong enough to stand firmly. Generous enough to pour into others. Wise enough to know when you need to pour back into yourself.

This month, let your life have some color. Let it have some texture. Let it have some celebration. And if something makes your heart light up, don’t immediately talk yourself out of it.

Mind + Body

Your mind has been carrying more than you probably realize. August asks you to give it somewhere to land. Not every thought needs to become a plan. Not every idea needs to become a project or a new business venture. Not every feeling needs to be solved the moment you notice it. Some things need room to move through their own processing stages.

Let yourself have thoughts that simply pass through.

Write things down. Take yourself somewhere new. Revisit something that used to inspire you. Have a conversation that stretches your perspective. Read something outside of your usual interests. Let your curiosity lead you somewhere without demanding that it become useful.

Most importantly, give your mind moments where it doesn’t have to anticipate the next thing. You have spent enough time preparing for what might happen. Give yourself some time to experience what is actually happening right now.

Your body is asking for a different kind of attention. Sunlight. Water. Nourishment. Movement. Touch. Rest. Laughter. Breath.

Let yourself move because it feels good to move. Let yourself eat something colorful because it makes you feel cared for. Let yourself sit outside without turning it into a productivity exercise. Let yourself sleep without treating rest like something you have to apologize for.

Your body has brought every version of you here. It has carried you through every season, every long night, every early morning, every celebration, every heartbreak, every airport, every dance floor and every day you weren’t sure how you were going to make it through.

It deserves more than maintenance.

It deserves appreciation. It deserves to be loved up on.

This month, ask yourself what makes you feel more like yourself.

Not what looks healthy from the outside. Not what you think you should be doing.

What actually restores you?

What makes your shoulders drop?

What makes your face soften?

What makes you laugh without checking the time?

Start there.

Journal Prompts

Where in my life am I ready to stop asking for permission and fully become myself?

What parts of my journey have I moved past without taking the time to celebrate them?

Where have I been giving from an empty cup, and what would it look like to replenish myself without guilt?

What makes me feel most alive, and what would happen if I made more room for it?

What would my inner child want me to remember about joy?

What would my inner teenager want me to know about being seen, loved and accepted exactly as I am?

Where have I confused being needed with being loved?

What am I ready to receive without immediately feeling responsible for giving something back?

What part of my personality, creativity or heart have I been making smaller so other people can be comfortable?

What does a beautiful life actually feel like to me when nobody else is watching?

Where am I being invited to trust myself instead of waiting for certainty?

What is already blooming in my life that deserves my full attention?

What would change if I believed there was no shortage of love, light, creativity, opportunity or joy available to me?

Until Next Month…

May August remind you that your light was never something you had to find.

It was something you had to remember.

Remember it when the day is beautiful. Remember it when the plans change. Remember it when someone doesn’t understand you. Remember it when you are celebrating and especially remember it when you aren’t.

Go where you feel alive. Stay close to the people who make you laugh. Protect what makes your heart feel like home. Let yourself be surprised. Let yourself be celebrated. Let yourself have the beautiful thing without immediately wondering what comes next.

You have spent enough time becoming.

This month, I want you to experience yourself. Fully. Joyfully. With your whole chest.

And when the sun finds you, don’t shrink.

Stay lionhearted. ☀️🦁✨

With love,

Pepper 🤍