change up your energy…

Feeling off lately? Yeah, me too.

And it’s really weird because I felt so “in the flow” last week. Then the weekend hit and BAM—off.

I think a change up in energy is in order!

I’m always hoping that someone out there can take nuggets from these posts to help them in their own lives, but I have to admit that deciding to write about this today is also a little reminder to myself.

So… let’s do this together!

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the power of intention… (pt. two)

When you have a profound realization like I had in that car, it leaves a mark.

But of course, a miraculous recovery from years of self-destructive behavior is (most likely) not gonna happen.

So, what did happen?

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the power of intention… (pt. one)

As a child, I was told that I could “do anything I set my mind to.” It usually wasn’t far behind “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

So, in my kid brain, “setting your mind to something” translated to a big picture idea. Like, if I wanted to be a doctor or lawyer, and worked really hard, it would happen.

Whatever the “thing,” it was always somewhere far in the future, promising eventual graspability. Regardless, I took it to mean that anything was possible.

It took me years—decades—to realize that “anything” had actually been within my reach all along…

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good one, universe…

So, I just got a message from the Universe to practice what I preach.

You know how I know?

Because I spent hours writing a blog post. And then rewriting it. And then finding the right song to accompany it. And while looking for a photo to add…

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day of rest…

As I’m sure many of you can relate, I spent all week looking forward to the weekend. I’ve had a rough go of it recently [as you may recall from my post a few days ago] and I had big plans for some R&R. And then what ends up happening? I GET SICK.

[insert The Bachelor chick “ugh” GIF again] Like, seriously?

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a quest called tribe… (pt. one)

Some tribes you choose; and some you don’t. When we choose the members of our tribe, we usually find people in one of four ways: similar interests, things in common, in close proximity, and/or through referrals or third-party introductions. Or you can be born into one and others can be born into yours.

When my mom married my dad, she already had two kids, a son and daughter, from her first marriage. When I was born, my brother and sister were 11 years old and 15 years old, respectively. Although technically they are my “half” siblings, I never thought of them that way; they were always whole to me. As the baby of this family unit, I loved my people, looked up to them, and was fiercely proud of them. This was my first tribe.

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saturday morning coffee…

On a Saturday morning back in February, I met my friend, Ali, for coffee. These weekend coffee dates had become a wonderful timeout from real life. For a couple hours, I could venture out into the world (just down the street, but still) as an individual person.

I didn’t have to struggle with getting a kid, or four, in and out of the car. I could just pull into a parking space and get myself out of the car; it was a lightness that I rarely felt anymore.

Our conversation that day spanned many topics—from plants to how much our time is worth to how our mindsets shift as we move through life.

Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, I had an epiphany. And then sometime after that, I forgot what it was. (This is why we can’t have nice things.)

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the world owes me nothing…

the world owes me nothing … we owe each other the world.

Ani Difranco, “joyful girl

Almost one year ago today I began writing a post about gratitude. It’s so important to talk about and I’m sorry that it took me this long to revisit the draft. But I kept getting a nudge to finally get my thoughts on this phenomenon out there, and I’m happy to be seeing it through now.

Let’s get things rolling with a quick reader poll…

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an empath parent… (the teen years)

Ever since Jillie crossed over into teendom, I’m either shocked, dismayed, angry, sad, impressed, proud, confused, “seriously?” or “wait, what?” For me, this has absolutely been one of the most challenging periods of parenthood thus far.

The mood swings, the attitude, the back talk, the disrespectful language, the terrible decisions, the doing dumb stuff…

And Elliott is only four months shy of entering this stage of life. But I guess this is growing up. (Cue Blink-182)

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an empath parent… (the early years)

My older kids have always been described as “sensitive.” This word has been used both as an insult and a compliment at various points in their lives. Having grown up self-conscious of my own quick-to-cry nature, I always thought it was one of my flaws.

It took me a long time to realize that this part of me was actually a superpower. In fact, it wasn’t until long after I had my first two children that I discovered I was an empath.

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