Affiliate Disclosure Content Notice Legal Disclosures Newsletter Home Bottom of Post
This post reflects aspects of long-term marriage, neurodivergence, PTSD, caregiving ,trauma, faith and recovery after infidelity. Find a gentle guide on engaging with this type of post in greater detail in my content notice.
Please engage gently — for yourself and others.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enjoyment Without Extraction
June arrives with sweetness—and with expectation.
The light stretches late.
Schedules loosen.
The world leans toward pleasure, celebration, and togetherness.
The Strawberry Moon is named for harvest, NOT indulgence. It marks the moment when fruit is gathered because it is ready, NOT because more is demanded.
June is NOT asking you to squeeze every drop out of yourself.
It is asking you to receive what ripened naturally.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
top of the page
What June Is Actually About
June is often framed as:
🌕Fun season
🌕Social season
🌕Enjoyment as reward
🌕“Finally” season
But for people living from capacity—caregivers, trauma-aware families, recovering marriages, neurodivergent households—June can quietly become extractive.
You may notice:
🌕Pressure to say yes because things are “supposed to be lighter now”
🌕Pleasure turning into obligation
🌕Connection costing more than it gives
🌕Guilt for NOT enjoying things the “right” way
If June feels draining instead of joyful, it’s NOT because you’re joyless.
It’s because joy was asked to perform.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Strawberry Moon Truth
Enjoyment Is Not Meant to Empty You
Fruit is gathered when it’s ripe—NOT pulled early, NOT harvested endlessly.
The Strawberry Moon reminds us:
PLEASURE THAT COSTS TOMORROW IS NOT NOURISHMENT
Joy that requires:
🌕exhaustion
🌕overexposure
🌕emotional labor
🌕forced presence
…is NOT restoration.
June invites enjoyment with limits—the kind that feeds instead of depletes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Released Belief (Set This Down)
“If I don’t enjoy this fully, I’m ungrateful.”
Gratitude does NOT require endurance.
You are NOT obligated to:
🌕stay longer than your capacity
🌕socialize past regulation
🌕keep smiling when your body says enough
🌕prove happiness
Enjoyment does NOT need witnesses.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restored Truth (Carry This Instead)
JOY IS MEANT TO REPLENISH, NOT EXTRACT.
Faithful stewardship applies to pleasure too.
You are allowed to:
🌕take small doses of joy
🌕leave while things are still good
🌕leave while things are still good
🌕choose quiet enjoyment over shared experience
🌕savor without maximizing
June honors enough, NOT excess.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
top of the page
What Nourishing Enjoyment Looks Like in Real Life
Nourishing enjoyment may mean:
🌕One simple pleasure instead of a full schedule
🌕Receiving without hosting
🌕Enjoying moments privately
🌕Leaving events early
🌕Choosing comfort over novelty
🌕Resting before you’re exhausted
If you’re protecting your energy in June, you’re NOT missing out.
You’re making joy sustainable.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
When Guilt or Pressure Shows Up This Month
June pressure often sounds like:
🌕“Come on, it’s fun!”
🌕“You’ll regret not doing this.”
🌕“Summer goes by so fast.”
Here’s the reframe:
JOY THAT REQUIRES SELF-BETRAYAL IS NOT JOY
If guilt appears, check for:
🌕comparison
🌕fear of missing out
🌕pressure to perform happiness
🌕internalized “shoulds” around gratitude
You are allowed to enjoy life at the pace of your nervous system.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Gentle June Practice (Optional)
This month’s practice is about receiving without repayment.
Once this month, choose:
🌕One small pleasure
🌕That does NOT require preparation
🌕That does NOT create cleanup
🌕That does NOT require explanation
And let it be enough.
NO documenting.
NO sharing.
NO turning it into a memory.
Just receive.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
If Reflection Feels Like Too Much
June does NOT ask you to evaluate your joy.
You don’t need to ask why something feels good—or why it doesn’t.
Enjoyment doesn’t need insight to be valid.
Skipping this month is allowed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Partner & Family Translation (Share If Helpful)
“June is about enjoying what actually feeds me—not doing more just because it’s summer.
What helps most is letting joy be simple and short.”
Choosing less joyfully is still choosing joy.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
top of the page
Faith-Forward Reframe (If That’s Your Language)
In Scripture, feasting follows provision—NOT pressure.
Jesus received meals, rest, and companionship without turning them into spectacle.
Joy is NOT a test of gratitude.
It is a gift to be handled gently.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Closing Thought
The Strawberry Moon does NOT ask you to celebrate harder.
It asks you to taste what is already sweet.
If June feels quieter, simpler, or more contained than expected, nothing is wrong.
You are NOT failing joy.
You are stewarding it.
This month, enjoyment that leaves you whole—
NOT emptied—
is enough.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
top of the page
WELLNESS THAT WITHSTANDS
Rooted. Resilient. Restored.
Monthly Newsletter
Nicole Burch is a CertifiedTrim Healthy Lifestyle Coach, author, and holistic family life mentor who helps women and families rebuild from the inside out. Through her work, she guides others toward resilience, restoration, and peace—teaching that true healing begins at home. As the owner of Life in the Treehouse, Nicole helps women and families overcome burnout, find food freedom, and create sustainable wellness that lasts. Her work weaves together the practical and the profound—showing that peace is possible even in the busiest, most complicated seasons of life.
Whether she’s helping clients balance blood sugar, restore energy, or reconnect with joy, Nicole’s mission remains the same:
to help women and families live Rooted in Rhythm—anchored in peace, balanced in body, and guided by grace.
top of the page
If you’re seeking nourishment for body and soul—gluten-free living, Trim Healthy knowledge and support, or peace amid the chaos—welcome home.
This is where resilience takes root.
Disclosure, Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, Content Notice & Trauma Informed Reading Guide, and my Affiliate Disclosures Below
I am celebrating five years of being a Certified Trim Healthy Lifestyle Coach. I have lived an abundance of seasons within just these five years. I was a nursing mom, pregnant multiple times, survived a traumatic pregnancy loss in 2022, lived in survival mode from 2022-2025 while being an ambassador for survivors of sexual assault and facilitating the legal aspects of a criminal trail against the perpetrator for those assaults, almost died due to pulmonary embolism after my eighth child was born in 2023, and somewhere in there lost and gained 80 pounds after identifying binge-eating disorder as a new challenge. I KNOW too well that life slows down for nobody and no situation, and every meal is a new opportunity to be a begin-againer!
Join my FREE Trim Healthy Facebook group: Trim in the Treehouse for mentorship, and support.
Nicole Burch is a Certified Trim Healthy Mama Lifestyle Coach, independently offering services based on the THM plan. This coach is not an employee or agent of Trim Healthy Mama, LLC. Coaching services are independently managed, and THM is not responsible for results, business practices, or claims made by this coach.
top of the page
Track with Ease. Flow with Intention.
→ Gentle tracking that follows your real life
→ A clearer view of your patterns and needs
→ Fuel-based guidance without pressure
— Learn More — Get the App —
Affiliate Disclosures
As an Amazon Associate, I may link to specific products that I believe in and trust. This is an affiliate link, and I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
As a Trim Healthy Affiliate I may link to specific products that I believe in and trust from Trim Healthy Mama, LLC. If you make any purchases through my link I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
As a Queen of Thrones Affiliate I may link to specific products that I believe in. If you make any purchases through my link I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
top of the page
© 2025 Nicole Burch | All Rights Reserved
Designed with love to support families in building lives that are anchored in peace, balanced in body, and guided by grace. by: Nicole Burch
Life in the Treehouse with Nicole Burch 
Leave a comment