Being an Au Pair taught me: When people take a chance on you it is the most beautiful gift. Whether that is in a job, a relationship or even an experience like being an Au Pair. All you have to do is give it your all and show up with open arms for what you are going to learn. You cannot wait for life to happen to you. You must go and live it.

Fighting loneliness is hard, and if you’re in that fight right now, you’re not alone. I hope you feel more empowered today to face the struggle head on. Just like other emotions, loneliness will come and go, but with the right tools we can maneuver through it and find the true companionship we crave.

I am sharing my top gifting strategies (in no specific order) to make holiday shopping (and gift-giving) a much smoother and fun experience for you!

Week after week, I entered the street with a new poem. And each week our community grew more connected…We are on this planet, this neighborhood, this street for only a short time. You might as well know your neighbors and love them too.

On the surface, toxic positivity can appear benign. Shouldn’t we encourage moving past pain? Toxic positivity, however, is not about healing as much as it is about denial– a refusal to acknowledge experience as it actually is, in favor of a more sanitized, palatable version of reality that doesn't require sustained attention or effort to manage.

Here are a few simple acts to try to love on people when gift-giving is your love language, but you want to avoid giving any more material things to your loved ones:

It is a sad truth that many people today feel lonely, and a global pandemic has not helped. How do we reach out to those we know who are lonely? Obviously, you could write them a letter (you were expecting that on this blog, weren’t you?!), but here are some additional practical and creative ways to let them know you are thinking of them, that they are important, and that they are loved.

Finding people is half the battle. Once we’ve found them, how do we move from the touch and go of superficial conversations and a few scrolls on our six inch screens? Trial, error, and a few acts of courage have taught me a few things.

Sadly, your friend or loved one has just been diagnosed with cancer. You want to write to them, but you don’t have a clue what to say. That is completely normal. Perhaps you’re tempted to wait until you find the perfect card or the perfect words – and so you write nothing. Hopefully, you already believe that writing to someone is an excellent thing to do (I don’t imagine you would be reading the More Love Letters blog if you didn’t), so here are some hints and tips which will, hopefully, encourage you to put pen to paper.

We are yearning to come in from the rain. We are searching for safe spaces where we can rest and recover. We want to be welcomed – not in the polite way of strangers, but in the warm, reassuring way of family.

As women in our thirties, we recognize that not everyone sticks around, nor would we want them to. We have learned the difference between the marigolds and the weeds.

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.

And the best gift we can give is the gift of our willing and open selves in friendship.

The month of August taught me how to say goodbye to the Everyday People.

For a while, I followed the lie that I wasn’t needed. It was a naturally born conclusion, one I discovered one day when I looked up and saw my life-path segmented into blank blocks waiting to be filled by someone else. I continued walking, waiting for friends, family, or even strangers to magically fly into the spaces, to “need” me. 

I wanted to write these words to remind you that a few people is still a community.

I was reminded in this fast-paced, filtered, social media world that real friendship is more than just strangers who like your Instagram photos and only see your highlight reel. 

As women, we often define ourselves by seasons. And I don’t mean the sweater-wearing, PSL-drinking, football-watching of fall, or the sandals, sunscreen, and sundresses of spring. I’m talking about the seasons appointed to us: wedding season, baby season, second baby season, pre-all of these seasons . . . you know the drill. The time of our lives most consistently associated with friends checking off specific boxes on their life to-do list.