Recently, while on vacation in South Dakota, my family enjoyed a tour of Wind Cave National Park. My kids, especially my four year old daughter, were particularly excited about seeing the inside of a cave. I was not exactly looking forward to the outing, being slightly claustrophobic and always battling a wildly out of control …
Healing, Hormones, and Emotions
It has been a long journey, almost five years, to rediscover and readjust to my new body cycles, health rhythms, and emotions. But, my biggest take-away right now is the reminder that emotions are complex, sometimes intense, and that is okay. As I have made my way through February, I have practiced pausing and identifying the emotions I actually feel. Then I gently remind myself to be thankful I can feel again, the good and the bad. Even when it is hard, this process of acquainting myself with the emotions present in all of life’s journey is often worth it.
Choosing Love
As I prepared for this year’s Valentine’s-themed blog, I read through last year’s Love Is…post. It was an encouraging day-brightener for me, being reminded of some anecdotes of what love means and how it is often expressed. I started thinking about the ways love fills my life, from the love I feel both from and …
I am a Writer.
I am a writer. Sometimes the simplest statements are the most difficult to say, or more accurately the most difficult to believe. Whenever I attempt to label myself a “writer,” I feel the need to qualify the statement. I will say things such as: “I like to write for fun,” “Writing is my hobby,” “I …
Ripples of Good
Just as I need the continued reminder about making a difference through love, I also need frequent reminders how daily actions, interactions, decisions, choices, habits, and routines can have an impact on those around us and, in turn, can ripple out far and wide.
A New Way to New Year
There have been years where my goals were outlined with a clear understanding of success or failure. I focused on an outcome I wanted to pursue and outlined steps to achieve my goals. Not this year. This year I am choosing a different journey. A journey that reminds me that my year doesn’t need to be full of big changes or big successes.
Joyful Anticipation
This year, my focus shifted to another aspect of Advent, the opportunity to intentionally seek out and protect space to prepare my heart in joyful anticipation for what is to come: Christmas Day.
The Little Things: Holiday Edition
As we enter another holiday season, I’m reminded of the reality that the anticipation of the celebrations and the initial enthusiasm for the traditions can sometimes be derailed by the nuance and contradictions of the season. Excitement can be deflated by stress and unrealistic expectations. The busyness of the holidays can distract from the joy of the season. While navigating this year’s festivities , I took the opportunity to reflect on a past post, “The Little Things”, and to revisit the question of “What is saving your life right now?”
A Journey of Friendship
As we mark our third blogiversary of The Unexpected Ever Afters, I’m reminded of our goal and mission for this blog: to establish connections, to share stories of everyday life, to support and encourage one another, to remind that we are not alone in our thoughts, anxieties, hopes, and dream; that together, we can tear down isolating boundaries and build connections. In a way, our mission really is about friendship.
Wrong Side of Sometimes
On my “smash the glass days,” the reminder to create “space” seemed to have an opposite effect: instead of the stress escaping, the space seemed to make room for my anxiety with a reminder that “the world is a terrible place.”
the unexpected ever afters 