A year that doesn't rush

photo by my sweet friend ashley

The sun is going down but you’re still shining.

*Thoughts that came to my mind the moment I saw this photo a friend sent me

Everything that this photo encompasses is a sweet reminder of how my new year is looking so far. Present, not perfect, not striving, not rushing, not planned. Truly in this new year season, I’m not desperate for it to look a certain way.

I’m in no hurry to “crush” goals and make big motivational life changes that peak for a few days then dwindle in the dead of February.

January is about being still, hibernating when needed and resting. Nature doesn’t hurry so why should we.

What matters to me most is a year that is fully lived in.

Just like a non-aesthetic old home that’s filled with less decor but lots of warmth and love, maybe blankets thrown out of place, shoes at the door, toys on the floor.

What matters to me most is that I live days that feel slow and intentional.

What matters to me most are days that feel full and honest

Friends that feel like family

Work that feels joyful

and moments that carry no striving or force.

Motherhood is teaching me that a good life doesn’t announce itself loudly.

It hums. It whispers.

It settles into the nooks, crannies and corners of the days.

It shows up in the small, ordinary moments that stack gently on top of each other until one day you realize how wholesome they were.

I’m here to live mornings that aren’t rushed, where the joy of little hands cracking eggs and making pancakes is the highlight of the day. Evenings where nothing remarkable happens, yet everything feels full and complete. I want to move through my days without striving, proving, measuring myself against some kind of invisible societal standard I’ve been working my way to outgrow.

I’ve spent enough years chasing the version of life that looks Instagrammable.

I know now that the most meaningful things rarely do.

They’re not seen on picture perfect feeds and highlight reels.

They are felt.

In the little moments that linger through laughter, locked hands through evening strolls, blowing air bubbles on little bellies, conversations in the corner of the patio under the string lights and in the quiet knowing that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be… right now.

This season is less about becoming and more about being.

About tending verses pushing.

Choosing what sustains me even when it looks simple from the outside looking in.

I’ve been showing up here because it truly feels life giving and that’s the kind of year I want to live.

A year that’s life giving…

I want a year that leaves soft footprints.

One that I can look back and say:

I was present.

I remember how that made me feel.

I was generous with my time and energy.

I loved deeply.

I rested well when I needed to.

I moved with the fire when called to.

I trusted where I was going.

And maybe that’s it.

Maybe that’s enough.

More than enough, actually. 🍵

Warmly,