Tag: hopes

Experiencing Awe

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Today the rain is pouring outside. Thick heavy drops splashing on the window ledge fill our home with a gentle roar. The weight of life rolling down the window panes and over the shingled roof. It feels exquisite to be inside watching the water pour and the tree limbs sway. It fills me with gratitude. We are cozy, warm, and safe. Thunder powerfully rumbles overhead. The size and shape of the clouds creating noise and energy that astounds and humbles me. To consider the magnitude of ever shifting and rolling momentum fills me with awe. 

The rain and the clouds hovering overhead, remind me of the gifts this world has to offer us. The plenty that surrounds and engulfs our daily life. We are so small in this ever expanding universe. Simple situations and worries can seem so monumental to us. And yet, from the perspective of the world these are small things. Our desires, hopes, fears – all of them are so tiny. And really, what is there to worry about? 

Petty embarrassments, moods, situations – all of these things change like the weather. In a flash of lighting the storm has moved on and our small problems are similar. Much like the temperature, rain fall, the wind, all of it can go from the thunderous and terrifying to a gentle kiss in an instant. As Pullitzer Prize winning journalist Mary Schmich tells us, “In the end the race is only against ourselves.”

It’s powerful to consider – if we are not on earth to rush to any destination or achieve some lofty goal. We may only be here for this time, the journey, and all of its twists and turns. Our role may not be to fix, solve, or remedy. Our existence my be our only purpose. Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t. Perhaps we too are only here for a brief moment and have no other objective than to experience the awe and wonder that is life. What is the purpose of the rain? Is it not already perfect? What if we too, are already perfect?

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Savor and Celebrate the Life We Have

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Today I am thinking about creating the life I want. Having so many goals and projects in the works can sometimes feel overwhelming. I want to build and create while also making time to nurture relationships and live my life. I often check in on myself to be sure that I am not just accomplishing, completing, or “working,” rather than living. 

I don’t want to be distracted for the best times of my life and unfortunately that’s really easy to do. In a culture that glorifies “busy,” it’s easy to be consumed with productivity. We’re trying to make a home, raising kids, and all of it feels like it’s big and important. We’re sprinting through the seasons sometimes and it seems that no sooner is one task complete than there are five, or fifteen, more to fill it.

Remember Your Goals

What helps me to get out of the hamster wheel and see the big picture is reminding myself that all of this was once a dream. A beautiful home, a healthy family, a partner I love and admire – all of these were items on a wish list that I once imagined for myself. 

I distinctly remember a morning in Chicago, driving from my aunt’s apartment downtown back to my college dorm in Rodgers Park. Thinking I’d like to work in a city but have a country home where I raised my family and did my writing. I like the idea of being near a large metropolis while also distant from other people. A chateau or country estate sounded perfect to me.

Find Where You Are

Flash forward fifteen years and here we are in our country home, mouse problems and all. We’re savoring sunsets, active in our local community, and live in a small town where we know people and are known pretty much everywhere we go. It feels so comfortable and also magical that this life I imagined one morning in undergrad is here. I dreamt of this time and this place. Having imagined this moment in my life, now that I’m here I want to savor it. I want to cherish what I have while still pursuing what comes next. 

Savor & Celebrate Your Progress

For me savoring looks like a cup of tea and a long lunch with my partner. It looks like giving our dog some extra love and attention. Sitting in the sun and meditating so that I am fully present here and now. It feels like hyyge – making myself comfortable and writing to express my thoughts and process my emotions. It is being still and listening to my children as they drift off to sleep. Extra kisses on soft cheeks and all the snuggles I can possibly fit into a day. It is “one more minute,” of play when I can give it and boundaries when I cannot. And taking care of myself so that I am here for a very long time to savor and celebrate a long life. If you’re looking for some tools to find your own focal points there’s a great guide here.

Notice What Fills You and Follow It

This life is about creating spaces where I am comfortable, inspired, held and free. Finding a way to make every hope, wish, and dream I have come true because when I am building and growing, and reading good books I feel whole. Eating good foods and traveling, inspires me and stretches my wings. Learning new things fills me up and keeps me interested and engaged. I am forever looking forward to all of the good that is here now, and all of the wonderful that is yet to come.

With the fall winds upon us our windows and doors are blanketed in ladybugs. Every one that lands and stays, every one that I must pick up and place outside drenches me in good luck and positive thoughts. I am fortunate, blessed, grateful for all that I have and eager to see what comes next! 

How do you savor and celebrate life’s special moments? What times have been your favorites? What sacred dream are you pursuing now?

Manifesting a New Year

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Our home has been littered with lady bugs this fall and so I have no doubt that luck and good fortune will find me in 2023. These sweet little omens seem to be showing that good luck will be beating down my door and crawling in through every crevice. Therefore this time is sacred and to be savored. Cheers to our 2nd Birthday AWritten! Here’s how I am manifesting a new year and what I hope to share with each of you on this site and in the world.

Goals

As I envision the year ahead and what I want more of in my life I am noticing patterns. This new year’s dreams are very focused on health, well-being, home, family, and travel. These are goals for my very real and current life. They are strategies of how to live joyfully, healthfully, fitfully, and authentically. These goals are about embracing family, building a close knit community, and engaging fully with life. 

Environment 

The year appears to be about rest and recovery. My focus is on creating spaces and environments that serve deeper care of self and family. The goal is to create convenience and useful spaces that support and serve our lives. This includes this space we share here – our virtual living room where we connect.

