I breathed in through slightly chapped and pursed lips. I knew I had taken on too much, but they needed my help.

I laid back in my bed, a headache forming, and the morning sun reminding me that the day was wasting away.

Wouldn’t it have been selfish if I did not give of my resources and knowledge? It’s not like helping cost me anything, just my time…

But now I’m here: far too tired, overwhelmed, and struggling to meet my own needs...much less work through my todo list for my business.

I’m curious: Does this sound familiar?

Humans are pretty dang resilient. A while back was chatting with a friend and she shared with me the importance of a newborn’s cry.

She shared how these first shrieks allow a newborn baby the opportunity to release the trauma associated with the birthing process. This floored me. Our bodies naturally and innately know how to process and integrate the world around us.

How do you feel about 2020? Accomplished? Satisfied? Overwhelmed? Sad? Ready to hand it back and request a redo?

Many of us walked into this year (myself included) with an idea of the goals we wanted to accomplish and the feeling we desired to co-create, but, life happened, Covid happened, the election happened, death happened, financial difficulty happened, overwhelm happened, and our mental health and our people needed more support from us so goals took a back burner...

Whew. It’s been a WEEK right?

How are you? Have you been able to take a breath?

I don’t want to presume how you are feeling, because the truth is folks have experienced this year and this past week in so many different ways.

Many folks I engaged with this week were feeling overwhelmed and unable to engage or do much of anything. My own experience was an energy of making. Often when I get stressed or feel heightened tense energy I make, a LOT, and last week was no exception....

Whew.

So today, I am keeping things simple and the truth is I'm writing to you from Tuesday afternoon, unaware of any U.S. election results.

Does that feel a bit silly? Perhaps, but the fact of the matter is no matter what the results are from the election I have decided to rest in these truths:

What if all you’ve ever had to be is...human?

What if your every experience in this human skin is...art?

Life can feel pretty messy sometimes and as a culture, we’ve learned to crave after an idea of what an ideal life looks like. It’s packaged, marketed, sold and shipped to us on the daily. It’s what past generations have called, “The American Dream”. That initial dream has shifted some, but in essence it’s still the same: pristine, picture perfect, no drama, all good vibes. Right?

But I’m curious: When have your most alive, vibrant, memorable moments occurred? When have your most creative ideas come to you? Where do you feel the most present in your body?

We all have obstacles. Things in our way, cultural dynamics that constrain our agency, tools we were given or not given growing up, spaces that need healing and care so we can thrive. Some of us have more obstacles than others, more “fallen trees” on our path so to speak, but we all have one thing in common: The power of co-creation.

I recently sat down to rewatch Dr. Strange, and while it is a fictional story (very much so) it also reminded me of the deep truth of our Personal Power that so many of us reject time and time again.

There is a scene near the beginning of the film where Mr. Strange is training at a monastery of sorts. He has taken up this pilgrimage with the intention to heal his hands after an accident left them less than functional, and while he seemingly is trying his best to keep up with what the other trainees are accomplishing, he simply cannot...

Today I want to share a little bit about driving backwards, thriving, and yoga mats. Curious? I promise, these things all tie together and actually share a beautiful lesson on how thriving is yours.

A while back I was sitting on our patio, “working” but really feeling pretty stuck. This year has been difficult for all of us on the macro and the micro scale and in this particular moment I was feeling quite trapped on this little DC patio.

Do you know the feeling?

➡️ Overwhelmed due to heightened tension

➡️ Trapped beneath the inability to create change

➡️ Fearful that humans I love will keep building walls instead of bridges

➡️ Tired of dragging my creativity out of me because inspiration seemed to take a vacation somewhere around May

➡️ Afraid that thriving is something some folks have and other folks...well just don’t

As I sat pondering these things, I noticed a car consistently driving through our one-way street trying to find parking. They looped around once, then twice, then three times...

I’m currently reading through Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic.

Yes, I realize I’m a few years behind the crowd, but I often am and I'm hoping that actually benefits our conversation today.

Near the beginning of the book, Liz chats about fear and how fear stops us from our vibrant creativity and full expression. She proposes that the song lyrics fear plays in all of our minds is simply, “STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!” but I think my brain has taken things a step further....

Earlier this week my partner sent me a text on his way to work, it said: “There's a baby Shiba Inu outside!!! Also a naked person in the circle??? Looked like a protest, they were just standing there like a statue."