Simply Living: Who looks inside, awakens.

Each time I read something - a book, an article, even a sentence from a piece of paper, I try to read it out loud for my daughter to hear. Entering into the third trimester, I'd like to believe that she's becoming more acquainted with exterior sounds, so I read EVERYTHING. It's more of a habit than anything. While finding things to read this morning I came across " Dying To Be Me" via Positive Thoughts, on my Facebook feed and felt touched enough to share it: >>> Love yourself before all the rest. The most meaningful lesson I learned from being at death’s door is that unless I love myself, nothing else in my life can function at its best. The amount of depth, meaning, and joy I experience in my lif e is in direct proportion to how much love I have for myself. The amount of love, kindness, patience I have for others is also directly proportional to how much love, patience and kindness I have for myself, because we cannot give others what we ourselves

I can feel when I'm not living truthfully. When I'm not authentically living, I'm just floating through life relating my experiences to everyone else's. I find myself comparing levels of achievement and accomplishments to those outside of myself. But the thing is, we've all experienced entirely different realities; what one achievement is to one person, to another it's just a day in the life. A world full of complexities has somehow turned to a very minimalists society. To create categories is foolish. A person can't just be a doctor, therapist, decorator, banker, guru.. You're a creator, a thinker, a student in the University of life - among an unlimited amount of other qualities. You're so many things that are entirely different than someone other than yourself. So to compare your experience with another is unnatural and unauthentic. I've noticed personally that what I've gained in life that makes me feel fulfilled and accomplished, isn&#

Since we first found out that we're having a baby, we both thought it was a boy - for sure. All wives tales indicated a boy, I had dreams of a boy; everything boy. I wanted only spicy foods, and put hot sauce in my purse for those "incase of emergency moments" when the restaurant didn't provide it. We had his name picked out and ready to go for the day we saw his little man part on the sonogram. Neither of us had decided on a girl name; we'd joked around about it, mentioning random names from t.v shows or making up our own two-part name like Twilight's Renesmee. I think that ended with Brandeah.  The night before we went for the gender ultrasound, we were laying in bed and Branden said her name. I just felt it. Every sense in my body knew that that was it and that we were going to see a girl on the screen the next day. It was such an abstract thought he had, but it felt like I'd known it all along. It's strong, elegant, and meaningful to both Bra

It's been so refreshing to receive such positive feedback about the things I'm afraid to tell you . I honestly could have created a book, but my fears change so frequently I'd have to write them down daily. And with a massive amount of change recently entering my life, they are piling up! When I posted the blog, I had multiple emails pour in on others and their fears - I was surprised to see how similar we all are. One that stood out to me on a personal level was the list I received from my Mom. She's always been such a strong and courageous woman in my eyes, someone I could've put money down on the fact that she was fearless - here is a physically and internally beautiful  woman  (click for photo) who since a teenager, has fought for her life, stood independently solid on her own two feet, broke almost every bone in her body through all of her years of exciting careers and intense hobbies, who's dealt with unbearable heart breaks, looked death in the face and

It's very soothing to encounter the truth within someone else, especially when the truth is raw. It brings us closer as a collective group when we're openly honest about our fears, doubts, insecurities, quirks, and so on. Even if you feel like it's a small voice of truth you are speaking, it still reaches your soul. And with that, you've already began to make a difference. I used to believe that my small acts of honesty and courage didn't make much of a dent in the universe. But as my eyes become more open to what's happening in our world, I truly believe that the small piece of me is lingering in the distances I've traveled. It's the vibration you send off, the energy, that carries through the brigade. It feels good to step into that vibration. I think you should.  Things I'm afraid to tell you - inspired by  Creature Comforts   1. When approaching a traffic light, I feel that if I don’t look directly at it, it won’t turn red. Instead I a

  "Let's celebrate all of us."     One of my favorite writers and spiritualists', Elizabeth Lesser, recently blogged:  " So much is hidden below our adaptations, defences and disguises, as though we have to be ashamed of our very humanness. The irony of hiding the dark side of our humanness is that our secret is not really a secret at all. How can it be when we’re all safeguarding the very same story? That’s why Rumi calls it an Open Secret. It’s almost a joke—a laughable admission that each one of us has a shadow self—a bumbling, bad-tempered twin. Big surprise! Just like you, I can be a jerk sometimes. I do unkind, cowardly things, harbor unmerciful thoughts, and mope around when I should be doing something constructive. Just like you, I wonder if life has meaning; I worry and fret over things I can’t control; and I often feel overcome with a longing for something that I cannot even name. For all of my strengths and gifts, I am also a vulnerable