The Essential Meditator 001: These precious days

For the past year and a half, my husband Phil and I have been living a pretty low-key life in the suburbs of St. Augustine, FL. The very “regularness” of it all has been a blessing that the adventurous twenty-something-year-old version of me couldn't have ever anticipated (or at the time wanted lol!).

Cultivating routine and creating space has really allowed me to think a lot about how I want to spend my time.

Turns out that there is beauty and power in the mundane.

Spending time in stillness makes me hyper-aware that these days are precious.

Something I’ve been asking myself a lot lately is: Am I actually making time for what truly matters? Because we can’t fully live in integrity if we don’t make the time for what's really important.

So I did two things: I spent a week tracking how I was actually spending my days.

Then, I wrote out what my ideal days, weeks, months, and year would look like and plotted it all on a calendar.

It was very eye opening.

There was a pretty significant mismatch between the two and it turns out there isn’t as much time available as I thought. And if I were being honest with myself, I wasn’t fully in integrity to the things I say actually matter.

This was a huge insight that was a swift kick in the pants. I quickly began re-prioritizing my days to be in integrity with what I value most. This includes holding time sacred for the people I love, taking care of myself, my spiritual practices, and the work that I love.

Less phone scrolling. More real conversations.

Less saying yes to projects that don’t align. Fewer, but more impactful projects.

Less consuming random media. More time creating and teaching.

I’m learning. I’m growing. It’s a process.

So this week, I share this question with you: “What will you do less of in order to do more of what matters most?”

Here's What I Want to Share This Week:

1. The Launch of The Essential Meditator Newsletter

After taking a pause from writing these past several months, I’m looking forward to teaching and sharing with you again. In this busy and noisy world, I am honored and grateful you're here.

​Share this link with a friend, or forward this email if you feel it would benefit them :)

2. The Re-Launch of My "Learn to Meditate" Facebook Group.

Also excited to share that the "Learn to Meditate" Facebook group now has a fresh look and feel. If you're feeling called, please join! I'd love to have you.

​Join the Learn to Meditate Facebook Group Here.

Here's Who We Are Celebrating This Week: Bailey Frumen

I met Bailey while on a retreat in Tulum several years ago. She is both big-hearted and adventurous, two qualities I love about her. On that trip, she and I explored Mayan ruins, snorkeled cenotes, and rescued baby sea turtles who were lost because it they hatched under the darkness of a new moon.

She is psychotherapist, author, speaker, coach and mentor to ambitious leaders and entrepreneurs. She provides the roadmap and the means to travel out of frustration & overwhelm into action & purpose.

Bailey is the creator of MindRise and just recently launched the 90 Days to Elevate Journal, a guide to help us "commit to ourselves, the habits and patterns that we were stuck in fade away, and we begin to feel a lightness + clarity of living life on our own terms."

Really grateful for her friendship and the opportunity to celebrate and share her work with you!

​Connect with Bailey and her team at MindRise here.

This Week's Curiosities :

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (link)

One of the gifts of lockdown was time for me to start reading more fiction vs. just books on personal development and business. And I’ve been reading more fiction ever since.

Literary Hub really nailed the description here: "A gritty, dreamy anti-Western Western. This book's unflinching exposure of our foundational American myths about individualism and violence is so well-executed that it feels nothing short of subversive."

It’s super unique (young Swedish boy lost in the American Wild West) and his hero’s journey is both devastating and deeply touching. That’s all I’m going to say; no spoiler alerts here!

Have you ever felt sad that the journey you were on with the protagonist of the book ended? That’s how I felt about this one.

Acacia Cutting Board (link)

I cook. A lot. And for years I did all my chopping on plastic cutting boards, while all the while dreaming of a real, thick wooden cutting board while prepping.

I finally purchased one from Ikea for a reasonable cost and it has really elevated my cooking experience. Chopping onions and carrots on a beautiful, real wood surface is joyful. What took me so long?

Delightful purchases need not be expensive. Or hard to acquire. This one was $25.

The joy of plant parenting (link)

Phil and I first bought this monstera 8 months ago and she’s already doubled in size! She’s getting too big for her pot; time to repot her soon.

This (not so little anymore) beauty brings me so much joy everyday.

Memorable Quote :

"The miracle isn't in the achievement, it's in the person you become when you choose to be brave, when you choose to act on behalf of your vision, no matter how uncertain or improbable the outcome."

-Hiro Boga