My Most Exciting Hiking Story Yet
Saturday, April 30, 2022, my friend Rose and I ventured out to Golden Gate Canyon State Park for a hike. It was late when we got there. I would have liked to go in the morning. I was waiting for everyone else, but by like 1:00 PM, I realized that most [...]
You Seem Smart, Why Don’t You Work?
I saw a lovely neurologist today. He was young, and smart, and kind, and we discussed what may be keeping me awake at night. The thing that keeps racing around my head after the visit, though, was how perplexed he was that I seem intelligent but don’t work. “You’ve never worked [...]
Why You Shouldn’t Start a Charity and What you Should Do Instead
Nonprofits are inherently inefficient. No matter what, a traditional charitable organization that depends on donations to survive will take double the work, if not more, to accomplish its mission. It’s in the bones of the concept. There are better ways to do it. So You Want to Start a Nonprofit Do [...]
Spontaneity and Joy – Don’t Wait for the Stars to Align, Just Go For It
Today I had to travel a couple hours away for a food forest consultation. On the way there I drove by a state park I haven't visited before. It looked like it might be pretty nice. Luckily, the meeting ended early enough that I was able to stop by the park [...]
Let Go of the Grudge: How to Forgive and Why
You’re walking barefoot in the forest, soaking up the energy from the earth (no really, you should totally do that) when suddenly you feel a sharp pain in the sole of your foot. You find a moss-covered boulder to sit on and examine your foot where you find a brand new [...]
Why Dreams are Like Bubbles and How to Prevent Them from Popping
My dog, Sita, loves to pop bubbles. She's like the dog who's always bringing you a ball to play fetch, except she's standing by the bubble gun, whining. She's quite good at it. Often she'll stand on her hind legs like a bear and pop all the high bubbles she can [...]
21 Time Saving Cleaning Hacks You Can Start Today
We all love cleaning, right? Just kidding. But it does have to be done, and you can do it more quickly with these time-saving hacks. These are the lazefficient techniques I use, but I'm sure you have more tips to add in the comments. Dusting and Floors 1. Dust dart After [...]
The Ultimate Time Saver: Stop Giving a Damn What Others Think
I know, you’ve read countless productivity and efficiency tips. You probably just read a post about 400 hacks to save time. But this post is gonna get deep. Here, we’ll get to the soul of our over-crammed lives, find a fear that lurks in the dark, and smash it to pieces. [...]
The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Fast Metabolism
People talk about fast metabolism like it’s a gift given to skinny people. I think it’s assumed that if you have a slow metabolism, then you’re doomed to be overweight and if you have a fast metabolism, then you’re gifted with a perfect body while eating pizza and Cadbury eggs to [...]
Winter Running for Those Who Run Cold
I live in South Dakota, and I hate cold. I fell in love with running a few years ago, but I always stopped in the fall and didn't start up again until late spring. I don't like cold air touching my skin or breeze chilling my sweat. It is miserable to me. In [...]
What if You’re Not Sad that Your Child Has Started School?
I’ve been waiting (longing) for this day since we made the decision. Both my boys are amazing, smart, wonderful people, and I love them both from the bottom of my heart. They are also very different people. Dylan was always very easygoing and happy. Forrest required much more of me; he [...]
Multi-use Clothing: The Turkish Towel
I've been loving multi-use clothing and accessories lately. And why not? Own fewer items, spend less money, less clutter, and fewer decisions to make. It's very freeing. Let's talk about the Turkish Towel. I purchased this Riviera Towel Company towel from Amazon, but their website has even more options. "Santa Barbara-based, [...]
27: If you believe strongly enough
I decided in my mid 20’s, while finishing my undergraduate late as single mother, to move to my current city because I thought I’d be better able to find a job in my degree. I started dating and became engaged to a boy who lived here, and when I graduated I [...]
Is college still a must for kids in today’s world? Or are we starting to drift away from it?
Honestly I think it still just depends. It depends on a lot of things. It always has, but one huge factor that has changed the game is the internet and the vast amount of information that can be extracted from it. From the internet you have access to purchase any nonfiction [...]
What if you’re in your 30’s and haven’t found the right career?
Recently, a fellow group member asked this question: "Raise your hand if you're 30 (or in your 30s) and not yet in your right career, financially unstable, or generally feeling like you haven't found the right track yet for where you wanna go and who you're supposed to be? I felt like [...]
The Food Allergy Stigma
Imagine you are traveling for a wedding. You brought your weight in food so you don’t have to eat out. Restaurants are expensive, yes, but more importantly, it’s almost impossible to eat at a restaurant and avoid a reaction if you have food allergies like me. No, you want to look [...]
Tackle Mini Goals in 5 Minutes a Day, Plus Push-up Mini Goal Plan
Do you have mini goals? Mini goals are small goals that build up to the accomplishment of larger goals. Mini goals are great because they help you feel more accomplished. People tend to want results immediately, and when that doesn’t happen, they often get discouraged, sometimes quitting altogether. But when we [...]
Choose your Suffering
There was once a miser who lived alone aside from some servants and a dog, whom he hadn’t bothered to name, in a large draughty mansion. He had no friends and had never even given anyone a present. He spent his days alone counting and recounting his money, never leaving his [...]
4 Examples of the Power of the Breath
We all know how important breathing is. It's so important, it's an involuntary action of our bodies, carried out without having to think about it. Our body just does it, because if we stopped breathing long enough, we'd die. Since our body does it involuntarily, we often just forget about it, [...]
How to Save Money on Hair Care Products
What if I told you you don't have to wash your hair? By the end of this article, you'll believe me. You know, sometimes when you think about things, like really think about them, they start to make no sense. Well, about a year or two ago, I started really thinking about the [...]
Full-Time Parents Accomplishing Goals: A Solution
EDIT: This group is now in operation. Please visit the Parents Accomplishing Goals (PAG) Cooperative website to learn more. I am in the process of creating a group that will allow full-time parents to accomplish other goals. These goals could be things like professional work, volunteering, studying, and starting a business. I am a [...]
Whole Systems Design Permaculture Design Course Review
This summer I attended a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at Whole Systems Design in Richmond, Vermont, from July 10, though July 19, 2015. The PDC was tought by a team of permaculture professionals including Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design, Mark Krawczyk of Keyline Vermont, Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres, and Mark Angelini of [...]
The “Weeds” in My Yard – A Response to Questions
A great benefit of transforming my suburban-type yard from an unsustainable lawn to a sustainable ecosystem is setting an example. I can use the process of transformation to inform neighbors, who undoubtedly have many opinions and questions. I've been getting a few general questions since I started the process, but yesterday I [...]
Why Are Humans Here?
I'm one of those people who tends to think everything happens for a reason. I'm also one of those people that thinks that what we like to call "Mother Nature" has got it all figured out. After billions of years of evolution from a probably lifeless planet to a complex web [...]
Making Sustainability Cool
I tend go back and forth between wanting to fit in and wanting to not fit in. At first, it may sound odd that someone would want to be a misfit, but hear me out. You see, humans have always wanted to find a common bond with one another. We're social creatures; it's [...]