Inspirit Garden
Through journaling, your heart and creativity, grow & live an inspired life…
Blog
"Wildflowers can't be controlled, and neither can the girl with a soul boundless as the sky, and a spirit as free and wild as the ocean."
— Melody Lee
How Dare I!
She carried so much pain, and self-doubt, every extra ounce she carried didn’t represent more but less. The less she loved herself, the less she believed in herself, and the less she felt worthy ____ You fill in the blank; it was probably on her list.
FIVE!
Some big, raw memories on my personal timelines are starting to surface, and I am reminded that today is a big anniversary. 5 years!!! 5 years of consistency. Monday through Friday, for at least an hour, five times a week, I have shown up for me, myself and I; even during the SIP, I did kitchen zoom workouts.
How old is too old?
Today, with make-up still on from yesterday, sweat from this morning, a big water bottle with a worn sticker that says “Nevertheless SHE persisted,” I persist. I know not everything will be easy; I also know not everything will be hard, and to that cosmetic company, at what age are you supposed to forget about your dreams? Ummm, ya, NEVER.
Breakthrough
Breakthroughs, regardless of size, are an opportunity to rise to another level of living.
Be the change…
Today, with all that has happened in our world, I must again ask myself who I need to be and what I can do to be that change?
About me
A little bit about me from before…
During the great recession of 2010, we lost a lot, including what we thought was our dream home. As a stay home Mom with a husband who is a self-employed electrical contractor, three young children, a small zoo including; cats, dogs, and a colossal goldfish, we were all in survival mode.
The years that followed were difficult.
I’m a reader, a creator, and a system finder. And while I wish I could say I put my skills to rebuilding right away. It took time. I was tired. I was angry, so much more than I knew.
There was growth, healing, and work to be done.
When we were in the middle of going through the loss of our house, I put on about 50lbs in about three months. People often assume it was because all I did was eat; however, it was much more complex and also simpler than that. I plan to share more about that in future conversations.
Up until now, I have shared my processes, including my journey, the lessons, the growth, the setbacks, the pain, the healing, my photos, and art privately with my friends and family. It is always with the hope that if anything I have been through, grown from, endured, and healed can help or inspire someone else, then it makes going through it more meaningful.
Fast forward to now…
Here I am, this is me, creating my best life from possibility.
Let me introduce myself. Hi, my name is Erika. I have many current roles including; wife to my high school sweetheart, Mike, mom to 3 human kids (well two are now technically adults), and some fantastic pets. I am also a daughter, sister, and friend. I am a work in progress and I am a woman, a woman who has become unapologetically and imperfectly living my best life.
I am love & light. I like to cuss and will unapologetically drop F-bombs, including spelled out, so be warned.
I am optimistically hopeful. I am a lover of too many things to list, but some of my favorites include; hearts, animals, flowers, clouds, waves, the moon, coffee, chocolate, red wine, trees, art supplies, mascara, sunrises & sunsets.
I have built my life on the foundation of walking in gratitude and living in love. My story- my journey is imperfect, whose isn’t it?
And what if… what if we all embraced ourselves wholly and each other, imperfections and all, and cultivated a life we loved.
My Manifesto
At the beginning of 2016, I took an online workshop from Brene Brown. It was very powerful. The different workshops were based on two of her books; Daring Greatly and Rising Strong, which are must reads! One of the exercises was to write our “Daring Greatly Manifesto”, here’s mine and I continue to use it as a guidelight for my wholehearted living.
