Completing the 2nd China retreat reminded me of how the Homecoming journey started- Edition 17 // 04.30.26

Dear curious explorer of the world ❣️,

We just wrapped our second Homecoming retreat in Dali!!! I am settling back in LA, still sitting with everything that unfolded over the past few days.

Coming back to the same place and guiding the same journey again felt different this time.

It didn’t feel like I was repeating something.
It felt like I was reconnecting with something.

Not just the work itself—but the reason I ever started.

When I first began Homecoming, I didn’t have a clear plan.

I didn’t know what it would become or how to build it.

What I did have was a period of time where I slowed down enough to actually be with myself. And in that space, I started asking questions I had been too busy to really sit with:

What do I actually want my life to look like?
What actually matters to me?

What became clear to me wasn’t just where I wanted to live, but what I wanted my life to be built around.

Family became the anchor.

It was the first time I really admitted to myself how important it was for me to stay connected to my family, to be present in their lives, and to not build a life that pulled me further and further away from that.

From there, everything else started to reorganize.

That’s when I realized I didn’t want to choose between one place and another.
I wanted to create a life that allowed me to live between China and the US—
not as a compromise, but as a way to stay connected to everything that matters to me.

At the same time, I knew there was another piece that felt just as important.

I wanted to build community.
I wanted to create spaces where people could feel seen, supported, and able to explore who they are.

Because I know what it feels like to be in that in-between space—
where you’ve outgrown parts of your life, but don’t fully know what’s next.

So I started to look at everything that felt true for me—
family, culture, connection, impact—
and ask myself how I could honor all of it, instead of choosing just one.

Looking back now, I can see that Homecoming grew out of that process.

Being back this time, I got to witness something similar happening for others.

When people are taken out of their usual environment, when they slow down just enough, something begins to shift.

Not in a dramatic way—but in a quiet, honest way.

They start to hear themselves again.

And every time I see that, I’m reminded that this work isn’t really about the place or the program.

It’s about creating a space where people can pause long enough to see what’s already there.

This round also felt different for me in how I showed up.

Last year, I was holding everything on my own.
This time, I had a team.

And it changed everything.

There’s something very different about creating a space alone versus having it be held by a group of people who care just as much.

The experience became deeper—not because I did more, but because I didn’t have to do it all by myself. 

As I come back from this retreat, I don’t have everything figured out.

I don’t have a fully mapped-out plan of what Homecoming will become or exactly what’s next.

But maybe that’s not the point.

More and more, I’m seeing that this is what life actually looks like—
being clear on what you’re committed to,
and then taking one step at a time from there.

Looking Ahead: Creating a life that truly expresses who you are!

Over the next couple of months, I’m feeling called to create a smaller, more intentional space to go deeper into this work.

If you’ve been feeling like you’re in between worlds—
between what you’ve built and what you actually want,
or navigating a transition where things no longer feel fully aligned— this might be for you.

I’m putting together a small group mastermind based on the Grounded Harmony Blueprint, starting at the end of May / early June.

This is the framework I’ve been developing through Homecoming—
a way to look at your life as a whole, not just in separate pieces like career, relationships, or personal growth.

We’ll be exploring what it means to build a life that actually reflects what matters to you—
from your values and foundations,
to how you relate to yourself, others, and the world,
to the choices and structures that support the life you want to live.

This will be a more intimate container, and I’ll only be opening 6–8 spots for people who feel genuinely called to do this work.

If this resonates, reply to this email and let me know.
Even just “I’m interested” is enough to start the conversation.

I’d love to hear where you are and what you’re navigating right now.

For those of you in LA, we’ll be back in the park for Grounding Pause on May 23.

If you’d like to join us, you can register here:

Until then—
see where you might give yourself a little more space to slow down,
and listen a little more closely to what’s already there.

With you on the journey,
Shanshan

P.S. If you’re not sure whether this is for you, you can still reply and share where you are—I read every message.