eight delightful things

Ellie and I stopped by Target during our girls' evening, and they were kind of hitting it out of the park with the on trend goodness. While driving home, it made me think about how I want to start a series here about some of the delightful finds I see when I'm out in the world or curating over on Pinterest.

Here are a few good things that have caught my eye lately.

 

I hadn't seen these Chapters Moleskines in person until today. I have a little project in mind for this one, and I'll keep you posted on how I like using it. (Oh and the meeting of Compulsive Journal Buying Club will meet at my house next week.)

Ellie could not resist this owl sweatshirt. And neither could I. The best part? The head opening is comfortable for her. Super soft and cute. (Also this unicorn shirt! And this kitty dress.)

This floral embroidery kit from Hand Made Modern came very very close to making it into my cart. But I must finish my latch hook project first. And my crochet project. Then I want to play with something like this. I'm loving handmade projects that keep me off of my phone or laptop in the evenings and this would be a great one.

And the ampersand trend continues. Am thinking I might want to wrap this one in yarn. Because why not? Ellie also really wants to get her name in these letters and "do a project Mama." I think I've created a crafter. Yep.

I'm obsessed with this hat from Old Navy. I bought the camel (aka burnt ochre) color but a couple more colors and styles are available. It is super comfortable on my not small head.

This Eileen Fisher poncho is very similar to the poncho I wear just about every day over it's cool enough over here. (It's an investment for sure. But you'll be wearing it for years.) I have a couple from Eileen Fisher, and then I have a couple my mom has made me. I'm obsessed with this asymmetrical design and how flattering it is. A whole post about ponchos is on the horizon as soon as my mom sends the new one she made me. 

Over the weekend when I was on Bainbridge Island and had a little bit of time to shop, I found the most delightful journals. Love this one.

And I found a unicorn 7 year pen! (Of course I did. It makes me so happy. There's even a rainbow!)

Check out more items to add to your fall wardrobe over here and here are some of my favorite journals. 

Note: Some of these links are affiliate, which means I receive a small commission if you choose to buy something via these links. Thank you for supporting this space and my little business. 

Dove Self-Esteem Project

I'm so excited to partner with Dove to share about the Dove Self-Esteem Project and their new short film, Change One Thing, that encourages girls to realize that they don't need to change one thing about their appearance. Take a moment to watch the short film above, and I have a feeling you'll be ready to join me in making a difference in a girl's life. 

To date, the Dove Self-Esteem Project has reached 17 million girls with self-esteem programming. However, there is more work to be done. Research shows that 9 out of 10 girls want to change at least one thing about their appearance. Fortunately, Dove believes that everyone has the opportunity to make a difference in a girl’s self-esteem.

Today, the Dove Self-Esteem Project is launching a Pinterest page to provide free resources that address today's biggest barriers to a girl's self-esteem. With this new campaign, Dove's goal is to encourage girls to find confidence in their beauty and inspire women to embrace the power and ease of mentorship to help the girls in their lives reach their full potential. 

The articles and resources shared as part of the Dove Self-Esteem Project are accessible and full of actionable ideas to help you begin to have the sometimes tough conversations about everything from body awareness and respecting yourself to peer pressure, bullying, and navigating social media. There are also activities and starting points to help you begin to weave in more moments that help your daughter or the girls in your life think about body confidence and self-care.

My daughter Ellie is just five, but already I'm noticing the way she talks about her body and even how she talks about the ways she's liked or not liked by her peers on any given day. She isn't really saying negative things very often, but I'm observing the awareness she has about herself and her peers. I'm also noticing how she pays attention to the way I talk about myself and my body and features and sometimes mirrors what I say. 

Our daughters are feeling the pressure to look beautiful at as young as 10 years old. When girls feel that they have a positive role model, they are less likely to let anxieties about looks hold them back. (Source: Dove Global Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited)

When I think about this, I can't help but want to imagine a world where our daughters look in the mirror with kindness. (I want you to imagine a world where you look at yourself with kindness too.) I really do believe we can make this world a reality.

