August Newsletter
Welcome to The Love Club Monthly’s August Newsletter! It is officially the end of Leo season and we are just as heartbroken as you are (if not more).
A big welcome to all our new TLC people as we had a lot more subscribers join us over the past month, we love you and you are loved <3
August was a big month for us but a good month, we were feeling creatively stagnant in the beginning but now are proud to say that we have paused and given ourselves the time we needed to give TLC our all. Now we are back and planning some very exciting things that will be blessing you all very soon.
So without further ado we present to you,
this months newsletter <3
Coming Up:
Let’s Reflect
Witchy Shit
The Love Letter
A Note on Turning 21
Hands Left Muddy, Heart Left Filled & The Truth Left Here For You To Read
It’s Time For Some Witchy Shit
Last Month we spoke about Moon Cycles and the Link to our period. A good friend read this and suggested the period tracking app they use and ever since I am obsessed. It is called “Stardust” and it is clearly designed by Gen Z’ers (just check out the symptoms list and you’ll know what I mean). You can also add friends on Stardust so you can know where your girlfriends are at in their cycle, I’m pretty sure partners can get it too as a way to stay up to date with how you are feeling based on the time of the month. This is not sponsored (god we wish it was) but just an app that is more targeted to suit women in their early 20s.
Mercury Retrograde
The Mercury retrograde is upon us and will be sticking around until the 14th of September. I always used to see this as a bad thing, but upon more research I am discovering it can be good in ways. For all you beginners out there Mercury is the planet of all communication in every form. So if communication has been a bit of a struggle in your life at the moment, do not fear, I’m sure a lot of other people feel the same. Now is a good time to be patient with others and understanding, you may decide to take a step back from communicating any big things if patience and understanding isn’t really your fortè. However, it is also a time of heightened intuition so whatever your gut is telling you, listen to it (but don’t act on it just yet).
Source: https://www.almanac.com/content/mercury-retrograde-dates
The Love Letter
For this Love Letter the tables have turned.
I (Sophie) interviewed the beautiful birth mummy of TLC Millie Clinch and I say it’s about time! It’s inspiring to have nit picked the mind of someone who values love so much. Mil and I have known each other for many years now and I am so glad that we are holding this creative space together. Everyday that we spend brainstorming and delving into our pasts I’m noticing the growth and healing within myself. She truely is one of the most optimistic people I have ever met. Her vibrant and bubbly self always manages to lift my spirits and sends waves of creativity through me.
Millie used to depict self love as the soul and love from within but she’s grown to realise that it is the simple things like doing the face masks and the “everything showers”. The time in which you spend with yourself to feel clean and confident. Another form of self love she practices is to not criticise herself, her choices or decisions but to simply grow from them, backing herself and being able to hold her ground and worth. Being her own #1 supporter.
Millie’s love language is PHYSICAL TOUCH in big bold letters to grasp just how intense she feeds off it not just sensual touch but genuine human connection. Not only is it her love language but its also how she gages validation.
When I asked what healthy love meant to Millie, I hit her with a follow up question of “Have you ever experienced healthy love?” her response was beautiful because she continued to talk of her boyfriend and stated that “I do believe my relationship at times is healthy love” following that response she made it clear that love isn’t always a clear and steady road. So it doesn’t always have to be beautiful and picturesque to be real and genuine love. Healthy love to Mil is seeing a loved ones flaws, accepting them and working with them to grow forward. Meanwhile, letting someone in, to do the same for you.
Journalling has always been a massive outlet for Millies mental health and its something that has been consistent in her adventure of self love. (trying to get into journalling yourself or need a place to write your thoughts? head to our journalling space on our website!) Something she has recently discovered about herself is that she actually does want to be the stereotypical “girly girl”. That indulges in all forms of materialistic glow up/feel good products, the Thursday night shower routine, all the best recommended skin care and all things pamper. “Being high maintenance to be low maintenance.”
Millie was eagerly waiting for someone to ask why she started The Love Club. It’s not only a form of community for everyone but it’s a way for her personally to be expressive with her own struggles. When she arrived home from her travels she noticed a pattern of anxiety woven through everything she had just done and what she’d come home to. As she reflected she realised she had no security within, she accepted that she needed to spend more genuine time with herself. For many women the narrative is the same, we are told if we change our stories it is “selfish” and “egotistical”. I think it’s about time we rebel against that and prioritise ourselves and fuck those off who don’t support our personal growth.
Reviewing this we took a step back to Millie’s inner child. If she could say anything to her inner child it would to be “stop trying to act cool” and “stop thinking everyone is judging you”. We broke this down together and came to the conclusion that no one really cares what you’re doing because they’re too worried about themselves. Literally everyone is having this outer body experience that we call life and I think we’re all doing what we can to survive. So, sing in public, do the weird and whacky shit you’ve always wanted to because no one really cares!!!!!
“If you could tell everyone in the world one thing right now what would you tell them?” - 101 Essays To Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
“you are loved” - Millie
At the time Millie answered this question she had just started The Love Club. She knew that “You are loved” was needed to be heard by this world hence why it became our moto. It is true that we love you and that you are loved.
To conclude the Love Letter interview, I asked Mil why she loved love so much. She said “I was lucky enough to be brought up in a very loving environment so it wasn’t bad if you loved something intensely, it was encouraged.”
