Tag: hobbies

How to Love Your Life

- Alexis Leave a comment

I typed this list into my phone early one morning while I was laying in bed and had a moment of clarity. It was 7:14 AM on Monday, January 16, 2017, Martin Luther King Day, before I was a mother and almost exactly a week after I started this blog. I don’t recall exactly, but I think I was writing this list as a guide for myself, based on lessons I’d learned but of which I sometimes needed reminding. It wasn’t well thought-out and I haven’t edited it, but I think it contains some gems of wisdom that are worth sharing, even if I don’t always follow all of these suggestions myself. You’ll probably notice themes that have appeared in other posts I’ve written.

How to Love your Life:

Be grateful for what you have

Get comfortable in your own skin; appreciate what your body does for you and realize that there’s no such thing as perfect 

Forgive yourself for your past decisions and actions; understand that things you did and said in your youth were influenced by childhood experiences

Remember that this is the only life you get and it can end at any moment

Go to therapy. If you aren’t already living a life you love, you can probably benefit from talking to a therapist. There are likely things holding you back that you don’t realize. A therapist can help you see them and work through them. 

Do something to benefit others

Make time for your hobbies. If you don’t currently have a hobby, think about what you loved doing when you were younger, or try something new.

Try something new. Variety, adventure.

Realize that your reactions to other people often say more about you than about them. When someone frustrates you, angers you, or annoys you, ask yourself why. Are your reactions valid? Are they based on objective truths? Does your response benefit anyone, or will it only make you and others feel worse?

To this I would add: If you aren’t living a life you love right now, make a change. It could be a big, scary change that will really shake things up, but even a small change will do. Just don’t allow yourself to stay stuck for too long. Your time here is limited, and really, what’s the worst that could happen if pursue the most amazing life you can imagine for yourself?

“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”

― Erin Hanson

Thanks, as always, for reading. If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Snapshot: March 3, 2019

- Alexis Leave a comment

In this occasional series, I share what I’ve been reading, watching, thinking, and doing.

Sitting on the porch listening to the rain on this Sunday afternoon

What I’m Reading:

Nightstand: The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child; Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self
Handbag: Man’s Search for Meaning (yes, still)
Audiobooks: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; There There (for a book club I just joined – I read part of this and listened to part of it)
Article: “This is the Secret to Being a Successful Working Mom” (don’t let the click-bait-esque title fool you – there’s a lot of good advice in this piece)

What I’m Watching: The Good Place; Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt (I’ve been watching very little TV lately and haven’t seen a movie in ages)

What I’m Listening To: I’m way behind on listening to podcasts, but today I listened to this episode of HerMoney with Laura Ling talking about resiliency

Current Guilty Pleasure: Looking at tiny houses and renovated RVs on Instagram

Where I’ve Been Recently: Beaufort, SC for a long weekend in January

What I’m Looking Forward To: Going to a yoga class with a friend this week. It’s a small thing, but I don’t go to many yoga classes these days, and spending time with a friend is always a bright spot in my week.

Where I’m Going Next: Malibu and Nashville for professional conferences

Latest Personal Project: I don’t know that I’d really classify this as a project, but I’ve begun listening to positive affirmations and hypnotherapy tracks on YouTube, and I think they are helping to shift my perspective.

Recent Moment of Joy: Teaching my son to say “thank you”

Grateful For: Increasingly longer days and the lack of snow here

Have a wonderful week!

Alexis

PS: If you were hoping for the next installment in my series about being adopted, it’s coming soon — I just needed a little break from writing about that for a while.

Editing My Bucket List

- Alexis Leave a comment

Still life painting of toys and small objects in front of a window sill

Another blog I read recently asked readers what hobbies are on their bucket lists.  The post got me thinking about goals and priorities.  When I was in my early teens, I wrote a loooong bucket list (before bucket lists had a name) and taped it inside my bedroom closet to look at from time to time.  I don’t remember everything that was on the list, but I know it was ambitious and all over the place.  It included things like learning to ride horses, to play a musical instrument, to speak various languages, and living abroad.  It was a lined piece of notebook paper with a dream handwritten on every line.  Most of the entries were not things I’d thought about extensively, but rather things that just seemed like they’d be cool to do, or to be able to say I’d done.

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How Creative Pursuits Benefit You in Your Non-Arts Job

- Alexis Leave a comment

Charcoal drawing of the artist in 3/4 view, looking at an easel.
Self Portrait, 2004.

Ever since I decided to attend law school, people have been asking me how a person with an art background becomes a lawyer.  I’m not going to talk about my reasons for pursuing a legal career today (I’ll save that for another post), but I do want to explore how creative pursuits can benefit us in our jobs and lives.

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