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Seek Curiosity

Follow your curiosity

Seek Curiosity

I’ve been listening to a lot of TedTalk Radio Hour while working out, driving, or doing yard work. It’s the perfect length of time for me to stay engaged and have time to listen, learn and marinade on a specific topic. Yesterday I listened to The Source of Creativity (you can listen to the whole thing or just Liz Gilbert’s section, although I highly suggest listening to the entire hour). You might recognize Liz’s name as being the author of Eat, Pray, Love but she’s recently been focused on helping people push past their fear to focus on their creativity.

Although I’ve heard this idea multiple times, it’s currently resonating with me on a stronger level: ‘If you can let go of your passion and follow your curiosity, your curiosity just might lead to passion’. I am a very passionate person for a short amount of time. I’ll often change the entire course of my day to learn more or embrace one sentence that I read that day online. The next day it’s completely gone from my mind. I’ve learned that if I don’t create, write, photograph, or simply DO whatever I’m excited about that day, it will have no interest to me later on.

On the flip side, I have some passions that have always and will always be around but I don’t know how to switch gears and make those my lively hood, nor do I necessarily want them to. Disney is one of my biggest passions and when I had decided to work there for a semester in college, my family was a bit nervous that I would lose the magic I saw in The Mouse. Thankfully my curiosity lead me to follow through and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

I’m currently curious about horticulture. I’m re-doing the landscape to our new home and want to grow my first garden this summer. I’ve checked out books and videos on the best ‘kid friendly’ gardens in hopes to not waste time and money on my latest curiosity. Gardening is not currently a passion of mine but I’m curious what plants work here at this home and what vegetables would be fun for our family to grow. I’m pushing past my fear of wasting money, time and a sore back to learn something new. You only fail if you don’t try.



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The Miracle Morning

Miracle Morning

The Miracle Morning

My sister introduced me to the book The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I’m not quite half through (even though it’s a fast read) but I am already motivated by his movement. He is a motivational speaker that has failed and hit rock bottom multiple times throughout his life. In a strange way, seeing peoples failures are equally important to me as seeing their successes. My tag line for DIY Mama is ‘Let’s try this again, shall we?’ because I believe in being human, failing and always getting back up to try again. I’ve not been living my tag line lately and this was the perfect jump start I needed to re-motivate my life. It’s corresponding perfectly with the warm weather of spring, new blossoms blooming and longer days. There’s no affiliation going on between myself and this book, I just wanted to share it with you because I’m enjoying it so much. I will confess that I did have to skim through parts of the book because they were a bit preachy but the message of his story is amazing and I encourage you to check it out if you’re not at a 10 in every aspect of your life.

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Eat Cake

Why do we feel the need to justify every single thing that we do? I wear many hats that people judge- mom, wife, and entrepreneur being my biggest roles. People will always have opinions on how you should be living. For example, when I had Sophie, I felt great pressure to breast feed her. I thought it was the only way she would grow a healthy body and mind. I was told it creates the necessary bond between a mom and baby. I was told the chemicals in formula are harmful to babies. I saw silent judgement on the eyes of moms who were breastfeeding while I was bottle feeding my baby. After lots of pain, time, tears and money I decided it wasn’t worth feeling like a failure. Sophie is now two with the body and mind of an awesome little girl. How I fed her is so tiny in comparison to everything that has occurred in her life.

Just last week I noticed myself thinking I was a bad wife. I was at a friend’s house for a playdate and she was frantically picking up all of the kid’s toys because her husband was due to be home. She’d mentioned she feels like he thinks she doesn’t do anything all day if they kid’s toys are in site. This made me think of our house when my husband gets home. Sophie and I are usually on the couch with a pile of books, play-doh art on the table, and puzzles that she just remembered she had. At first I thought- she’s right, it does look like I haven’t done anything all day. On my drive home I thought more about our family and the fact that I only have three hours alone to play with Sophie before the hustle and bustle of dinner and bedtime come. I do think it’s important for her to clean up her toys so we now do a quick sweep with her to put away all toys before bedtime stories. We have her do this now to show her that there’s a time that it’s ok to have toys around and play but we need to be responsible for our own messes. I think it’s more important for her to learn how to put away her own toys than it is for me to feel like a good wife because the house is clean when my husband gets home. As I’ve said before, ‘do you‘ and eat cake. It’s the only way you will truly be happy.

Eat cake.Eat Cake

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Get Out of Your Own Way

There is no one holding you back but yourself when it comes to your health goals. I can throw out excuses with the best of them as to why I don’t look or feel how I want, but I know it is a direct result of my own actions. I’m keeping this quote ‘get out of your own way’ in mind as I work towards the healthy person I want to be. Today I signed up for our second 5k (in May) and am motivated to do my first half marathon in Disney World in 2018. I want a healthier body for a lot of reasons. Top 3: 1.) More energy. 2.) A healthy vessel for our second child. 3.) To feel confident and beautiful in the clothes that are my style. I’m currently limited because of my size. My goal is to be able to shop at any store and find stylish pieces that make me feel empowered. I’ve printed out a training plan from the RunDisney site and am excited to begin this new journey of healthy living.
Get out of your own way

Get Out of Your Own Way

 

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Keep Calm and Make a List

The beginning of the year is supposed to be the time we set our goals and organize our life to be happier, more efficient people. Right? It’s the 19th of January and I feel as though everything I’ve scheduled in my planner this month has gone by the wayside to make room for, what seems like, nothing. I lost an entire week to a sick toddler and rather than being happy to snuggle my little girl, comforting her in my arms, I felt anxiety over everything I wasn’t accomplishing. Now you know my biggest guilt. I wish I would have seen this quote then. Keep calm and make a list.

Making a list, especially during a time when I can’t accomplish that task, helps my mind calm down. Even if my list is 50 items long and entirely too much to accomplish in the time frame I’ve given, it helps to just write them out and prioritize them. Many times those items that aren’t checked off at the end of the week are things that I realize didn’t need to be done anyway. It’s most helpful for me to take an hour on Sunday morning to make my meal plan, order our groceries from the store and write out my most important goals for the week. If I’m good, I’ll write them out in my planner, but otherwise will just make a list and stick it to the fridge.

Keep Calm and Make a List
Keep calm and make a list

If you’re having a hard time focusing on what you should be spending your time with, make a list. If you feel like you’re completely exhausted at the end of every day, make a list, there might be a way to better prioritize your goals. I keep a notebook by my bedside so I can let all my ramblings out of my head and onto paper for better sleep. I never look at that list but it is there to help me sleep at night. Let me know what helps calm you when you’re mind won’t slow down.

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