They say you’re the average of the five people you hang around the most. But to take it one step further, I’d add that you're also the average of the information you consume the most. Since moving to the middle-of-nowhere 15 years ago, I've been inspired to start businesses, learn new skills, take daring leaps, and push past obstacles all thanks to ideas I learned from books, courses, and mentors. These days, podcasts and
When the Old Ways Make More Sense
A few weeks ago, I had professional make-up artist do my make-up (No, this is not a regular occurrence... It was for my book cover photo shoot.) As she was working her magic, she commented on my face several times. She said she rarely sees skin that's so evenly and deeply moisturized. (Considering I live in one of the driest, wind-blown places in the United States, this is high praise.) So which of the high-tech modern skin care
A Different Type of Weeding
I’ve been doing a lot of weeding lately. No, not in the garden. (It’s still buried under many feet of snow.) Instead, I’ve been weeding and pruning other areas of our life. The last few years have been a period of expansion for us. I love growth. It’s fast and wild and breathless. But in periods of growth, whether it’s in the garden or life in general, things fall by the wayside. And as we've pressed pause on expansion
The Contrarian Way
Today I'm typing from the airport instead of the homestead. I tend to be extra contemplative when I fly and this morning, as I made the two hour trek to the airport, wove through traffic, found a parking spot, stood in line, and stood in line some more, one thought kept dancing through my mind: Figure out what everyone is doing and then do the opposite. This idea served me well at the airport today: If
Dichotomies & Bandwagons
I’ve been thinking a lot about false dichotomies lately. They seem to be all the rage these days. A false dichotomy is when a choice or belief is incorrectly presented as EITHER/OR. It presumes there are only two options. “In philosophy, “you’re either with us or against us” is considered a false dichotomy or a false dilemma,” writes Brene Brown in Braving the Wilderness. “It’s a move to force people to take sides. If
