sun Tag

a time for incomparable experiences

I love waking up in the city:

CLT Skyline

…in the very early morning when the sun has just come up and the streets are all quiet. It’s like a peaceful calm before the traffic storm, those few precious moments for those of us who live on the pavement when we can sip coffee and dream big in peace before the honks and screeches start.

The city; A place where action happens and the world moves quickly. How I love it, and then escaping that madness to the complete opposite end of the spectrum which I love just as much (maybe a little bit more) at this point in my life. This was my happy drive to a client home today in the country:

Country NC

NC Green

Being in cement city for a Vermont girl during the warm months is very hard. Being in cement city for a nomadic-souled national park-loving, freedom-needing road tripping girl is very hard, so drives like this are always welcome. I need open windows, and green spaces. I need outside not inside, and I need room to breathe. Play It Forward Weekend kicks off 3 weeks from today in my home state, and I can’t wait. I always feel my absolute best, most creative, alive, and easy going self on the road. For as much work as this big event entails, it fuels me back tenfold to be able to hop in the car, all windows down and head far north to connect with the place and people I came from and do something good.

I spent many of my young adult years “on the road” in open spaces during the summer doing things like sitting in German biergartens, hiking in and around national parks, driving and camping across the country, and sitting in a hammock in the middle of the South Pacific. This time of year I think about every “kid” like me all that time ago who is boarding a plane heading for a language program in a country far away, or that group of gal pals who just finished up college and are now road-tripping across the country to go work at some random beach bar for the next couple months before they start their “real jobs.” I think about that group of guy friends who are planning a long 4th of July weekend away in the mountains to hike and camp in the next state over. I think about the recent high school grad about to embark on a Gap Year adventure, and I think…HELL YEAH! These are the times.

Oh my gosh that feeling and those experiences. They are THE BEST EVER, and nothing compares.

If you’re a parent reading this, please encourage your kids go on that trip/program/study abroad. They will become forever changed and even more badass than they already are. If you’re a twenty-something reading this and you’re slaving away at a minimum wage job that you hate before you go back to college, tell your boss thanks anyway, pack and bag and go somewhere new. Go explore anything you’ve wanted to before you get bogged down and locked down. You will never regret it, I promise.

My business is teaching people how to live simple so they can do more and be more of what they love. I work with clients typically age 45 – 65 who are making big life changes. A lot of them are getting themselves “unstuck” (whether their decision or not) from situations that were not working or not fun for a lot of years. Either during or at the end of my projects, nearly every single person shares the same three things:

1.) “I wish I had done this sooner.” (Downsizing, moving, jumping, making change, etc.)

2.) “I can’t believe how much stuff I have/had.” (Physical, financial, and personal.)

3.) “I wish I had traveled more when I was younger.”

During this time of year when air is warm and possibilities seem endless, all I think of is why doesn’t everyone who has any power, authority, or advisory over young people just tell them to go, go GO. Go before you collect a whole bunch of that “stuff” like I did! 

For any of my clients who might look back and wish they did things a bit differently, I know I have at least helped them feel more freedom that they might not have otherwise been able to get to. It is so rewarding. We leave each other with hugs most every time and I feel like we teach each other so much. At the end of the day whether you’re 25, 45 or 65, all we really want is to have good times with good people. The stuff really doesn’t matter…period. I learn that again and again and again.

So many of us make big humongous ginormous life decisions (like college majors, careers, cars, houses, spouses, pets, babies, etc.) at ridiculously young ages and far before we have seen the world at all or built the best possible tool box to actually make those often life-altering decisions. Before we decide on important commitments that will seriously change the course of our existence on this planet, I say get lost, go broke, laugh with strangers, try that weird thing, feel uncomfortable, open your mind, don’t listen to naysayers. Move to that place you’ve always been curious about, quit whatever is breaking your heart or sucking your soul. Get up early, stay up late, work hard for what you want and it will all come together. Get your own life, don’t live someone else’s.

Hit the “road,” Jack, Jill, and everyone else who’s young bucket list is overflowing! Collect people and experiences, not stuff. I’ll be thinking of you with big smiles as I hit the road myself here soon, imagining all the awesome adventures you’ll have.

#DoStuffDontBuyStuff #Explore #LiveTheLifeYouWantToLive

 

 

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no filter sunset

8:17pm, Thursday June 9th. I walk in and this is what I see:

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No filters, no adjustments, just a quick shot from my old iPhone. Pretty awesome.

There’s something about a sunrise and a sunset that just feels…ahhh…

The best part is that It’s getting better as I sit here on my balcony, take it in, and type.

What makes you feel peaceful?

#Sunsets #SummerNights #LessStuffMoreMomentsHappyLife

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do stuff, don’t buy so much stuff

I like to wander by myself. I love people and connection and sharing for sure, but contrary to popular belief, I spend a lot of time alone and always have. If you have just started following here to give you an idea, I drove to Alaska from Wilmington, NC alone- and with no music a few years back; that kind of alone. Some think It’s weird. I think It’s awesome to go solo, sometimes.

Last weekend, as I wandered around the streets of Chicago alone (yes! – scored a super cheap non-stop round trip plane ticket for Memorial Day Weekend!), I observed a zillion people with shopping bags galore weighing them down. Knowing that one of the biggest reasons I could actually afford go to Chicago for some guilt-free good exploring, eating, and meeting up with old friends was the fact that I don’t ever weigh myself down with shopping bags galore, I had one of those aha moments:

DO stuff, people! Don’t BUY so much stuff! (“Stuff” here to me, means an over abundance of material CRAP that you simply do not use or do not need.)

