Fearless. It's my one little word for 2015, the word that I'm holding onto for dear life as I navigate this already intense year. Synonyms: bold, brave, courageous, intrepid, valiant, heroic, daring, audacious, indomitable. Remind me of all that when I'm ready to cower under the table. Remind me when I can't seem to make out the road ahead. I've already been there, terrified and clinging to fearless. I'm hanging on, good, bad, or ugly. The fearless quote I love: "Be truthful, gentle, …
Burton Bear Cowl
Yesterday, I finally knit the ears and sewed the button on the Burton Bear Cowl. I made it for Lily at her request, after the first one I made two years ago got too small in the shoulders and too floppy in the hood. This one fits her just perfectly. I had plans for a mini photo shoot with her at the park, but the temperature was less than zero degrees most of the day, so that was not an option. Instead we opted for a few photos inside and I ended up bribing her to cooperate by letting her …
Making Time for Creative Habits
As someone who has always been creative, I used to find myself really frustrated. I knew I was creative, but I wasn't always creating. I compared myself a lot to people who were doing cool, interesting, creative work (thank you, internet) and very often felt like, why am I not doing that? The answer was complicated because I was doing that. I was being creative in my regular, everyday life. I took lots of photographs, I wrote essays, I did craft projects. I read a lot about creativity and …
Being Bored and Brilliant
Last week's Bored and Brilliant podcasts from New Tech City really have me thinking. So much so that I spent most of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday offline with my phone out of reach. The only exceptions were a photo I snapped and posted on Instagram and communicating with my book club via Facebook. The rest of the weekend was spent working, reading, watching movies with my kiddos, and exercising. The goal of the Bored and Brilliant series was to provide a week's worth of challenges to help …
Getting Back to Food
It's been about a week now since I took the restrictions off my diet. After the Whole 30 debacle of early January, I stayed off sugar, alcohol, and processed foods for the rest of the month. Even that was rough, but it got easier. I never realized how dependent I was on food as a reward. Having a tough day? Reach for the chocolate chips. A good day? Let's celebrate with wine. Indulgences and treats had slid into the territory of my everyday. I had gotten off track, eating too much processed …