Hello Parents,
As children leave home for college, work, marriage, gap year, etc. parents reach out to me, sad and wondering, now what?
I have been so happy speaking and working with parents who are walking this milestone and wanting to get to know more about who they are beyond parenting. They wonder about their relationships, role with their adult children (well, children heading towards adulthood), their spiritual side, creative side, wellness side, and what is next for them. Some are care-taking parents and didn’t feel like they had time for emptiness or pondering the now what do I want to do with my free time?
Whether solo or partnering, life beyond parenting is a real transition. What about the big house? What about finding new meaning and developing their dream list? What are positive practices for daily living? How do you make changes to focus on you and not your kids? How do you build a new community beyond the school days, whether you are solo or partnering?
I want you to have a support community, which was my passion when I launched Empty Nest Support when my daughter was senior in high school year. I began with seven mothers in my living room. Now my daughter and all of our kids are living on their own, some uncertain about career paths and some developing their communities of interest and love.
I know what the journey felt like for me and I don’t want anyone to travel this new territory alone. This OPEN SPACE (that I call it, rather than empty nest term, which I don’t like), when you return home, is a reflective, resting time for some and for others, they want to get busy or live the list they put on hold.
Your school community ends. Some people remain friends and some begin a new for friendships. How do you build a new community? How do you discover what matters to you at this stage of life and how do you implement your new rhythm?
I think you know what services I offer, which is listed on my website:
• Private sessions on and off the telephone, paid by check.
• Speaking engagements for your friends and community.
• Workshops and retreats, either in your hometown or another location.
• Mentoring
• Skype groups for group connections since travel is not often easy and people want to hear each other and receive concrete tips for support.
• Creative projects you know you want to do and need the support to move forward.
“Transitions are places of pausing, feeling, floating above your life for a new view, thinking, and digging in the earth to cultivate parts of you that had to go dormant and now want to blossom. You find your rhythm over and over, and from that grounding, you step. Let someone meet you there.” – Natalie Caine
You are welcome to send me an email or call and let me know what you need. No one wants to go through this life transition without support.
Change happens. Build a community of support.
Does anything in this newsletter resonate with you?
Take good care,
Natalie
natalie@lifeintransition.org
800-446-3310 Pacific Time, Los Angeles, Ca.
www.lifeintransition.org
www.emptynestsupport.com
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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org
My daughter went to college last fall and
my 25 yr old son has been working in Austin
Tx (1300 miles away) since 2014. I was a stay at home mom and loved all that it involved. I miss them both so much that it really physically hurts. We have good relationships and talk and text but I am at a loss with what to do with myself. I don’t sleep well and am not motivated. I hope that I will be able to adjust to this new reality soon but so far, not so much.