If you’re offended by the word crap, please try not to be. I’ve been told a hundred times over that I/we should not call other people’s stuff “crap” but if we are being realistic, the extra (note I said, extra!) stuff piled in your closets and drawers that you forgot you even had, is kind of all just a bunch of crap. Wouldn’t you agree? If if makes you feel any better, I call my own stuff crap, too even though I have very little of it. I think a lot about what I would do if the small amount of stuff I own vanished. (I’ve actually lost it all before, and when I realized the people who took it all didn’t shoot me, I seriously felt relieved and lucky.) I can say with 100% confidence, that if all my stuff (crap) disappeared, but I had my health, people who loved me, and could sip a glass of wine, eat a block of cheese, and back that all up with a quality piece of chocolate, I’d be happier than a pig in you know what.

I’m thinking you might be right there with me.

And now we are off and running here on this Blue Lollipop Road with a little series moving forward I will theme; The Do’s & Don’ts of stuff

It’s all about priorities, really. Me, I find value and prioritize people, time, and experiences more than stuff. Some may not- but I think I can help encourage a little more prioritizing the important “stuff” here, so hope you jump on the train of less stuff = more freedom = happy life with me.

More on Chicago soon (I always pull that “soon” card, don’t I? I’ve got to keep you coming back:), until then today’s post is meant to share about today. My Sunday Funday and how I love the summer, the heat, and the colors of it all. During some client appointments today, I ran into a sweet little farmers market on a road I never go down, far from the city:

Farmer's Market

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Farmer's Market
I stocked up for some good grilling.

Windows down, music blaring, then back to the house to sit outside and type here, one of my most favorite things to do:

Sunday Porch Time

EAT good stuff that you’ll really enjoy with good company, don’t BUY a bunch of (material) stuff you don’t really need.

Spend some time alone, prioritize, and live that life you want.

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #DoStuffDontBuyStuff #Summer

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hope floats

I went floating today. Blue skies, perfect temperatures, peaceful setting, poofy clouds…as nice as it could be. It was great to just lean back, breathe, and be in nature on the water, taking in the scenery:

Floating the river

I kept looking up and thinking of a certain few people I know, who would’ve given anything to be spending a beautiful day on the river.

Here’s to never taking any days for granted.

“Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”

~Steven Rogers

#Thankful #CarpeDiem #Remembering

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red eye

Not much in the early morning beats a sunrise. Especially from an airplane. This was my 6am today:

Airplane sunrise

It is so nice to sit in uninterrupted, unplugged silence, and just watch what happens:

Red Eye

Escape, explore, make new memories…and appreciate going home too. Love travel!

Whatever life you want is out there and possible. How are you making the most of today?

#UpInTheAir #WanderingHomebody #Reflection

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go take a hike

At least that’s what we did yesterday! Can’t keep me inside when It’s 75 and sunny, on a weekend or a week day. (It’s Monday and I’m typing this from an outside patio table; my office for the afternoon.)

Here’s our view from the top of the mountain:

Panoramic from the top

At the top

Mountain Top at Crowder's

Life on the Blue Lollipop Road

As seen in these photos, things are not quite blooming and green yet, but even though most the color was brown, the skies were still blue- so I was happy. (Obviously.) Minus the littering idiots who left their Dean & DeLuca lunch garbage all over the place, it was a perfect day. (For god’s sakes, people- stop littering!)

I think winter has reared It’s ugly head for the last time this year. (At least in NC, anyway.) Time to grab yourself, your family & your friends- and go play outside!

How do you enjoy the great outdoors?

#Hike #NC #LetMeBeFree

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hats off to the cold weather peeps

Today was nice. 74 degrees nice. This is the first time in a lot of months it has been this nice.

Each year when I try to be all “First world problems! I’m fine!”- when I’m freezing my ass off & feel depressed about the crap, cold weather. I can’t lie; I really want to stab myself in the face when It’s cold and cloudy endlessly, and snow happens. I hate snow. I hate cold. I hate it. Period. Vermont girl who despises the white stuff with everything in my being. I hate cold temperatures. I get bitchy, mean, and all those other things that I never want to be and that are scary to most people. Yep. I’m happy-happy joy-joy until it gets to be about this time of year and I think- Dear God, if it doesn’t get sunny and warm soon, I might have to buy a plane ticket to wherever the hell it is NOT 30 degrees and never come back again.

And then there is a day like today; 74 degrees and sunny.

THANK.

GOD.

(Or whoever.)

Hallelujah! Just when I felt like I was about to lose it, someone delivered me some sunshine & warm. I feel like a new human. As I sit here in the dark, with our living room garage door wide open, I can’t help but wonder how anyone lives through the 10-months-of-winter life each year that happens in so many states. I can’t imagine. Hat’s off and then some, to all those people out there who are tougher than me.

Here’s to “springing forward”, sunshine, warmth, and flip flops being the only shoes I ever need.

A photo I took in December as we floated away from Ft. Lauderdale on vacation:

Sunset in Florida

…just a little nod to the sun and warm, so it stays around.

What season do you look forward to?

#SunshineGoddess #SnowNeverAgain #IBelieveInFlipFlops

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