Several activities shared as part of the Dove Self-Esteem Project invite moms to think about how they can model positive self-esteem for their daughters and other young women in their lives. One of my favorite ideas encourages moms to get into photos with their daughters. Getting into photographs and even selfies with your daughter is actually a great way to invite them to feel connected and deeply seen while also modeling self-kindness toward yourself as you let yourself be seen as well.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that taking self-portraits is a big part of my creative self-care. I even wrote a book all about self-portraiture. So taking selfies happens a lot around here. Even though I've been working on softening my own inner self-talk for a long time and taking photos of myself is really part of the work I do in the world, sometimes I don't want to be in a photo or take a selfie; sometimes I feel like I look too tired or too stressed or simply not pretty.

But my daughter doesn't see the circles or the fine lines that I get caught up in noticing. She just sees someone she deeply loves. And she's seen me model self-portraiture so much that she often wants me to take a photo of us together.

So I'm getting in the photos with her when she asks, even in the moments when I feel tired or don't have on any make-up. When I look at this photo of the two of us in the evening light earlier this year - a photo I took with my phone and arm extended - I see that love that I know she sees. And I'm trusting that these little moments of love and self-care and connection will deeply support her as she keeps developing.

I also really recommend the body scan mindfulness activity (click through and pin that one so you don't forget). This is something I've been teaching Ellie in the evening after she gets into bed. We bring awareness to the different parts of our bodies and notice how our bodies feel. We even send our bodies love. My hope is that this will continue to be a powerful way for her to stay connected to her body and how she feels physically and emotionally. It is also a really good one to practice yourself to deeply connect with your body.

Head over to the Dove Self-Esteem Project Pinterest page and start exploring! There are so many wonderful resources to help the girls and young women in your life begin to have an awareness of what they say aloud and internally, while also helping you support them to begin to make positive changes and invite in more self-love as they raise their self-esteem. 

You could even create your own #SelfEsteemProject Pinterest board to start saving these resources so you know right where to find them when you need them. I also really like the idea of starting a mom's group where you could begin to support one another in having these conversations with your daughters and with yourself. That's something I hope to do over here in my corner of the world.

May we each take a step toward encouraging the young women in our lives and help them to see that they don't need to change one thing about their appearance.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Note: This post was sponsored by Dove and I'm honored to partner with them to share the #SelfEsteemProject message and spread the word over on Pinterest. I hope you'll join in and spread the word too so these resources can get into the hands of even more people. Thanks for being here and reading!

Photo of Ellie and the photo of Ellie and me in her bedroom were both taken by Tara Whitney.

september 28.

 

I couldn't let this day pass without acknowledging that I've been blogging in this space for 10 years.

Wow.

I have more to say about this and a fun way to celebrate it that I'll be sharing later in the week. For now I just want to say, Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you.

the dahlia garden

On Sunday we wandered through the dahlia garden at Point Defiance Park. And as I literally couldn't stop myself from talking out loud to the dahlias about their beauty, I was reminded how much getting out into nature, into the wonder, into the truth that I am one small being in this universe grounds me and helps me come back to center.

May these photos serve as the beginnings of that reminder to you too. Get outside honey. From sitting on a bench in a park near your home or outside your office to taking a walk to even just sitting on your front step and listening to the birds, get outside. Get outside. Get outside.

Yes.

PS If you want an excuse to get outside and take some photos, the prompts in my In This Moment Field Journal might be an awesome fit for you. It's like a mindful photography ecourse. But it comes to your mailbox instead of getting lost in your inbox.

creativeGIRL by danielle donaldson

Over the 10 years I've been blogging and the years I've been hosting art retreats, I've gathered up quite a few art + craft books. The topics range from art journaling to knitting to jewelry making to inspiration to sewing and how the list goes on. 

I love looking through them and dreaming about the afternoons I'll spend creating. But the reality is that these days I seldom actually dive into creating something from or inspired by the books.

So when Danielle Donaldson contacted me asking if I'd review her new book CreativeGIRL: Mixed-Media Techniques for an Artful Life, I was of course delighted as she's one of my favorite people, but I also planned to just read it and share some thoughts.

I didn't plan to actually pull out watercolor paper and my journal and watercolors and a pencil and dive into the book.

But I was so inspired by her accessible and fun exercises that I couldn't stop myself.

The exercises and inspiration pushed me to curl up on the couch in the evenings (which Danielle encourages with her "couch creative" section of the book) and have some fun. Ellie even joined in! The exercises are totally accessible for kids too.

