Girl On A Hill

We’re continuing our Chasing Whimsy series with an invitation to WONDER again.Because let’s be honest - the world hasn’t gotten less amazing. We’ve just gotten really good at walking right past it.

Wonder isn’t about finding the most spectacular thing in the world. It’s about being willing to stop and really see what’s already in front of us. But that can be harder than it sounds when we’re tired, when everything needs to be useful, when we’re too familiar with what we’re seeing, or when we’re better at noticing what’s wrong than what’s beautiful.

So what do we miss when we stop looking? Why does wonder matter in the first place? And what happens when we become people who are willing to pay attention, engage with the world around us, and let ourselves be amazed by it? Because wonder doesn’t just change what we see. It changes how we experience being alive.

What if the best part of your day is the thing you didn’t plan for? In this episode of Chasing Whimsy, we’re taking an honest look at spontaneity. Spontaneity isn't about blowing off your responsibilities and booking a last-minute flight to Disneyland, but becoming willing to say, “Sure. Why not?” when life gives you an unexpected detour. (Because it will!)

We’ll talk about why we’ve become so uncomfortable with the unknown, how our love of control and carefully planned schedules keep us from noticing opportunities, and why we can be so quick to shut down anything that wasn’t part of the original plan. We’re getting real about what’s driving that knee-jerk reaction, from  fiercely guarding our evening "finish line" to using introversion as a shield against the unexpected.

We've eliminated all of the surprise from our daily lives,forgetting that a perfect plan doesn’t leave room for anything better to come along. Today we’re exploring how practicing spontaneity builds real adaptability, deepens connection, and helps us stop viewing the unknown as a threat, and start seeing it as a possibility. Let’s make a little room for the unexpected and see what happens.

What if your life doesn’t need to change… but the way you experience it could?

In this episode of Chasing Whimsy series, we’re talking about Enchantment -: the art of making ordinary experiences feel a little more magical, memorable, and enjoyable. We’re not turning every Tuesday into a walk through a theme park - but instead becoming willing to go just a little beyond what’s necessary and refusing to settle for simply the most functional version of our lives.

Because when we’re stressed, stretched thin, and trying to get through everything on our lists, it’s easy to dismiss the little things that make life feel good. A great soundtrack while you make dinner. Taking the scenic route. Leaning into a season. Making an ordinary evening feel like an occasion. And these are the things that can turn our ordinary days into days we’ll actually remember - and enjoy.

Today, we’ll talk about why we’ve become so focused on efficiency and practicality that we sometimes forget to enjoy the experience itself, and why “it’s just Tuesday” might not be a good enough reason to keep making our lives feel ordinary.Your life is happening on the ordinary days. So let’s make some of them a little more enchanting.

Today we are chasing whimsy, where we’ll explore something I think most of us have forgotten how to do: enjoy our lives. Chasing Whimsy is about making room for joy, wonder, curiosity, play, and the things we enjoy simply because we enjoy them. And today we start with something we’ve done before: living like a kid. 

In this episode, we’re unpacking why adulthood turned down the volume on our enthusiasm, how we learned to filter out the joy that’s right in front of us, and what adulthood actually required us to give up versus what we gave up because we thought we were supposed to. We’ll also talk about why reclaiming that joy can feel surprisingly awkward at first—and how to stop letting five seconds of cringe call the shots in our lives. Because maybe we didn’t outgrow joy. Maybe we just learned to filter it out.

Today we wrap up our Summer at the Movies series by hopping aboard a riverboat for our take on Jungle Cruise. What started as a beloved Disneyland attraction became a big-screen adventure filled with wild animals, terrible puns, hidden treasure, and two very determined adventurers. But beneath the action and the never-ending dad jokes is a story about courage and what happens when we dare to step outside the roles other people have chosen for us. We're sharing fun movie and Disneyland facts, talking through our favorite moments, and unpacking some of the bigger ideas this adventure leaves us with, like knowing when to stand on our own and when to accept help, paying attention to motivation, finding wonder in the world around us, and daring to be a little out of place. And to help us continue to build connections, we've got some conversation starters and summer challenges designed to get you outside, into the water, laughing at terrible jokes, and lingering in those warm summer evenings just a little longer. So grab your favorite summer drink, turn on some old-timey jazz, and climb aboard. The Jungle Cruise is about to begin.

