When it comes to comfort, books, like foods, are not all created equal (virtuous indeed are those who reach for kale when calamity befalls). When times are tough, some books just won’t hit the spot. Moreover, our capacity for reading -- or doing much of anything other than surviving -- can vary wildly depending on exactly what we’re up against.

For the first week I did not receive a single letter, so I was getting a little worried. What if no one wrote? But then, this week, everything changed. 1 letter on Monday, another on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 11 on Thursday and 22 on Friday!

In truth, by harnessing both The Habitualist and The Ritualist, you will experience happiness on a significantly deeper level and sustain it, so whatever you decide - just start now.

Whether I’ve sought the change or it has arrived on its own free will, I remind myself all of the things we’d have missed if we’d tried to hold on too tightly to the status quo. I think about the opportunities that have come from taking chances and letting go.

This kindness is unmatched. I wish I could hug all of you who wrote me!

Any time we engage in social media, there are bound to be flecks of our humanity wrapped up in it. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does require us to be mindful.

After working an exhausting year in a pandemic where I got extraordinarily little joy out of my job, and mostly just a lot of stress and anxiety, I needed to find something that brought me home to myself again.

Brokenness is not where this ends, though. When years of walls are shattered and strewn about, choices have to be made. Will we rebuild what was broken exactly the way it was before? OR Will we choose to restore what was broken into something stronger and more beautiful? This time, I chose the latter.

It was at least ten years ago when I first heard a sermon by Andy Stanley about the concept of “margin.” He talked about the importance of living a life with a lot of margin - a lot of room to make mistakes without suffering life-altering ramifications. He essentially meant installing guardrails in your life, surmising that we’d inevitably cross lines, but if you had your guardrail set so far back from the edge, those missteps were much more likely to be corrected without serious consequence. This concept could apply to many aspects of life - finances, time management, relationships, interactions with others, and even food.

There’s something to be said about being in the kitchen and the melodic, tranquil nature of mixing things together to create something new. The whir of the mixer. The tap of measuring cups. The feel of dusting flour off your hands. And, who are we kidding, the taste of batter that you sneak just to make sure it tastes good.

After years of doing, it’s the being that I’m finally learning to focus on.

We must recognize and fight the lie that tells us connection is best when we are assimilated.

Here are some ideas to bring creativity to your friendships.

From the earliest days of my motherhood, the days of butterfly kicks in my uterus and aches in my back, I’ve had the overwhelming desire to teach my sons this one life skill.

There are good things for you to do today, friend, of this I am firmly sure, because your tasks don’t have to be Big and professionally important for them to matter.

My version of a simple life will look different than yours. My version of a simple life includes 400+ books contrasted with a wardrobe small enough to fit almost entirely in a carry-on suitcase. Yours might include 30 pairs of shoes and nary a book to be seen. One is not better than the other, because what simple looks like to me is different than what simple looks like to you.

Right now, we need to be creative. We need to be creative with our workdays and hanging out with friends and birthdays. We need to be creative with a tired Tuesday and another Friday night of takeout. We need to learn a new way to choose champagne even when it feels like there is not ever a reason to. We need to find places to sing after the musicals we were in got canceled and reasons to dance because Shipoopi might never see the stage.

I am not and never will claim to hold all of the magical tools to positive communication, and I am a big proponent of continued learning. I do wholeheartedly believe, though, that by practicing the act of acknowledging, you will reap the benefits of more open, honest, and authentic communication in your conversations and relationships with others. And, who doesn’t want some of these in their life?! Here are just a few ways the act of acknowledging can transform your relationships and future interaction.

In less-than-ideal seasons, it’s practically effortless to focus on the bad, on all the ways this season isn’t what we want or hope. But there are a few things my new job and season have reminded me of that are better responses to a less-than-ideal season.

Hard feelings look different for everyone. For some, it’s paralyzing; you feel like your brain is put on pause from too many thoughts flying around. For some, it can manifest as physiological symptoms: headaches, stomachaches, fatigue, insomnia.