Danielle's style is really not like anything else out there, which is so refreshing. When you flip through the pages of this book, you're invited into her world. But most importantly, you'll feel a pull to start creating your own world with pencil and strips of paper and watercolors.

I highly recommend CreativeGIRL even if you've never picked up a watercolor set. Danielle holds your hand and guides you through getting comfortable with this creative medium. And because it really is a medium you can do just about anywhere, if you aren't already playing with watercolors, I really encourage you to begin. It can actually become a tool in your mindfulness toolbox. The same is true with simple sketching like the kind Danielle encourages you to do to help you become more comfortable with drawing and creating illustrations.

I've learned so much already from the book, and I'm lucky enough to be taking a workshop with Danielle this weekend on Bainbridge Island. She's coming out here for the Nurture Your Creative Seed Retreat, and Serena let me know there are a few spots left if you want to come along. We gather Friday evening! 

PS Please note Danielle's publisher sent me a copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all words and opinions are my own. Affiliate links are used, which means I receive a small commission if you buy Creative Girl through my links. Thanks for supporting my blog and business. So deeply grateful for you.

PPS Writing this review made me feel a little like those kids at the end of "Reading Rainbow" who do book reviews. I LOVE THAT! And did you know that "Reading Rainbow" is now on Netflix? It holds up. It really really does. Ellie and I are loving it over here.

and then there's laughter

Over here I'm in that space of climbing a somewhat steep learning curve with a few aspects of my business while trying to find a rhythm now that Jon and Ellie are back to school while also processing the news we received earlier this month that we don't have a lot of time left with our sweet golden Millie. And, you know, just being human in the midst of it all. Diving into these topics isn't actually what I want to talk about today (that will come); rather, I want to talk about one huge self-care move I'm making that's helping me right now. 

And that self-care move? Laughter.

If you've been around here a while, you know I'm a bit obsessed with lip syncing. As in there was that one time I recorded myself lip syncing "Jolene" by Dolly Parton and put the video up on the internet. As in having lip sync parties is something we do at my retreats now. For real. As in watching videos of Jimmy Fallon and guests lip syncing delight me to the tips of my toes.

And last week, while I was navigating this stuff over here, a dear frind texted me the link to Ellen Degeneres and Jimmy Fallon's lip sync battle first thing in the morning. After I finished up a few phone calls, I pressed play and in a few moments, I noticed that I was smiling so big my cheeks were starting to hurt.

When it was over, it was like I'd relaxed into myself again. I felt a lightness inside and around me. And laughter and connection and joy were the cause.

So I settled in for more. And over the last week I've been taking a little time each day to get my laugh on.

I watched Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The Trevor Noah episode was brilliant - I laughed and my world view was flipped on it's head. (Seriously.) 

I watched clips from Stephen Colbert's new show.

I watched Kevin Hart on The Tonight Show and laughed until I cried over his Jay Z story. (You might not, but something about the way he tells that story just made me laugh. I'm. Still. Laughing.)

I rewatched Amy Schumer doing just about anything.

I watched Stevie Wonder sing (and maybe teared up while laughing).

And each day, for just a little while at least, I was grounded in the awesome that is deep, real laughter.

Sometimes when you're standing on an edge in your life, when you're deep in the learning or even in the grief, it helps to invite in laughter to remind yourself that the light is always there. 

Maybe call up that friend who always has the best stories to tell. Or ask your dad to tell you that one story that makes you laugh every time. Or invite that friend for coffee who is the person you can be your most ridiculous self with. 

Or spend your lunch break, like I've been doing lately, with Jerry Seinfeld or Stephen Colbert or Amy Schumer.

Laughter can bring you back to center honey. Choosing to laugh isn't about not acknowledging the tough stuff. No. It's about inviting in the light so the tough stuff doesn't feel so lonely. It's about standing with others on the common ground that laughter gives us.

What I find again and again is that comedians are the truth tellers of our time. They have their finger on the pulse of the absurd, of the challenging, and even of the truth of grief. I actually think that there's a real chance you'll feel deeply seen in the midst of whatever you find yourself experiencing when you take a few moments to spend some time with a comedian or two.

An invitation: Now tell me, what makes you laugh in your corner of the world? An author, a show, a person in your life? I'd love to know. Please share in the comments.

hello september.

