Today, the Universe wants you to know that you are loved. 

No matter what is going on in the world or in and around you, you are loved. 

There are scary bits and frustrations, complex issues and moving parts, but ultimately there is only the moment and there is love. 

So breathe into the moment, just for 5 seconds or even 10 minutes, you may not see the world change around you, but your inner world will shift.

Just enough to take a deep breath. To allow for the space between to widen just enough for a new thought to come in, a connection to be made, a surrender or action step to be taken.

And you are loved through it.

Through the heartache and deep grief, through the joy and the ecstatic, you are loved deeply by the energy of the lattice that holds your atoms together. The rhythm of your cells and the ever-evolving vibration of all that is.

It is love.

What does bravery mean to you? In my upcoming memoir, Every Day, I'm Brave I recount the moment in which I realized that bravery exists on a spectrum and I could finally, for once, place myself upon it.

I'd been so scared of so many things in my life, stuff most people don't think twice about: potlucks, second floors of a mall, the random and unlikely possibility that the floor beneath me will suddenly crumble. Lettuce. 

But there are things that others are afraid of that I'm willing to do or be around, nervous or not: get on stage to sing, quit a steady, well-paying job because it's just not personally fulfilling, bees.

I had spent years believing that I was one of the few that had phobias or other fears while the people around me ate with little to no worry or went for the promotion not worried about the travel or all day meetings they'd now be stuck in. I had partners that flew across the ocean without issue, or got on a roller coaster for the fun and thrill of it.

As I...

It can be scary to allow other people to read your writing. There are definitely some things that can come through that are for your eyes only, but there are also things that might benefit a reader or that you're really wanting to share with a few people or a global audience!

At every step of the process, sharing our writing and being visible with who we are as writers can prompt some of those critical and scared voices to come through.

"What if they don't like it?"

"What if I'm the only one who thinks it's meaningful?"

"This is so dumb, no one will want to read it!"

Here's the thing. Not everyone will like it, not everyone with think it's meaningful. The good news is, that's okay! Your story, your message, it's not FOR everyone. But it is for the people who need to hear it, who are yearning for a reflection of their own struggle and the hope that it could be different some day.

So keep writing, and keep sharing your story in safe spaces first to work those visibility muscles. And...

As the lyrics from Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm is gonna get you" plays on repeat in my mind, I contemplate the new rhythm created from the slow down of the 30 day project sprint I was in into something more sustainable long term.

While I wrote six days a week for the last five weeks in order to reignite this blog, get into a more consistent writing practice, and offer some (hopefully) helpful anecdotes and tidbits for you, what is becoming clear now that the sprint is over is that I want to be a little more mindful and intentional about what I lay down here for my readers.

It's not that there isn't good (enough) content here, or that I don't enjoy sitting down and just seeing what comes through, but I do desire to have some continuity as well.

And maybe I already do, naturally, and maybe it doesn't matter as much as I think it does in the context of branding and marketing (which I've always got my eye on), but it's a desire nonetheless and so we shall see what develops as I come to...

A Monday Poem:

It used to be I dreaded you,
But now I kinda love you.
I get to be in the process of creating and supporting
in a way that allows for uniqueness and freedom

A way that demands I stand in my authority and believe in my own wisdom and ability, so I get to show up differently than before.

And that is a gift.

But the real learning is that this is possible in many contexts, that we can show up in our authority, deeply gratified by the process of standing for what we believe in AND developing the strategies, practices, and systems that allow for spaciousness, growth, and wonder.

What the Universe wants us to know is: 

That it can be an uphill climb but not impossible. That the dream you dare to dream is something in your grasp or else you wouldn't even be able to see it in your mind's eye.

It may not turn out exactly as you have envisioned, because you will learn things along the path that will demand evolution of the outcome. But in a good way, in a way you never thought possible because the path is the Way and the dream is the motivation to step on to the path.

We often hear the phrase, "life is a journey" or "it's not about the result but what you learn along the way," and it's true (or else why would it be a cliche). So how do we rest in the knowing of that? How do we release or uncover the parts of us that need completion, accomplishment, that feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment of a job well done?

Well that's okay to want those, too. It's natural-part of the wiring, and it's not the end all be all, I guess is the point here. That we can...

Here's the thing. When it comes to OCD and anxiety, one has to learn how to get more comfortable with uncertainty. 

I can dig this cerebrally. Like I get that nothing is truly certain, that there are no guarantees. That I'm not going to ever be completely protected from germs that could make me sick or that I'm not ever going to know with 100% accuracy that the bridge I'm driving on isn't going to suddenly bust. But getting that to really land in my bones is much more difficult.

I do have some safety net of assurance if I look at statistics, evidence to the contrary, and have really good hand hygiene, etc, but absolutely nothing is ever certain (except uncertainty, maybe).

So the work of living a full and beautiful life (maybe even regardless of an OCD diagnosis) is to become better at surrender, at weighing the options that will lead to more joy, connectedness, and success on your terms.

It becomes the work of noticing, breathing into and out of surrender, of choosing in each...

Many of you know that I reignited this blog via a 30 Day Project Sprint as part of Mel Robbins LAUNCH program. In addition to making the commitment to writing for 15 minutes a day for 30 days (minus Sundays, because working 7 days a week is not a boundary I was willing to cross) we had short, daily lessons and a community cheering each other on.

So today is day 29... (geez, the perfectionist in me is loud today... "well technically you only did 25 days so far, tomorrow will be 26, and then there was that one day Mel said the lesson activity could count as our 15 minutes so I did a live in the Rebel Writers group about the process, so I'll end up with 25/30... which I guess is a B- so that just goes to show you how mediocre you really did with this project...")

Do you see what I have to deal with here?

Maybe this is the biggest lesson of all with this 30 Day sprint: count the wins, not the numbers. Not the exactness of following the rules, but how I showed up when I said I was going...

It's Saturday morning, I'm sitting on the porch enjoying the breeze under a cloudy sky. The air feels different today and something is stirring, circling overhead like the flock of vultures I witnessed at the intersection earlier today.

Today, I'm doing more resting than usual, nursing myself back to full health through a bit of a sore throat and cough. What am I not speaking to? What needs to be voiced? This is the question that comes up whenever it aches. It's something, and perhaps it's a simple as "write the introduction you've been avoiding." Or perhaps it is something bigger, a deeper truth that's emerging. We shall see.

As I prepare for a writing retreat I'm hosting next week with some of my favorite people, I'm reflecting on how much community helps me be accountable. It's not that I'm unreliable on my own, but it's just easier to write and create with a dedicated time and group of people all on the path. Mirror neurons. Body doubling... the ways in which we humans are...

One of my dear friends and writing coach, Jena Schwartz has an exercise that she does regularly with her writers called "11s." I'm not sure exactly why, but it's magical in getting words on the page. So this Friday morning, I'm dedicating this writing time to my 11s:

1. My dogs are fluffy, it's time for a haircut but I keep forgetting to call the groomer. Perhaps I'll do that next, if I remember. I think of this as they snuff and snortle next to me on the couch as I type this. I'm grateful for the company.

2. My brain feels tired today. Lots of work and change in routine, woke from dreams that were more bizarre than usual. A bear as a house pet running amok in the dining room before dinner. 

3. It's beautiful outside, but I can still feel the pollen dust on my laptop from yesterday when I worked outside on the porch. Maybe that's why my throat is a little sore. I'll still enjoy the sun and the breeze, just maybe from inside today instead.

4. I read an article about a tornado...