The greatest challenges humans face throughout their lives are two:
1) the challenge of where to start
2) the challenge of when to stop
~Sameh Elsayed

There is something special about the number seven. I can’t explain it, but it’s true. Seven is magical. Every seven years the body completely remakes itself on a cellular level. How does this work? How do we retain memory? (My answer? Magic.) There are seven musical notes, seven chakras, seven days of the week, seven deadly sins and the (in)famous Seven Year Itch: the point at which a relationship begins to feel rather stale and one has an urge for, well, something fresh, something exciting, something that makes them feel alive. It’s a real thing. I know this, because I am smack in the middle of it.

Seven years ago this merry month of May I wrote my very first Soul Matters column. It was thrilling for me, even if the writing wasn’t. In time I found what is called “my voice.” An organic style began to unfurl and a path appeared before me. Soul Matters has been my proving ground, my touchstone, my discipline and my small offering to the world. I am grateful for it, and gratified that so many readers have found something good and useful in it. It’s been a lovely relationship.

But I’m itchy. I’m written seven full years of this column. What began as a vague sense of restlessness a few months ago has grown to a fully conscious compulsion to move on. I must admit that as much as this engenders a sense of excitement, it also stirs up a great deal of sorrow and anxiety. Endings are like that. Even when they are right and good, even when one has outgrown one’s past, it’s difficult to let go of the comfortable and familiar. Endings and beginnings are difficult things but, as the novelist Paulo Coelho writes, “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.”

It is in this spirit that I am embarking on a new adventure, one that will include the manifestation of a long-desired dream to teach on a larger scale, including a plan for a TED Talk next year. I will also be expanding my writing and life coaching work, even as I spend 14 hours a day shuttling my children all over Christendom. Equally importantly, I will be a permanent fixture every Sunday at the baseball fields, cheering in a loud and shameless display for #1, my son the pitcher, at his middle school games. Life is good.

And so, before the bloom is completely off the rose, it is time for me to say goodbye in order that I might find my new “Hello.” I thank you, dear readers, for taking the time to read what I have to say, and especially for your kind feedback. Truly, it has been wonderful.

But it’s not really over. I invite you to come to my website, katherineingram.com, and sign-up for my newsletter. You will receive my thoughts in your inbox with no ads, no pesky requests—just some wit and wisdom to inspire and entertain. Please join me! We’ll have fun! I also invite you to “Like” me on Facebook (nauseating, I know; like Sally Fields: “you like me, you really like me!”), where I will be posting news about my new adventures along with some delicious food for the soul—because, my dear friends, Soul Matters.

Peace and Love, Kate

KATE INGRAM, M.A., is an award-winning author, life coach, expert on matters of the soul and soon-to-be speaker in high demand. Find out more (and there IS more!) at katherineingram.com, and facebook.com/authorkatherineingram