By the end of our first week in Wisconsin, I settled into a new normal that included taking a break from Facebook, letting someone else handle emails, and starting the day with yoga. This new normal didn't involve checking Facebook or Pinterest or my work email on my phone. And there were no "smart" devices next to the bed or waiting on the bathroom counter. A few times a day, I'd look at Instagram on my phone then check my personal email and then get ready to click and think, "Oh wait, that's it. Time to get back to living."

By the end of our first week, I was beginning to recognize myself and started to feel a deep swelling of peace in the center of my body.

When I visited my yoga teacher last week, in a moment of vulnerability, I asked her how I could keep that feeling always. After waiting a few beats, she reminded me that nothing is permanent. Right. I know this. Yes. But still, the longing to feel this expansion of peace remains. We talked about this. My current practice is about tapping back into that feeling through yoga and a chanting practice along with homework that she wrote down like a prescription: Take one retreat day a month. 

Today is my first "official" day back to the world of social media and blogging and emails. I've been working here and there during my break, but it feels a bit like the first day of school over here. 

Speaking of which, Ellie had her first day of Kindergarten last week. I'm calling this the "official first day of school photo."

 

And this one is the "show me how excited you are for kindergarten" photo!

As I ease back in today, I'm clear that setting boundaries around availability and social media is important. I knew this already, but I wasn't always implementing what I know. It would be so easy to slip back into bad habits, and my clicking from Facebook to email and back again a few times this morning invites me to know that thinking about the boundaries is not enough. I must write them down and check in daily to see how it's going.

One piece of this boundary setting is not putting Facebook back on my phone. I have a whole post about Facebook that I'll be writing soon along with some posts on how it's going setting these boundaries and hiring support for this growing business.

Here's a preview: We watched The Empire Strikes Back over the weekend and when I heard Yoda say, "You must unlearn what you have learned," I felt like he was talking directly to me and the 10 years I've spent with my daily life being deeply connected to the screen in front of me. 10 years. Yes. I have some unlearning to do, along with some simple shifts that I know will create more space to simply be present and do what I set out to do when I called my blog "be present, be here" 10 years ago this month.

Thank you for being here beside me. I look forward to sharing the stories and learning from one another as the bridge building between daily life and the longings inside continues.

when first aid self-care isn't enough

from my one move mini inspiration deck

I'm currently in the Great North Woods of Wisconsin visiting my mom and today began my "official" break from social media, work email, and several other areas of my business. 

Today, I want to share a story that will give you some insight into why I knew the time had come. When I wrote the following note to the beautiful souls on my newsletter list a couple of weeks ago, I didn't realize I was actually going to take a break like this. But writing those words and then having two really honest conversations with a few kindred spirits plus a conversation with my mom helped me to see that this really was the only option to truly help me water my soul in the deep ways I need to right now. I have a little post-script at the bottom of this note, so if you're on my list and you read these words already, I hope you'll scroll down and read it.

*****

I drove up to Seattle and met with my yoga and meditation teacher today, something I've been doing every two weeks or so this summer. And somewhere during our conversation and chanting practice, I shed a layer of skin. I mean I literally shed it and left it behind me to be carried out her front door by the wind.

Driving home, I was listening to Mary Oliver read poetry, and when she read the poem "Yes! No!" I was struck, like I always am, by the line, "To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work." 

As she continued to read, I felt the lightness that had started to grow within me while sitting on the floor across from my teacher begin to shine through my fingertips.

This is it. This is when you need to pay attention, when the deep hum inside you begins to sing. 

After the end of the school year and the June retreat and the visit from my inlaws and the launch of the Inner Excavate-along, which has more than 500 people participating in a read-along of Inner Excavation, I was beginning to feel depleted. I mean to look at me was to see this busy, getting it done, pretty positive woman. But to really see me was to see shadows under my eyes and lots of swirling thoughts and a feeling of letting people down while being pulled in many directions and knowing I just needed to be still.

To be really really still.

So I did my thing. I danced it out. I reached for gratitude. I made lists of things that bring me joy. I took five deep breaths. I used my oils. I connected even more with a new friend who I can go have coffee with and just be me.

And these things helped. A lot. But they weren't enough. 

One night found me looking up my teacher online and booking a private session with her. Well, actually the window to book the session was open for four days before I made my move. And when I say, "my teacher" here, I mean Laura Yon, the magical, wise woman who I did my two-year yoga teacher training with 10 years ago. 

