A new chapter
Tapping into the wisdom and lessons gained from my lived experience to share love, light, and inspiration with you.
Welcome
Hey there! So glad you’re here! I’ve been having a lot of great conversations lately, learning super cool things, and ideas have been popping in my head left and right. I feel like it’s time to connect with others here and share on the same topics resonating in the real world, and expand to this larger platform to reach others more broadly. Why? To help others by offering support, validation, and inspiration through connection.
So welcome to my substack! I think this just might be my first time writing publicly for fun instead of work. Unless you count my myspace page back in the day. And that brings us to a good point. I’m a millennial and it’s a big part of my personality – I love a 90s nostalgia moment, I like to reminisce about things like tomagatchis and furbys, and how analog life used to be. Back in the day, we lived so much life without a phone/smart watch/tablet in sight. Of course those tools have their place in life today, but it’s always fun to think back to when life was simpler.
About me
More about me, I’m a mom of two boys (4 and almost 2) and I LOVEEEE them. Life with them is the most fun I’ve ever had. My partner, kids, and I spend most of our free time on outings or just enjoying the day to day as a sweet family of four. But it hasn’t always been this lovely and it’s certainly not easy. I’m newly on the other side of some deep, dark, mental health journeys. The first one started about 7 years ago, and the second was during my first postpartum experience. Thanks to therapy and some amazing healers, I’ve come out on the other side and now I’m here living my best life.
By day I work in healthcare analytics, data, product, strategy, etc (I’ll save the details for our next networking event or virtual coffee chat, after doing it for 13 years now, there’s quite a bit to share). By night I’m an artist, creating paintings and other creations, writing for substack (ehem), and along the way, learning what it means to be a creative business owner, one (daunting) admin task at a time. My goal this year is to get my art in a gallery. Cross your fingers and toes for me and maybe we can manifest it together!
Another important thing about me, and something I’m still learning about is I’m neurodivergent. A few things going on in there but the part I talk about the most is my ADHD. I just saw a quote online that said “lock in,” and the reply was “my adhd has me locked out with the keys inside,” and if that doesn’t sum it all up! While it can (and does) make things harder, I think for me the neurodivergence also unlocks a really cool way to see life and the world. We can dive into that more later. But to sum up the way I feel about it for now - where there’s a will (and a good system, to-do list, a decent night’s sleep, and plenty of coffee), there’s a way!
My why
Anddd in addition to the motherhood, relationship, work, art, neurodivergence, and everything that comes with home and yard admin (all of which I love and fills my cup), part of my life’s purpose is to help others through teaching, mentoring, healing. I’m still refining the how but I know I’m on my way. Sometimes I can see exactly what the goal looks like, but not at all how I’ll get there. And that’s ok. Here we are just moving daily with the things that feel aligned and saying goodbye to the things that don’t. Right now I feel called to mentor others, which I’m doing across a few different organizations and communities, and to get back into speaking. Let’s see where this takes us!
What makes this special
Bringing it all back to the writing I’ll do here - as long as you’re along for the ride, I’d be happy to bring you with me. One thing that will set this apart from other works out there recently is that I won’t use AI at all for my writing. Not for my ideas, outlines, editing - none of it. What you’ll read here is directly from me, connecting from my heart to yours. So there might be typos, and there may be some grammatical errors, but I also think it’s more fun to write just as I’d talk to you in person. Plus, I always think there’s some flexibility to bend the rules of grammar for the sake of personal style. (Though I have authored academic publications, so I can get technical, but I don’t think that’s as fun to read.)
And before we close, I bet you’re wondering “what does glass three quarters full” mean anyways? Well, while I usually consider myself a glass half full kind of person, I think truly I’m a glass three quarters full type person. Because if you’re looking at a glass filled halfway with water, I believe there’s more there than you think. Water nourishes you, quenches your thirst, helps plants grow, washes things – I could go on. A half full glass of water is more than just the physical volume. It’s everything that water does for you. Perspective is everything. I see life and events from a place of gratitude, where everything has a silver lining, and I try to find the positive wherever I can. Like I mentioned briefly above, and like I’m sure we’ll dive into more later, life hasn’t always been this lovely for me, but I believe that after you’ve weathered an incredibly difficult storm, the rainbow is always a delicious reprieve. And another one - you couldn’t admire the brightness of stars if it weren’t for darkness. Two of my favorite quotes to keep me going when times were tough.
But for real, in a world where things feel so heavy, uncertain, and dark, I’m here to share some light, connection, wisdom, and love. Here, I’ll write about topics like career, motherhood, relationships, mental health, neurodivergence, becoming your best self, and just daily life. All from the lens of gratitude and optimism.
So whether you’re a millennial, a mom, a creative, building your career, or someone looking for some positivity, encouragement, motivation, and light – you’re welcome here!
Sending love,
*And to put my attestation where my pen is - I attest that I didn’t use AI in any form at all for this post (ideas, writing, or editing), and everything written here was by me, directly from my mind and heart onto this page.