Today we continue our Summer at the Movies series by heading into the world of chocolate, dreams, and a little bit of pure imagination with Wonka. Inspired by the beloved character created by Roald Dahl, this origin story gives us a young Willy Wonka who is determined to change the world one chocolate at a time, even when just about everything seems determined to stop him. But beneath the chocolate and the chaos is a story about optimism, imagination, taking risks, believing in people, and turning dreams into something real. We’re sharing fun movie facts, talking through our favorite characters, quotes, and scenes, and unpacking what Wonka has to say about seeing potential, challenging the status quo, choosing the right people to have on your team, and finding magic in shared delight. And, of course, we’ve got some conversation starters and summer challenges involving chocolate, daydreaming, and making someone’s day just a little sweeter. So grab your favorite candy, hold onto your dreams, and come along for a chocolate and imagination fueled adventure.

Today we continue our Summer at the Movies series by firing up the DeLorean and accelerating to 88 miles per hour with our take on Back to the Future. What seemed like a quirky sci-fi adventure became one of the most beloved pop-culture classics of all time. Because beneath the flux capacitor and the quest to save the clock tower is a story about the people who shape us, the moments that define us, and why understanding the past might just change the way we see the present. Turns out one of the greatest movies about time travel - wasn’t really about time travel after all. We’re sharing fun movie facts, relishing the 80s vibe, talking through our favorite moments, and unpacking why this movie still resonates 40 years later. And to help us continue to build connections, we’ve got some conversation starters and retro summer challenges designed to help you embrace a bit of nostalgia and create some new memories. So grab your puffy vest, hit play on The Power of Love, and let’s get ready to go back in time.

Today we continue our Summer at the Movies series by diving headfirst into the pink and surprisingly powerful and profound ride  that is the Barbie movie.  What looked like a movie about a perfect doll in a perfect world became a billion-dollar cultural phenomenon - because underneath the dream houses, dance numbers, and “Kenergy” is a story about identity, belonging, expectations, and figuring out who we are when the roles we’ve been given no longer fit. Today we unpack  everything from the legendary monologue to the moments that made us weep, laugh, and nod along, all while celebrating the power of female agency and what it really means to be "Kenough." We’re sharing movie facts, breaking down our favorite scenes, and exploring the big truths this movie offers about the beautiful messy reality of what it means to be human. And because this series is all about building closer connections, we’re dropping new open-ended conversation starters and a few fun Barbie-inspired summer challenges designed to help you tap into your imagination and add a little extra joy to your week. So hit play, grab your favorite pink treat, and let’s head to Barbieland.

Today we kick off our Summer at the Movies series with our take on Guardians of the Galaxy. Get ready to blast off into the MCU with a lovable crew of misfits who completely redefined what a superhero movie could be. When Guardians hit theaters, it was considered one of Marvel’s biggest risks. Who would expect a movie featuring a talking tree and a sassy racoon to become beloved? But it was and is. Because beneath the humor and the dance battles and the space heists is a story about what happens when a group of hurting people choose to stop carrying their burdens alone and find family in unexpected places. 

We'll be sharing fun movie facts, talking about our favorite scenes, and exploring some of the things we can learn from this unlikely group of heroes.

And because this series isn’t just about re-watching our favorite movies - it’s about using them to build closer connections, we’ll be sharing open-ended conversation starters to get you talking with your favorite people and dropping a few summer challenges inspired by the movie we’re walking to help you bring a little more fun into your everyday life. This week, we’re channeling our inner Star-Lord and giving ourselves permission to not take life so seriously. So hit play, grab your cassette player, and get hooked on a feeling.

We wrap up our Spring Resetting of the Heart and Mind series today by talking about that uncomfortable feeling of invisibility. If no one notices what we do in a day - does it even matter? Do we? In today’s episode we explore what happens when usefulness quietly becomes identity, and how easy it is to start disappearing from our own lives while still functioning at full capacity. We talk about why resentment shows up when effort goes unseen, how over-functioning can slowly become our default way of coping, and what it costs us when we start living like our life only counts when someone else acknowledges it. And then we begin to untangle it all as we name what’s actually happening beneath the surface. We explore what it would mean to stop tying our worth to being noticed, needed, or validated, and to start rebuilding a sense of identity that isn’t dependent on how much we’re doing for everyone else.