On the day of the first appointment earlier this summer, I chatted and chatted and chatted, hardly taking a breath for the first 10 minutes or so. Bringing her up to date on "all of it." It had been a few years since I'd seen her, so words about my business and marriage and motherhood and so many followers on Pinterest and on and on and on just kept tumbling out.

And then we took a few deep breaths. And chanted. And sat in the quiet. And when we opened our eyes, she looked at me and said, "Oh, there you are."

I sighed deeply knowing I was in the right place.

Her next words were, "What are you doing for self-care?"

And I was flummoxed for a minute. I'm not kidding. I didn't really have an answer. I mean I started saying all these things about coloring with Ellie and taking five deep breaths and dancing it out, but I didn't have an answer to what I knew she was really asking, an answer to "What is your practice? What are you doing alone to be still and quiet your mind?"

And in that moment I felt the deep truth of knowing I had let firstaidself-care take over.

As my business has grown so much in the last two years, as so many changes have occurred behind the scenes in the last 9 months or so, and in my zeal to help others find their practices, I had forgotten to notice when it was time to sit in the quiet and notice my own deep needs. Well, I had noticed, but I kept pushing it away and filling the space with something else.

It feels like such a risk to share this because the fear is of course that saying it aloud means no one will want or respect a teacher who admits what real life looks like sometimes.

But the truth is, so often we teach what we need. And we don't always practice what we know even when we know we need it. 

This is why it is called a practice.

What came to the surface today is that it's time to really commit to the practice I've been working with over the last few weeks since beginning to meet with Laura again. To commit. Like big time. To shed the excuses and the other stories that stop me and commit.

As we talked today and then as we sat in the quiet together, I began to realize that I want to go even deeper here in this space with you. When I'm here writing the words, "Hello Beautiful Soul," I don't want to be distracted by all the pins on Pinterest telling me what I "should" be doing to grow my audience/use social media/stand out/get you to "click through" and how the list goes on.

No.

Instead, I want to invite you to come along to another layer of a conversation about creative self-care and mindful living and building that bridge between daily life and our longings. In some ways, this won't be new, but it will be a return to making this newsletter space about stories that I share just with you. 

And it feels really important to say this: First aid self-care is a good thing. It is needed. We all need it. I love it and will continue to teach it and share ideas here and in the other spaces you find me online. It's what gets us through "survival mode" and the big stuff and the small stuff too, especially in certain seasons of our lives. We need to use it daily. But we also need something to deeply anchor us each day, something that gives us space to separate from the noise and find stillness and find a place to hear our own deep, true voice within and to connect with whatever we're drawn to that is greater than us. 

If you're reading this and thinking you don't know where to begin, you're in the right place. We'll have these conversations together.

Blessings,

Liz

PS Since writing these words a couple of weeks ago, I've received quite a few emails from people with words of kindness (thank you!) and a few wondering about the difference between first aid self-care and the kind of self-care practice I'm talking about. Some people have wondered what my practice is. Others have shed some tears realizing that they've been practicing only first aid self-care as well and don't know what to do next. I want you to know that I hear you. I'm going to be sharing more about my own practice and talking more about this topic in my newsletter and here in this space. 

But I really want you to let go of feeling bad about first aid self-care. Reread the part above where I say it is a good thing. It really truly is. But when it isn't sustaining you anymore, and you know this, it's time to turn inward and look at what you really need. I realized that I needed an almost full stop break from the stacked up life of a woman running a home-based business. And I realize being able to take this break is a privilege. Big time.

After Labor Day, I'll be back here in this space sharing some of what I've noticed during my break along with stories from the last year that I've been wanting to tell you. Getting back to more stories in this space is a priority.

And another priority is sharing an even deeper layer of the stories with the beautiful souls on my newsletter list. When I write to you in that space, I really do feel like I'm sitting in the quiet early morning hours before everyone else is awake writing a letter with pen and paper to a friend who I know will catch my words and listen. It's such a gift to write back and forth in that space. And I do read every reply. I almost always reply back, though from time to time it takes a while, like it will with my last note.

Thanks for reading this long note, for being here, for walking beside me. I'm off to play in Grandma's backyard with my kid.