Do you love your name?

I mean, yes, it’s a beautiful thing to hear someone speak our own name, but do you LOVE your name?

Have you always loved it?

Have you ever loved it?

I have had a love / hate (mostly strong dislike) relationship with my own first name for most of my life.

How does a name change affect us?

Has this ever happened to you?

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

· Here you are, 89 pages into a much-acclaimed book, disappointed, disengaged, disgusted… or all 3.

· You’re at a cozy cabin in some secluded spot with plenty of spare time to relax & read that monstrous hardcover, the only book you brought, because it will take months to finish.. and 2 chapters in, you are already sooo over it.

· On vacation, lounging beside a sparkling pool, you crack open the first book from the stack that took precious packing space.. only to discover that you have already read this novel before. Drat!

Long ago, I revised my tolerance of books, raised the bar on my reading material and reconsidered how I valued my precious time. And it changed my life. Literally.

How do you feel when someone asks you to make a choice? It doesn’t even have to be anything life-altering. It might be a question of where you’d like to eat out, or if you’d like to eat out in the first place.

Do you hesitate, then stall out with panic, feeling pressure to make a choice that will not disappoint anyone?

My daughter recently celebrated her birthday, which reminded me of a little tradition I created for my kids when their birthday landed on a school day.

(This also seemed like the perfect opportunity to share one of my all-time favorite recipes with y’all!). Who doesn’t love biting into a sweet, fudgy, chocolate brownie?! But first, a bit of history & humor surrounding these treats..

Have you said "Good-bye" to someone special recently?

Maybe temporarily or, like me, permanently?

As some of you know, my Mom passed last month. And I didn’t get to say ‘Good-bye’ the way I would’ve liked to…

Manifest? How?

DYK?! That you already manifest every single day?

Do things happen unexpectedly that you had been thinking about?

Do unexplained occurrences appear, seemingly out of nowhere?

Do you experience surprises and wonder how someone read your mind?

You manifested that!

Do you want to learn how to do that intentionally? Let’s go!

What are your top 10 deepest desires?

Why do you think they are not in your life yet?

Why not create the life of your dreams?

Sound impossible?

Where is your imagination?

Let’s explore what may be holding you back…

Is there anything that helps when you just feel like being invisible, because you’re too busy juggling life to shine? Can you remember the last time you felt beautiful? Let’s #FindHer! 

What is your first reaction to the word ‘teenager’? Honestly? How does that word make you feel?

Is your first thought of your own teenage years? Of the adventures & misadventures, the triumphs & the mistakes?

Are there memories of those years that bring a mischievous grin and others that make you cringe & look over your shoulder?

Or did you first think of some teenagers you know, have known, or are currently raising?

Were those thoughts automatically accompanied by a groan & an eye roll for the attitudes and behaviors attributed to most teens?

Stereotypes can be

Have you ever been a visitor to someone’s home where there was an awkward atmosphere of perfection or you felt your manners, vocabulary & presence being scrutinized? Were there house rules? Did they seem reasonable or restrictive? Did you sense disapproval? Did you shorten your visit or find ways to “disappear” and make yourself scarce?

Have you ever undergone a DNA test to determine your genetic lineage? Were there any unexpected results?

A few years ago, I did one, after my daughter’s suggestion. She and her husband were planning their European honeymoon and doing research to track family roots that may exist in their various destinations. I was curious to see what the test results would show. The day finally arrived, and my results were in. Zero surprises awaited me when I opened the email from Ancestry.com. There it was, in black & white, confirmation that I was..

This concept is new to me.

I have always felt far more comfortable giving than receiving, almost feeling guilty for having extra, or more than I need, because it felt as though it caused an imbalance in the world. What I had, meant there would be less for everyone else.

Have you ever felt that there is only a finite supply of resources available and that this supply needs to be carefully managed so we can all survive? That if we are doing more than that, actually thriving, with excess, there is risk that we may have more than our share?

Imagination.

Play.

Do kids have a monopoly on these?

Have we forgotten how to use our imagination? Do we take time to play?

How often are we immersed in something so entertaining that we lose all track of time; something that distracts us from our adult world?

Can we allow ourselves to do this without kids involved or does that just feel silly & frivolous?

I feel like I somehow missed out on learning some of these kid skills. Maybe you can relate.

I'm coming to you today with a major rant and I hope you'll bear with me as I blow off some steam about something. I'm really, sincerely hoping you will let me know your honest-to-God thoughts on this, even if they're different from mine.

That's what all this is about - my blog and my connecting with other women. To sometimes just get in and dig around in the nitty gritty about some of this.

Here goes...

I have always dreaded Fall.. digging my flip-flop-clad heels into the yellowing grass, but to no avail.

It cannot be stopped.

But there are lessons in the falling leaves that I have recently learned to consider..

Have you ever taken a wrong turn and found yourself on some back road that looks like it leads to nowhere, deep in the boonies, where there are more cattle than humans? Some dusty, winding road with little-to-no signage?

What was your first thought?

Last week, in my post “The Beautiful Language of Music” (part 1), I introduced you to two of the most influential people in my life. They both played a huge part in bringing more music to my world.

Now, back to Grade 1 and my fond memories of the funny, feisty, red-headed teacher..

When you ask someone, who has been the most influential person in their life, answers usually include at least one teacher. I am no exception. Here is my story of two of those.

I have spent most of my life around hoarders. I bet you know at least one, or have seen them on TV or maybe recognize hoarding tendencies in yourself. I lean more toward minimalism, due largely in part to my time with hoarders and my discomfort with clutter. If you’ve read my “Get Messy” blog post, you’ll know I’m not exactly a conformist or anal about order, yet clutter does bother me. A LOT! But could there be other categories of ‘hoarder’??

Masks & mirrored glasses have something in common.

Yes, there’s the obvious, how they both cover a particular part of our face. But I recently experienced something with each that made me pause and wonder about how they affect our connection to others.