Brackish is a term used to describe water that is a mixture of saltwater and freshwater, for example, where a river meets the sea.
‘I first encountered it sitting in a boat in just such water and it immediately became one of my favourite words. I am fascinated by intersections, liminal and littoral spaces, overlaps and interconnections, and I want to use this space to explore all of those things – the ideas that don’t fit into neat boxes.
So, I’ll be exploring those things here – the places where craft meets nature, where the rules don’t apply and ‘shoulds’ start to fall away. From occasional ‘salty’ language to refusing to adhere to feminine standards of beauty or behaviour, I am leaning into my brackish era – and I’m doing it here with some brilliant women and non-binary folks who are doing the same.’
In this episode of Brackish, Katie speaks with coach Joeli Caparco about reframing our approach to winter, New Year's resolutions, and life cycles. Joeli (she/they) works with overachievers, perfectionists, overthinkers, and people pleasers to help them create lives they love and businesses that fit within those lives.
Episode Summary
Joeli and Katie explore why the "New Year, New You" narrative is problematic, especially in the Northern Hemisphere's winter season. They discuss viewing the year as a circle rather than a linear progression, and delve into the four feminine archetypes - particularly what the mother phase means if you don’t have kids, and the often-overlooked Enchantress phase.
Key Topics
* Why "New Year, New You" messaging is rooted in capitalism and diet culture
* The importance of viewing the year cyclically rather than linearly
* Understanding winter as a time for rest and dreaming
* The seed catalogue metaphor for winter planning
* The four feminine archetypes: Maiden, Mother, Enchantress, and Crone
* Reframing your middle years through the lens of the Enchantress archetype
Highlights
Happiness should come first, rather than being a reward for achieving external goals
"And I remember a conversation that we had, when I said something like, well, if I do x, y and z, then I'll achieve this, and then I'll be happy. And you were like, Well, how about if you do the things that make you happy, then you'll be happy. So obvious, but my little brain just went, ‘Oh, I didn't realize that was an option! I just get to do the things that make me happy now?’ Well, yeah, and this is another symptom of all of the culture that creates this January new you idea. It's that your happiness is external to you, that you have to earn it."
The Enchantress archetype represents a powerful phase of wisdom and authenticity
"From 60 to 80, those would be your wintering years, those would be your elder years, those would be your crone years. So it really brings in this kind of third quarter where, if you think about the energy of the season of autumn and if you think about the energy of your premenstrual part of your cycle. If you have or had a cycle where you're like, I don't give a single thought about what someone else thinks of me. Like, I'm raging. All of your emotions are heightened, all of that is what we're thinking about when we think about Enchantress. The Enchantress is, to me, the typical, or like the archetypical... badass woman, right? Like she's done with... she knows who she is. They know who they are. They have figured out their place in family and in world, and now they're ready to shed their shoulds."
Winter is naturally a time for rest, reflection
"If you imagine the Wheel of the Year, if we just think about the four seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn, in spring, all of the plants are coming up that we've planted them in winter. And in spring, you really need to be tending to those tiny baby shoots. They have to be protected before they can go outside. So spring, things are starting to emerge. Our baby animals are coming out. In summer, we're really in the height of things growing things. It could be potentially a harvest time, although normally we would think about harvest time as autumn, but I think summer is really that height of working in the fields, traditionally, if we were farmers, and also playing because the days are long. Autumn, we're really harvesting. We've got to get everything in. We've got to get things canned. We have to prepare for the dark winter. But then what are we doing when we come back around to winter? We're getting out our seed catalogs, and we're thinking, what am I going to plant?"
Winter Wisdom
Joeli's tip: Tune into how your body feels and what it's craving - there's no "right" way to winter. Some people need rest, others find energy in the darker months.
Katie's tip: Keep the fairy lights up after Christmas to maintain some cosy warmth through winter.
Connect with Joeli
* Website: joelicoparco.com
* Instagram: @joelicaparco
Connect with Katie:
* Instagram: @katietreggiden.1
Books we mentioned:
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Birkman
It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now by Barbara Sher
Useful Links:
Try out a nature-informed coaching tool - Find a spot in a blue (or green) space where you can spend some time without being interrupted and try out this ‘four directions meditation’ to reflect on the sustainability journey you’re on and try out a nature-informed tool at the same time.
Spread the Word:
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Dive deeper:
You can find the poem Katie shared on this episode along with other poems, nature-connection prompts, and short personal essays on her Substack.
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About Katie Treggiden:
Katie Treggiden (she/her) is a craft, nature and sustainability writer, certified Blue Health Coach™ and the author of Brackish on Substack. She grew up in Cornwall and as a child, took for granted that you could catch mackerel for the barbeque from a day boat, find grasshoppers between molehills on the lawn, and watch bats catching insects at dusk. When she returned in 2017, it was not the county she remembered. There were no longer enough mackerel for it to be worth taking a boat out fishing, and as for the grasshoppers, molehills and bats? Nowhere to be seen. In fact the Living Planet Report published by the WWF in 2024 estimates a 73% loss in biodiversity in roughly the time she has been alive. Baba Dioum said, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand.” So Katie is a storyteller. If she can help people to understand and connect with nature through her poems, short stories, and Blue Health Coaching™, perhaps we can reverse that decline – and feel a whole lot better in the process because we are not separate from nature, as much as modern living might try to convince us we are.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe
