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Wary Wonderlust

Making Wonder, Working on the Wary

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Tag: Meaning

What is Wonderlust?

October 3, 2019

Odds are good you’ve heard the word wanderlust, which means a strong desire to travel. Wonderlust is a term I use to describe another calling: the desire to live a delighted, awe-inspired life. … More What is Wonderlust?

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I grew up without holidays. To a certain extent, I still feel like an imposter, even after all these years of making holidays happen for my family. But something happened as we put up the tree this year. My son managed to reach every branch and helped me unfurl many of them. It was like he grew several inches in front of my eyes. My daughter joked about the terrible ornaments she picked when she was younger, then said she was the only one allowed to hang them. As I made a list of all we needed to watch and eat and do, I saw just how much we built our own holiday, our own traditions, our own joy and delight. I look at the new trees, the ones that unfurl automatically and are already lit and think, “Ah, that’d be so easy and convenient.” And it would. But we’ve lived our lives in a dozen different apartments. We have no door jam marked with our children’s rising heights. But we have this tree and the pictures of them growing taller next to it in new jammies year after year. Their arms can reach the top now, the ornaments are not clustered front and center and only halfway up. It makes my heart happy. May your days and your traditions be as merry and bright as mine. #wonderlust #merryandbright #christmastree

Pretty and delicious.

Vote! At every opportunity. #vote

I’ve never had a hard time saying “I love you” to other people. After growing up in a house where it wasn’t said often, my mother made a point to say it freely. I saw the way it made her siblings uncomfortable until they grew used to it. Now, I say it to friends and family without restraint. I’ve seen that same uncomfortable look on the faces of others, those not used to hearing that they are loved and worthy of that love. I did not think I would ever be the person whose face twists to hear the words, but I was wrong. During a yoga practice, I was instructed to whisper “I love you” to myself. It felt a little silly, but I was in a safe space. I whispered. Despite being well-versed in self-care, self-love, and having said “I love me” unironically, this was something different. Those three little words I’ve shared so willingly with others have never been turned toward myself. Tears poured immediately. Do I love myself? What does it mean to love myself? Am I acting with love toward myself? More and more, I am. But hearing the words from my own lips mattered—for the parts of me that believe it and the parts of me that don’t. So, whisper “I love you” to yourself. Maybe one day we’ll be able to shout it. #selfcare #selflove #loveyourself #wonder #wonderlust

Seat upgrade! #GoStars

Can we stop this please? I love me some flavored bubbly water and many of my favorite flavors come from @lacroixwater However, this whole “innocent” thing on all the packaging and cans infuriates me. There are legitimate reasons for someone to care about sweeteners or sodium or even calories, but none of those nutrients are guilty of a crime. Consuming calories and sweeteners and sodium does not make you guilty of a crime. Food should never be a source of shame or guilt. Yet our culture so often says otherwise. It’s hard to swallow La Croix when I’m worried about the messages I am endorsing or spreading by drinking it. #lacroix #dietculture #dietculturedropout

That purr though. #catsofinstagram #catpurr #wonder #wonderlust

Beginning of the walk. End of the walk. #nature #wonderlust

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