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!

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’s a non-exhaustive list of how you can show up for a friend who has experienced

pregnancy loss (or how to ask your friends to show up for you):

We know from the concept of love languages--five ways we all give and receive love as identified by Dr. Gary Chapman--that certain actions and words mean more to some of us than others. In the same way, with any non-romantic relationships, friendships, or family in your life, we can take the time to show kindness in a way that resonates more deeply. As you take time to contemplate what this might mean for the person in your life, here are three questions to ask yourself to lead you towards discovering the kindness-spreading magic.

Perhaps the new normal even changes frequently. Life is different. It’s terrifying; it's anxiety-provoking. But it’s also beautiful. Precious moments and memories await you. It will be wonderful, it will be hard, but it will also be rewarding.

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.

For years I have held onto this idea of authenticity, of growing in my own self-awareness and self-acceptance, recognizing I have something good to offer the world as myself. No need for pretenses or performances or mirages. If I am to be accepted, it should be as myself, not a caricature of how I wish to be perceived.

Here are some tips to find a lasting love for volunteering!

I’ve found five strategies to be particularly helpful to pursue my dreams and goals without putting myself or my dreams in a box. However, don’t let these ideas simply evolve into another goal post or benchmark for your plan. These strategies are meant to inspire you to live your dreams without the need to plan your life in charts and checkboxes.

It is hard to deny the power of love. A difficult situation can almost always be turned around when one person decides to bring love in. That is why I get up every morning and choose to love my husband with breakfast. When I don’t feel love, I do love. The doing creates something in me. If I want there to be joy, happiness, and love in my marriage, I have to do my part to bring what I can offer to the table.

In the past year and a half, I’ve been trying to get back to that younger version of myself by getting in touch with how moving my body makes me feel. To think of exercise as “play-time,” rather than a chore necessary to ensure that I look a certain way, I’ve developed this list that hopefully you find useful too.

Learning the harp has become a unique spiritual discipline for me, teaching me lessons in becoming a beginner, creating for creativity's sake, and remembering that life is long.

There are a couple of ways I’ve learned to celebrate the miracle of Christmas — practices that exchange sensational consumerism for quiet anticipation, and occasionally, joyous celebration. I want to give gifts that mean something to the person receiving them. I want to bake cookies and share them, decorate my house in a simple yet joyful, meaningful way. I want to soak in these moments, and share them with my family. I want to be a better neighbor. And I don’t want to feel guilty when I don’t get it all done in time. Magic carries with it a connotation of quickness, doesn’t it? Just snap your fingers. Santa maneuvers athletically in and out of houses — somehow, he gets it done.

If you were to step into my childhood bedroom, you’d find countless half-written plays about long-lost sisters and numerous diary entries detailing my family vacations. Writing always came naturally to me. It is how I deconstructed new concepts and ideas.

For me, it is easier to think in terms of small indulgences, where the stakes are low, but when I’m honest with myself, indulging daily is much grander than office supplies and pizza nights. It’s about being present and grateful and joyful in the moments when you can be, because sometimes you can’t. It’s about living in abundance, even if that abundance is something as simple as having a slice of hot blackberry pie for dinner.

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.

Today, I see my white cane as a badge of honor.

I see my white cane as a reminder of how far I’ve come. Every time I use it, I see a girl who felt despair the day she was diagnosed with RP to someone who is learning to love herself enough by embracing all parts of who she is. Today, there is nothing self-conscious about the cane. It’s simply a little help for my vision.