Navigating Birthdays and the Stories They Hold
Last week I turned 47, and as always, birthdays brought with them a mix of reflection and unease. I’ve never been one for the spotlight. It’s taken years of unlearning to even feel comfortable celebrating my own birthday, especially with my family. But this year felt different. It marked the end of a deeply confronting cycle and the beginning of something softer, more intuitive.
Understanding the Emotional Development Cycles
If you’ve followed my work for a while, you’ll know I often speak about the emotional development cycles, seven repeating life stages that begin at birth and resurface every seven years. For me, they’ve become a powerful roadmap in understanding myself and my children, especially through the emotional waves of adolescence and the identity shifts of midlife.
This year, turning 47, I moved from the truth cycle into the intuition cycle, a transition from throat chakra to third eye, from masculine to feminine energy.
Facing the Truth Cycle (Again)
The truth cycle (ages 5–6, repeated every 7 years) holds the themes of voice, expression, and the need to be witnessed. Being back in this cycle stirred up old wounds, the times I silenced myself to avoid conflict, shrank myself to be more acceptable, or suppressed my truth because I’d been told I was “too sensitive” or “too much.”
This past year asked me to confront those patterns. It wasn’t easy. I made decisions that disrupted relationships, especially with extended family. But these choices were essential, to protect my wellbeing, and to stay emotionally available for my teenage boys as they step into adulthood.
We’re All Still Human
People often tell me that my work feels calm and grounding, and I’m deeply grateful for that. But I’m also human. This last year has been one of the most challenging I’ve faced. And yet, it’s also the year I’ve felt most held by women who’ve surrounded me with care, truth, and connection far beyond familial expectations.
The Reconnect Space — Support When Life Shifts
It’s from this lived experience that I created The Reconnect Space, a calm, nurturing community for highly sensitive parents of teens. It’s a space to pause, reflect, and feel supported in navigating the often-unseen emotional layers that come with parenting, identity shifts, and generational healing.
Whether you’re holding space for your child’s growth, facing patterns from your own upbringing, or simply feeling overwhelmed by all the noise out there, The Reconnect Space offers a grounded place to come back to yourself. With regular live calls and a rhythm that respects your sensitivity, it’s not about fixing or performing, it’s about reconnecting with your own wisdom in a space where you don’t have to explain or justify what you’re feeling.
If you’re craving support that honours your sensitivity and meets you where you are, you can find out more about The Reconnect Space here.
Love Clare x