The Art of Receiving: Between Abundance and Gratitude

(or: why I still don't have a cat)

Newsletter - Juin 16th. Translated by ClaudeAI

It's been an eternity (at least!) since I last sent a newsletter. And yet, these past nine months have been so rich — in experience, in growth, in transition.

Late 2024, I invited more travel into my life. After 12 years in Montréal, I felt the call to move again — but how? I love Montréal, my heart and my roots are in Québec, and I see myself ending my life there. But I also have a deep need to nourish myself, to draw inspiration from elsewhere, to keep experimenting and evolving. The inner journey has its limits…

So in 2025, I decided to work less and spend more, and I let myself listen to where life was calling me: Costa Rica and Toronto in winter, Greece in spring, the United States (Upstate New York) in summer, and finally Spain and France in the fall.

I was hosted by friends in gorgeous homes, I did retreats and trainings in singular places, I met people I would never have crossed paths with in my Montréal life, I was invited to gastronomic restaurants, and I lived some rather extraordinary things — dinner at a Greek billionaire's, wild goats crossing my path at sunrise in the Sierra Nevada, dancing all night around a fire in the middle of the jungle… to name only a few.

One thing struck me on each of these journeys: the abundance I was bathing in. As if, by giving myself permission to travel and to ask, life gave me even more. Surprising encounters, rich conversations, Michelin restaurants, infinity pools, panoramic views…

The same magic was at work in Montréal, where life sent me gifts I couldn't even have imagined.

I had to stretch my capacity to receive — really, this is my life?! They're doing this FOR ME? I get to have ALL of this?

Late 2025, it became clear that I needed change, and that I'd developed a taste for travel — and for luxury. The box I'd been living in for years, though beautiful and very comfortable, had become too narrow. So I worked on the limitations and the judgments I held around my own desires.

Yes, this is my life. And I want more.
And to receive more, you have to make space, and create the openings.

2026 —
- I made the decision to step down from my role as executive director of Ecstatic Temple, to devote myself to other projects, and a new team is taking over.
- In February I created and facilitated The Mythic Eros, my first 4-day retreat "solo," or nearly so, which was a success.
- I traveled to Colorado in winter, to Toronto and Austin in spring. And I'm writing to you from my parents' home in Provence, after a few days passing through Lyon.
- I rebuilt my entire website myself.
- I've started working with a marketing strategist, and I've just hired an assistant.

These are significant investments, and I won't play the card of magical "manifestation" — if it comes back to me, it's because I work hard, and life keeps spoiling me — none of these projects or journeys would be possible without the support of my network: family, friends, and the connections met through my travels and trainings (and also a little ChatGPT-and-now-Claude) (yes, I switched to Claude, but I promise this text is 100% AI-free) (except for the translation).

I keep learning to ask and to receive — even when sometimes the only thing I have to offer in return is my presence, and my gratitude — and to feel that it's enough.

What I've learned these past few years is that I can believe in myself, and in my dreams. I now trust that I can create the reality I want for myself, with the only material limitation being time and money — so it all becomes a question of patience, and of making today the choices that bring me one step at a time toward the future I want.

So I still don't have a cat, because I'm away too often, but I have a new couch, and human connections.

This summer, I'll be in Montréal. Between private sessions, retreats, and festivals, I hope to see you soon <3