Methodology

The year will not be focused on accomplishments, though I am sure there will be many. Nor am I focusing on adventure or change – though both are inevitable. The focus for this new year is on savoring beauty, rest, natural wonders, delicious foods, and simple pleasures. 

I primarily envision this year in neutral colors though there are a couple bold choices that appeal to me as well. There is a lot of simple elegance and grace which feels both authentic and present – a goal worthy of pursuit. To create beauty, absorb and appreciate it in the natural world and in the creative endeavors of others. I want to appreciate what I have already without longing for what is to come.

Timing

There is a calling to shared love, and honesty. A welcoming of self and others to share in my life, hearth, and home. Together we grow, support and nurture health in our lives. Sharing gentle and generous wellbeing with family and friends. 

It is preparing so that when the appropriate moment arrives I am ready. I simply know that now is a time for comfort, serenity, and peace. My time feels as if it is finally stretching itself out and resting in the sun. I do not have so many obligations and responsibilities looming that I feel spread thin or unable to manage all of the demands on my time or energy. Honoring my own rhythm – working when it feels right, resting when that feels appropriate too. I am living in gentle respect for all things, the first of which is me.

Future State

I want you to feel care, elegance, and grace at every touchpoint and interaction. Making the conversion from visitor, to fan, to buyer, to evangelist seamless. I want to build relationships that feel like friendships and bonds that sustain the tests of time and turbulence – whatever that might be. A household name that is more like a friend, an aspiration, and an inspiration rather than a single item, book, or product. I want friends and strangers to feel welcomed, loved, accepted, appreciated. To feel held, free, and to have a reason to come back – as only true love can make us feel. 

I want you to know that in the background I am forever creating new material, exploring new topics, and learning all I can so that I may share my lessons learned with all of you. As we grow and plan for this space I am forever focusing on creating room for each of you to thrive here and in your own lives. 

How do you feel connected to this space? And how can our content that better serve you and your needs?

What do You Want This Year’s Story to Be?

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I would like my story to be one of joy, authenticity, and arrival. I want the work of the past several years to come to fruition in the most wholesome and honest way possible. I want to build and grow and strive but also to feel completely at home where I am and with what I am doing. I want sunshine and rest. I want joyful productivity, the good and satisfying tired that comes after an honest day’s work. I want my health and wellbeing to be melded into my collective health. I want to carry deeper spirituality. I want to hold the truth of who I am in my heart and engage with the world from that perspective. I want to be confident and forthright. I want to take on the tasks that challenge, delight, and amaze me – I want to grow into exactly who I am and show up where I am meant be.

I want it to be a year of flowering and coming into full bloom. I want it to be a a year of ownership and celebration of my accomplishments and a a pride in my work and success. I want the year to include staying the course and walking my own path, stepping into my destiny. I want gentle sunny afternoons, time with true friends who understand and delight me, conversations that fill me up and give me new ideas to contemplate. I want soul crushing awareness and truth. I want to be who I am in every room I enter. I want to draw towards me those people who are on the same page and who not only support my growth and success but who push me to that next level by being so amazing themselves that they inspire me to rise above where I am to get to where I am going.

I am hopeful, that this year will be the first of many where I walk forward proudly with head held high and with the courage of the battles I have already fought and won. I want this year to be a deep honoring of how far I’ve come and of where I am going. 

Professionally, I want to make new connections and build bonds that further my career. I want to savor and enjoy old friendships that have sculpted me into the woman I am now. I want a victory lap so to speak, an inspiring journey that gives me fortitude, strength, and ownership of every step I take. I want the year to unfold naturally, I want nothing contrived or forced. I want true connection and not speed. I do not want to rush or push, I want to bloom and unfold the layers of life like a gentle rose lifting its petals to the sun. Time is short, life is brief, and that is why I feel we are all compelled to enjoy it now. The dogged urgency with which we pursue our goals and dreams need not be a continuation of capitalism and “the grind.” We need not, “hustle for our worthiness,” but rather step into the arena bearing the message already written on our hearts. Graciously offering what we have to the world and welcoming the love and recognition that comes from being truly seen. 

I want to work towards this authenticity daily. I want to carry this bravery within myself proudly. I want to embrace who I am, what I am about, and show up for my journey prepared but also gently. I am not here to sprint, overwork, or sacrifice my health or wellbeing for accomplishment or recognition – in fact while recognition is lovely this work is a labor of love. My work is an offering, to the universe, to the world, to others, given freely and without expectation. I hope you love it. I hope my work serves you. I hope what I create in some small way changes the world and people’s lives for the better.  More than anything I hope it calls to what is true and honest and deep in you and encourages you to share what bounty and beauty you have inside of yourself.

I do not hope to be the figurehead or the one with, “answers,” for I feel that when you find your own truth, your own answers and solutions appear. I only hope to share the path I have taken so that others may follow as so many have done for me. Much like a cat sitting in the sun I hope to be still, free, and well rested. I hope to stretch, eat well, travel, and have as many adventures necessary to keep life interesting and as many peaceful afternoons necessary to keep me comfortable and at ease. 

Ease is such a large part of this plan as well. My plan is not to overthink or overcomplicate my life with plans that are too ornate or strategies that feel more like plans of attack. I am taking each day one sunrise and sunset at a time. I am enjoying the length of afternoons and the warmth of sunshine. I am resting and focusing on only doing one thing at a time. I am not multi-tasking. This year my hope is to be still, enjoy the journey, and give myself everything I need to thrive. 

That is my hope for this new year, what is yours?