Room to Roam

When I was a young girl, my mom tucked my arms under the covers when she tucked me in for the night. It was an act of love to make sure I was warm and secure but I hated it. I immediately pulled my arms out accidentally hitting her in the face in the process - I didn’t like to be confined. This memory stuck with me.

These days, I have my own daughters to raise and I’m seeing the early signs of rebellion coming from my almost eleven year old daughter. I have to admit, it was causing me strife the last few weeks. I initially pushed back but it only made me more worried, frustrated, upset and feeling like I was starting to lose my daughter to the teen years. This got me thinking back to my earlier years and my desire to be free and less confined.

5 Simple Ways to Spend More Time Outside as a Family

We have a child who, to put it mildly, can be difficult at times. She’s intense, opinionated, stubborn, and argumentative. I love her for it. Her spunk will serve her well in life, but it can be a challenge. Fortunately, she’s not always this way. She has an alter ego when she’s in the great outdoors.

When she’s outside, she’s light and carefree—still determined and competitive but playful. When I say outside, I don’t mean in the backyard or at the local playground. She’s at her best in forests, on sand dunes, and in other wide open spaces.

It’s like she’s breathing in contentment, and breathing out frustration, as she navigates trails, races down the ski hill or ambles along the beach hunting rocks at the edge of the surf. This brings Heather and I great pleasure. It’s exactly the sort of transformation we sought when we made the decision to uproot everything in search of a slower, meaningful, purposeful and intentional life.

Look for the Rainbow - Pets of the Pandemic

Meet Haiku, a sweet and joyful deaf and blind double merle border colli, owned by Theresa Tenpas Herron and her husband in Michigan.

Below is my conversation with Theresa on what it’s like to have a deaf and blind pup as a pet!

We Are All Cats, Aren’t We?

We are all cats.

You know what I mean?

Perhaps not, if you were quarantined from social media last week and missed the video of the lawyer in Texas who joined a virtual court hearing via Zoom using a kitten filter. The lawyer couldn’t figure out how to turn off the filter, the judge tried to help, and hilarity ensued. The lasting punchline was the lawyer trying to reassure everyone by saying, “I am not a cat.”

Here’s a link to the video in case you missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGOofzZOyl8

Flower Power

What little thing brings you happiness?

For me, one of my little loves is flowers. They make me happy from their beautiful colorful blooms to their lovely scents. I really admire people that have a green thumb and can grow and put together amazing floral arrangements. I have to admit so far that has not been me! Every year the little slugs, pesky rabbits and overly friendly deer (just to name a few) seem to find a way to eat away at mine!

Since February is the month of love, I’ve decided to take this month to focus on something that brings me happiness. Therefore, I’m setting out to take some time to plan and learn about creating a “simple” flower garden. On these winter days, I’m envisioning gazing out at my colorful new Zinnia flower garden with fresh bouquets filling my house this summer.

Someone that inspires me with her beautiful garden designs and flower arrangements is Alissa Thompson of IndieGrow Flowers, a local gardner and floral designer in my home town of Traverse City. I love her work so much that I’ve reached out to Alissa to see if she would be willing to talk with us about planning a garden and the secret to creating perfect arrangements. We’ll be sharing our conversation with Alissa later this month. In addition, I will be working on a painting a series of flowers featuring some of her beautiful bouquets.

This mini painting (above) is called “Flower Power.” It captures the beauty and color of one of Alissa’s beautiful bouquets. I hope the painting brings you as much happiness as it did for me to paint and that you find yourself doing something this month that you love too!

Get Ready for the Next Chapter in Your Life

In screenplay and novel writing, the inciting incident is the event that gets the story rolling. It’s the action or decision that introduces the problem that the story’s main character must overcome.

In Jerry Maguire, it’s the moment that Jerry writes his manifesto about the need to put people first in the sports agency business. It leads to hisfiring and he walks away from his power job to start over.

LifeJay HarringtonFebruary 3, 2021Finding Your Purpose, Experiences over Things, happiness, a happy life

Meet Haiku, a sweet and joyful deaf and blind double merle border colli, owned by Theresa Tenpas Herron and her husband in Michigan.

Below is my conversation with Theresa on what it’s like to have a deaf and blind pup as a pet!

Life and Whim Studio525 S. Union StreetTraverse City, MI 49684

Life and Whim Studio
525 S. Union Street
Traverse City, MI 49684