Walking through the world as yourself is no joke. It takes courage, self-awareness, and lots of practice. Inbox Shindig is here to guide you and make you feel less alone with relatable stories, small shifts, and ideas + inspiration so you can start showing up as your most true self.
😎 my new summer mantra
Hey Reader!
I feel like all I’ve been doing is walking around and saying how fast this summer has gone by. But, it has!
And I’ve been feeling guilty because we “haven’t done enough”, never mind the various trips, pool days, Uno matches and play dates with friends.
My brain keeps going back to the fact we haven’t checked off everything on our Summer List.
What’s that?
Well, every season, the kids and I make a list of what we want to be sure to fit in.
Some of them are bigger - see certain friends, camp, go to a water park - but, most are small - do a lemonade stand, eat s’mores, go on a hike.
It’s a great way to make sure we get some memories in without stress.
But, it’s been stressing me out BIG TIME.
Because we haven’t checked many off the list this season because it’s been, well, busy.
So, last week, I lowered the bar.
The kids and I sat down and we picked out a couple of things that we can do for sure, easily and stress-free, and we’re all psyched.
Turns out, all of these expectations are IN MY HEAD.
The kids don’t care. They’d be happy watching Blue-y for the next three weeks; it’s my brain that is fixated on what summer should "feel like" and "be like."
Dude, it's too much work.
LOWER THE BAR.
That’s going to be my new mantra for the rest of the summer.
-What should we eat? LOWER THE BAR: Waffles!
-What about my list of house projects? LOWER THE BAR: Weeding is plenty!
-How often should the kids shower? LOWER THE BAR: Swimming counts!
-Can we watch "Gilmore Girls" again tonight? LOWER THE BAR: Heck yeah!
So much of my life is about tempering my expectations with the reality of what actually feels good and works for our life.
And right now, that's keeping things nice and easy with the bar so low I can basically scoot over it without even lifting my feet.
I feel lighter already. 💖
What about you? Is there somewhere you can lower the bar and give yourself (and probably everyone around you!) a break?
Sending you easy times and much love,
xx. Kara
👆 YOUR "FEEL BETTER" OF THE WEEK!
Look away, Mom! LOOK AWAY!
Every year for Mother's Day, my mom kindly brings by some sort of plant that I valiantly try and keep alive all summer with mixed results.
I do want to say, though, this year wasn't completely my fault! We had terrible hail that pretty much decimated this poor sweetie in an afternoon.
Leaving its carcass for the neighborhood to see for the past month? Yeah, that one is all me. 😬
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👋 Hi! I'm Kara and I can't help being myself.
And, let me tell you I've tried... 😬
Walking through the world as yourself is no joke. It takes courage, self-awareness, and lots of practice. Inbox Shindig is here to guide you and make you feel less alone with relatable stories, small shifts, and ideas + inspiration so you can start showing up as your most true self.
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