In this episode, I'm talking about four things that I learned while writing a book proposal. This process taught me a tremendous amount about myself, myself as a writer, and the people I am writing for based on what I want to write about. The themes of my content are taking a different turn than I expected, and I'll be talking about this as well as some news about the future of this podcast, As I Wander with Lauren Lanoue.

As always, I'm so happy you're here. Here are a couple of things I mention in the podcast episode:

The Practice by Seth Godin

More about my content and mission shifts

Also, here's a "head's up" that this will be the last episode for the summer. I'm taking this summer off in order to create space for envisioning where this podcast needs to go next. To keep in contact, and to get all the most up-to-date information, sign up for my monthly newsletter, Rule-Breaking News.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

Welcome. Every piece of you. 

Hope. Hope is a weird thing to try to explain and yet we're told we should cling to it even though we can barely define it. I’m learning that while living life open handed is about letting go, it is also about staying open to hope and possibility…not necessarily clinging to any sliver of hope that we find.

In today's episode called "Why I'm Letting Go of Hope," we will talk about what hope means and why instead of clinging to it, I'm learning to let go and let hope hold me. 

Oh! And I'll tell you my new word for the moment--spoiler alert. It's hope. it sounds cliché but I'm ok with it. Now, anyway. More on that in the episode.

Here are some things I mention in the episode:
This podcast episode about why I choose a word for the moment instead of a word for the whole year.
And here is Emily Dickinson's poem that I mention in the episode.
And also, this was somewhat inspired by this video from John Green.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

In today's episode, we are tackling a difficult subject--what happens when you can't go back home. I’ll share a bit what it felt like moving back to the Bible Belt of Western North Carolina after living abroad for four years . 

We'll discuss the hard truths of growing and evolving, and how I came to the realization that we cannot un-change or un-grow.  We will delve into the pain and difficulties of returning home after experiencing such a transformation, the struggles of reconciling our past selves with our current selves, as well as the art of letting go.

This episode is called When You Can't Go Back Home: A Eulogy for letting go

For today's episode you may want to grab a pen and paper to write and reflect afterwards, or come back to that when you’ve got time.

Some things mentioned in this episode:

I quote Scott Erickson who is an artist, speaker, and writer that is well worth following: https://scottericksonartshop.com/

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

In today's episode, you get to listen to me complain. Ok, not really, but I am going to tell you about a bad day that I experienced several months ago, and the lessons I learned through the experience. We'll talk about the importance of embracing our bad days as much as our good days, and perhaps we'll all leave with some ideas on how to be a better friend when our loved ones are having their own bad days.  

Oh! And I'll tell you about my favorite affirmation which reminds us that we are not a bother or a burden even on our bad days.

Whether you're having a good day, bad day, or just a day… I’m so happy you’re here. 

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

This is episode 7 of As I Wander with Lauren Lanoue.

This is a podcast about finding home or making it right where we are on our own unique journeys.

Whatever brings you here, and whatever you've brought with you. Welcome. Every piece of you. 

In today's episode, we'll talk about how we can create more authentic relationships and community by sharing ourselves while we're still in process, before we have everything figured out, before we have it all together. OH! And I'll tell you what I think makes a true masterpiece.

Here is a link to the podcast episode I mention in this episode. It's from The Next Right Thing (with Emily P. Freeman): https://emilypfreeman.com/podcast/197/

And if you prefer to read this instead of listening to it, you can find the original blog post here. The podcast episode includes a couple of changes, but the gist is the same: https://www.laurenlanoue.com/blog/on-being-a-work-in-progress-oh-and-what-makes-a-true-masterpiece

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

In today's episode, we're talking about Ambition, Evolution, and the Word of the Year…Oh! And Why I Flinch When My Toddler is Holding a Toy. You will also learn why I prefer to have a word of the moment instead of a word of the year.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

If you've ever found yourself exhausted from having to keep up or stay ahead in a race you never signed up to be in, this race we call life, this episode is for you. Today I'm talking about something I recently learned from that old tale of the tortoise and the hare and why I'm quitting the race in exchange for a slower pace which can lead to loving and authentic community.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

When we were living abroad, I lived with the mantra "we're just here for a little while. We'll make do with what we have." But that "little while" turned into a little longer, and that's when I learned the importance of making home right here, right now. 

In this episode, you'll hear more about why I think it's important to stop just making do and make home instead…Oh! And you'll hear why I think things never really get any easier.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

Most of us have or have had some sort of built-in community whether that's provided through our family, by living in a small town, a church, or even work. 

In today's episode, you'll hear about what happens when these built-in communities break down, and what I think it takes to build our own community after this happens. Oh! and I'll tell you why introverts need extrovert friends.

I'd love to hear a story of when (or if) this has happened to you.

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!

In which you'll hear a story about finding home in unexpected places from a taste of banana bread to the sound of a baby's laughter, and yes, the smell of curry. It's a story of learning to recognize those small bits of home along our journey, no matter how strange or foreign it all seems.

I'd love to know: Where is a surprising place you have found a sense of home when home was no where to be found?

If you'd like to read my writing, connect, or otherwise support this growing community that we're cultivating, here are a few ways to do just that:

• Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter
• Read my blog
• Share this episode with a friend.
• Follow me on Instagram and TikTok or both @ LaurenLanoue
• or Buy me a coffee

Thanks again for listening! Until next time, rest easy and travel well. Here’s to finding home wherever we make it!