So Millie, now we all know your secrets and everything makes sense now! you’re a certified lover. You accurately remind me of the song “Lover” by Matt Corby. You’d travel to the ends of the earth for your friends and loved ones. You bring out the best in others and you’re growing into a self loving queen! I am so proud of you!
21 Things I am Thinking About Since Turning 21- Millie
This month I (Millie) got to celebrate my 21st Birthday. Each year I deem the month of August from the first birthday-related thing “The Festival of Millie” (how very Leo of me). I felt so grateful and so loved in so many ways this year. For someone who never really saw their 21st as something that would be big, my mind has been changed and I am so appreciative to every person that made it special. Definitely a birthday I will (mostly) remember for years to come.
Now I may not have it all figured out and that okay, these are just some thoughts that have been on my mind recently and I hope you can resonate with 1 or 2 of them.
you don’t have everything figured out
^ that is the only constant in life
cherish your friendships, accept that each friendship is there to fulfill you in different ways
lead with love in every situation. this is obviously hard if someone is being rude to you but always stop and consider why they might be leading with this
affirmations work, what you tell yourself effects you in so many ways
getting help is good, its actually vital to any step towards feeling even the slightest bit better
if you are itching to move away or travel, stop and think about what you are actually craving from that experience before you go. I always wanted to move away and travel to find a community I loved surrounding myself with, now I realise I have that right at home.
if you feel stuck in life, try focusing on yourself for an entire week (self care, journalling, taking yourself on dates) see if that makes a difference
discipline>motivation to an extent. its important to be disciplined but it is also important when to recognise that the reason you aren’t motivated is because you burn out
find yourself a doctor that you feel comfortable going to. I know we will all lie to our doctors in one way or another but having a doctor that you are going to tell majority of the truth to is better than not at all.
spend more time with your family if you are lucky enough to do so. They are people that will love you no matter what and it’s good to surround yourself with this often
self care and being slightly high maintenance actually does wonders for your mental health and confidence, society has built a negative stigma around it that needs to go.
Being open about everything is better than keeping things quiet. I feel like TMI is no longer a thing, I’ll still say it in a sentence but it won’t stop me from proceeding to tell my work colleagues my bowel movements, maybe thats unprofessional but they are enthusiastic to hear it and it makes the environment less stressful if they know why I disappeared to the bathroom for 15 minutes. Be open about how you are feeling, if you are one to feel strongly in the moment and reflect and not feel as bad then maybe give it a day or so to express yourself, but don’t bottle it up.
I am still working on this one but… judgement is all in your head. If someone judges you and you hear about it, it is a projection of how they feel. Majority of the judgements you experience in your life is what you are telling yourself. Let go. I have seen those people on TikTok do exposure therapy in public and act wild and I think I need to start doing that in life.
Exercise should be something you enjoy, if you don’t enjoy it then you haven’t found exercise suited to you.
You can change what you want in life. Do what’s going to make you happy.
It’s okay to want materialistic things. Especially with the cost of living at the moment its okay to spoil yourself every now and then and have a wishlist. Which leads me onto this…
Keep track of your money buy splitting your paycheck up into a million separate accounts for each need. It will take me hours to explain but breaking it down, I feel, has made me feel way more in control financially.
Stick up for yourself. You are your number one support system, your biggest fan and your biggest critic. You know what you want and you should fight for it. In any aspect of your life be the strong woman your mother made you and don’t be afraid to stand up for what’s right.
Being a girly girl is the best thing ever (I personally believe). Embracing girlhood and the colour pink and doing girly things is honestly so beautiful and it is so great to see society become more supportive of it recently.
Just breathe. I believe breathing can fix a lot of things and its important to stop and take a deep breath every now and again.
Hands left muddy:
Pottery has recently become my world. The earth and the wheel turn simultaneously to create a dinner party for one. Clay, by my definition, is the glimmers of the past left in the planet. I never thought that a rotating mountain of mud could have such a chokehold on me. There’s something about it that makes me feel in control, I guide the clay, I set the speed and I make whatever my imprint leaves behind.
Heart left full:
Look, in my past I have seriously hyperfixated on many random hobbies, given them 2 weeks, haven’t been good enough and then moved on. This is the first time in a long time that I am fully committed to improving my skills. This is the first time in a long time that I’m challenged yet content. This is the first time in a long time that I’m connected to her and her muddy hands.
the truth left here for you to read:
For years my art has been kept between to pages of hard cover dairies, melodies hidden in my four walls, notes intertwined into the wood of my guitar and sparks of talent left without fuel to ignite.
“imagine how we’d be if we were less afraid.”
“most of the old moles I know wish they listened less to their fears and more to their dreams.”
“what do you dream about?”
monologue from the short film/children's book “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse” - Charlie Mackesy.
Personally, I find that I am so afraid of being valuable with the things I love to do. If someone were to criticise the way I present my strengths, it would no longer be a strength but just another thing I couldn’t do well enough. I know that realistically that doesn’t change overnight. I have spent a lot of time holding myself accountable to this self doubt and started to analyse where this insecurity comes from. I have been having a quarter life crisis and finally recognised we are only here once (YOLO) and if you don’t run after your dreams you are living a false reality. I do not mean that just because I write music and songs I should become a pop star or that because I draw and do pottery that my pieces should show case next to the Mona Lisa, I simply mean just go for it. Do the things you’ve always wanted to try or commit to the things you once loved.
so ask yourself “what do you dream about?”
