Latest posts
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What Winter Taught Me About Rest
Even in sunny Florida, winter brings noticeable shifts. Shorter days. Cooler temperatures. Earlier sunsets that sneak up on you before you feel ready. Winter didn’t just change my schedule. It changed what rest looked like for me. Read on to find out what winter taught me about rest. Missing the Water and Learning to Sit With
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The First Paddle of the Year
The Long Break If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know that paddle boarding has become a big part of my routine. It’s something I look forward to every week, something that helps me slow down and reset. But this winter in Florida has been colder than usual. Between the chilly weather, early
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Making a Friend When You’re Shy, New, and Starting Over
The Facebook Post I Almost Ignored When I moved to Florida, I joined a bunch of local Facebook groups, hoping they might help me feel less alone in a new place.One of them was a group of women who met once or twice a month for events. I watched from a distance. I read the
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When Goodbye Comes Without Warning
The day started like any other. I got up, fed the dogs, had some coffee on the patio while the dogs happily sniffed around the yard. Everything felt ordinary. Normal. Familiar in the way mornings often are. My dogs gulped their food down as usual and explored the yard with joy. There were no signs.
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Why Paddle Boarding Is the Perfect Metaphor for Life
Life Doesn’t Come with a Stable Surface Life rarely feels steady. Much like stepping onto a paddle board for the first time, it often feels like learning as you go, adjusting in real time, and hoping you don’t lose your balance along the way. Even on days when the water looks calm, there is still
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The Self-Care Lies We’ve Been Told
If self-care were as simple as bubble baths and face masks, we’d all be thriving by now. The internet has really turned self-care into a marketing trend, rather than what it really is: intentional maintenance of your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. I’ve bought into it too. I used to think that self-care meant treating
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What My Dogs Taught Me About Living in the Moment
Dogs do not live in yesterday or tomorrow.Living in the present is not something they practice or strive for. It is simply how they exist. They don’t rehearse conversations, replay mistakes, or worry about what’s coming next. They are here. Fully. Always. Being around my dogs gently pulls me back into the now. They remind
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The Science of Happiness: How to Boost Your Four Feel-Good Brain Chemicals
Happiness Isn’t Random. It’s Chemical One fascinating aspect of the brain is the way it produces different chemicals, often referred to as neurotransmitters, that play a significant role in regulating our mood, behavior, and overall well-being. Our brains are actually wired for happiness! The four main ‘happy chemicals’ are: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. By
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Underground Calm: What Exploring Some Caves Taught Me About Slowing Down
It was a typical Florida day, the kind where it’s 90 degrees by 10am, with the humidity at 400% and me wondering why I even bothered to do my hair. So when my boyfriend suggested checking out the Dames Caves in Lecanto, FL, I thought it sounded like something interesting to do, so I said
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How to Build a Coping Toolkit (That Actually Helps When Life Gets Messy)
If you’ve ever found yourself spiraling and thinking, ‘I need something to help me calm down, right now,’ that’s exactly where a coping toolkit can help. Emotional ups and downs are inevitable in life, but the tools you have to deal with them can make a difference. We can’t stop the chaos, but we can