“The firefly and the star embody our metaphor: Sometimes the stars move, sometimes the firefly holds still; then the reverse. The caterpillar worm in chrysalis imagines wings, then cracks its coffin to rise as new creature, forgetful of the old.”

– Ray Bradbury, Beyond Giverny

Another post, another set of questions:

1. How much of what I am attracted to right NOW – knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, explanations, curiosity, etc. – is driven by my fundamental core, versus prompted as a consequence/compromise/compensation from something in the past?

2. Is what I am saying/doing right now advancing or defending me?

3. To what extent do these questions matter, and also not matter?
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   Woah, baby. It’s about to get deep.
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   In this post I want to address the stories we tell and the stories we seek to be told to make ourselves feel better. I wanna dig into where that desire/search to be...

“Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

– James Allen, “As a Man Thinketh”

Even through all the hustle and bustle of Christmas festivities, there is a stillness to December that – in pockets – really challenges me. Somewhere between all the things that I get to do, and all the things that I don’t have to do, I sometimes feel a little lost.

And by lost, I really mean found/exposed/caught-dead-in-the-water, because only with excess time does my mind go all Hey hey!! Over here!! Time to assess your life!!!
[imagine me rolling my eyes right now]

Though I don’t particularly enjoy it, I totally...

What I wanted to name this post was this:

Scrooge, walking, running, sunlight, kombucha, my metaphorical cocoon, and a little less balance.

Yeah. Would’ve been a little much.

I know. I know!

In a snapshot: I was feeling like Scrooge this past weekend – probably influenced by teaching “A Christmas Carol” to 10th graders right now, but not the point. I miss soccer season. I miss all the green leaves on the trees. I miss the sun being out for more hours each day. I miss long hikes in the mountains.

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Saturday I walked at Great Falls Park in the first snow of the season. Instantly felt 1000x better. Nature and sunlight and running are my go-to’s for feeling love. Sunday I ran by feel & not pace and felt AMAZING. I remembered how much I love to run in 40-50 degree air. I noticed the message on my kombucha bottle that read “raw, unadulterated & crafted by nature” – what a way...

“If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”

– Ray Bradbury

This one goes out to you, Ray.
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Quick rewind, I had originally planned to open up this post with this:
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If you love someone, let them go. If they love you, they’ll come back.
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I’m sure you’ve heard that line, or some variation of it, plenty of times before. What can I say… I agree with it, and I also kinda hate it.

I take it as a truthful (though sometimes harsh) reminder that ultimately, while we may hope or encourage or influence, we can’t control how others feel. This fills my heart and breaks my heart for various reasons.

Anyone else feel like they’re in a constant state of deciding on their next...

Real talk: at a certain point, it becomes easy to intellectualize feelings.

It keeps a safe space between how you actually feel, and to what extent you’re willing to express that feeling.

I want more cutting to the core of how I feel! That space where actions & expressed feelings aren’t so affected by the awareness of others’ perceptions.

I know I’ve addressed labels & filters in my blog before. The first quote I ever shared was about finding that space of unaffected, unapologetic bliss. Last week I shared my holiday digital challenge. (Which, I’m not gonna lie, I broke Wednesday because of The Lumineers concert… oops. But please know I’ve been following it otherwise!)

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My emphasis for this post is to encourage more consideration of allowing yourself to truly live out how you actually feel.
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Like when you’re a kid and you feel embarrassed or vulnerable. You feel it...

Newsflash: I’m going on a diet this holiday season. Starting tomorrow. And it has nothing to do with restricting food!

Instead, it has everything to do with reducing my time with technology.

This diet will last indefinitely through Christmas this year, and who knows?! Maybe even beyond that. Here are my rules:

1. If I’m talking to you in person, my phone is away.
2. No more than 20 mins on social media every day. Regardless of whether or not my total time is under that, can’t check it more than 3 different times in one day. (Ideally 2.)
3. PHONE IS ON SILENT AND OUT OF SIGHT during breakfast/lunch/dinner.
4. NO CHECKING MY PHONE IN THE CAR… only exception is answering a call.
5. Three picture max at any event.
6. All xmas shopping will be done IN PERSON! No looking at phone while waiting in line. Amazon, I love you, but I’m actually excited to see how this plays out.
7. Electronics off after...

“In the growth mind-set, you don’t feel the need to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens. The hand you’re dealt is just the starting point…. Although people may differ in every which way – in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”

– Carol Dweck

I could talk nuances all day. :)

– sympathy vs. empathy
– hearing vs. listening
– attention vs. connection
– certainty vs. letting go
– admired vs. cared for

The list goes on and on! But for this post, I only want to talk about one:

COMPLiMENT VS. COMPLeMENT

If you’re thinking I’m out of my mind and I don’t know how to spell – nice try, sassy. I promise I actually have a point here… According to Merriam-Webster, here’s how each are defined:

compliment: noun, an expression...

In asking that question, I want to address three main ideas in this post:

1. What’s lost between feeling and telling
2. The paradox to sharing your unfiltered self/content/experiences
3. Charm vs. connection

WARNING: This post is gonna get a little gritty. While I don’t want to get into a battle of semantics (which, let’s be real – could be its own separate blog post), I do want to write about a topic that fires me up.

I hate to create a prerequisite to a post, but I strongly recommend having read “The Inner Ring” by C.S. Lewis. If you did take my advice last week and already read it – HELL YEAH!!! I am totally giving you a high five right now.

I. WHAT’S LOST BETWEEN FEELING AND TELLING

It’s the subliminal moment ending as soon as you’re aware of it. The purity of your art changing as you document it. High culture to pop culture. Product not content.

So… how do you keep the...

“The ultimate test for the ability to control the quality of experience is what a person does in solitude, with no external demands to give structure to attention. It is relatively easy to become involved with a job, to enjoy the company of friends, to be entertained in a theater or at a concert. But what happens when we are left to our own devices? Alone, when the dark night of the soul descends, are we forced into frantic attempts to distract the mind from its coming? Or are we able to take on activities that are not only enjoyable, but make the self grow?”

– Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”

Oh, that quote. Thought-provoking but too much right now. Facepalm.

Among other things I’ve read/heard recently, trying to unpack this quote was a total wake-up call. Enough of this philosophical crap already!

I’ve realized that there...

“Through spontaneity we are re-formed into ourselves. It creates an explosion that for the moment frees us from handed-down frames of reference, memory choked with old facts and information and undigested theories and techniques of other people’s findings. Spontaneity is the moment of personal freedom when we are faced with a reality and see it, explore it and act accordingly.”

– Viola Spolin, “Improvisation for the Theater”

My intention with this post really comes down to asking two questions:

1. In comparison to things that are planned, how often do you say “yes”, on the spot, to things that are unplanned?
2. For everything you say “yes” to, are you making an effort to contribute and add value?
   

Quick rewind, by now you should know that I’m a sucker for ALL THINGS related to logical vs. primal instincts. The tension between the two, the awareness of both sides, how and why the...