Movement is everywhere these days; pollinators are flitting among echinacea and bee balm and hummingbirds visit the coral bells every late afternoon. Summer is a glorious time to let go and lose ourselves in the beauty of it all.

In our August issue, we offer up a garden of inspiration to support the exploration of who you are now and who you want to become. The theme of self-empowerment weaves gently through the pages, with many of our contributing writers offering guidance on how we can find strength and our authentic voice to nurture the next generation. For many adults, a feeling of empowerment arises after a personal growth journey, sometimes starting from a point of finding ourselves lost along the way, hitting bumps and snags on our path, perhaps even hitting what seems like a true bottom. After some necessary soul-searching and releasing expectations of who we were supposed to be or how life was supposed to turn out, we are presented with an opportunity to remake ourselves. It’s in the process of looking inward, feeling what we are feeling and accepting ourselves completely that we become our true selves.

When we live with authenticity and integrity, self-empowerment ensues. By cultivating self-awareness and using our mistakes to learn and grow, we allow for grace and forgiveness of ourselves and more easily extend the same to others. Seeing our humanity and divinity at the same time and caring for ourselves with kindness, love and acceptance frees us to move forward with confidence and courage, empowered to use our actions and voices to speak our truth elsewhere, to be an advocate for others, for causes, and for lasting change. Trusting the process is also key, allowing fears to dissipate as the present moment becomes the focus, the place where creative personal power is born.

We hope that you’ll find plenty of inspiration in our pages to bloom, become who you are truly meant to be and find strength and power in your unique and valuable voice. We are grateful that you are part of a colorful, vibrant and empowered community. You belong here. 

Kendra Campbell and Jacqueline Mast, Co-Publishers