Welcome to my new favorite spot on the internet—this newsletter: Living the In-Between Times.
I'll be here every week sharing the thoughts I'm having as I write, work, and do all the things to make life happen as a 47-year-old mama of an extra-extroverted 9-year-old and a neuro-spicy 11-year-old.
I like wrestling with the big stuff (God, the Universe, time, worthiness) and the little stuff that can sometimes be tangled together with the big stuff (Is there a connection between my fear of mortality and my reluctance to clean out my sock drawer?).
I like trying things—experiments. And I like sharing things.
So, I'm psyched to have this place to share the things I've been trying and thinking about trying lately!
A bit more background about me and my experiments
A handful of years ago, after decades of beating myself up with ridiculous perfectionist standards that constantly left me striking out in the Department of Worthiness and Enough-ness, I looked around and realized… the Contentment Cavalry I'd been waiting for wasn't coming.
No one was coming with the stamp to mark me “Worthy!” No one was waiting at the end of the road with the welcome wagon because I'd finally “Arrived.”
It was up to ME to make my days add up to the amazing, fulfilling life I'd always imagined I’d live.
I knew something had to change. But with two young kids, a small business to run, a busy life to live, I wasn't in a position to Eat, Pray, Love my way across the world to figure it out.
So, I started with what I could think of. Tiny shifts squeezed into the in-between moments of my days—standing in line at the pharmacy, rolling the garbage cans out to the curb, splashing warm water on my face at the end of the night.
I devised simple, doable experiments that started helping me wriggle free of my relentless perfectionism and self-criticism, until eventually—one small shift at a time, one in-between moment at a time—I began reclaiming more delight, awe, love, ease, and excitement. The lovely life I’d been hoping for.
I know I don’t like reading long messages, so I’ll stop here for now. (More later!)
Just know that if you’re here you’re officially among a community of fellow fumblers on this journey of life—a club of experimenteers! I’ll be inviting you to try some of your own experiments to uncover more of the good stuff in life, and to share your results with us, so we can all benefit from the sweet wisdom.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll start our own Contentment Cavalry.
And if you’re excited about all this awesomeness, spread the word to a friend. I think we could all use a little more Life in the In-Between Times. ;-)