What do you do for you? What do you do that makes you happy? We are all different so what makes us happy and brings joy to our lives is going to look different for each and every one of us. For me it’s hanging with my family, reading, writing, running, cooking and working out at the gym. I still have dreams of learning to play the guitar and traveling to Europe, I had running a marathon on that list and was able to scratch off that dream last year.

I Am A Finisher!!!
I went home to Coronado last October to celebrate the life of the father of a friend of mine who was very special to our friend group. While I was there a theme kept coming up over and over in conversations with my girlfriends. It was a more pressing conversation for those of us with older children and it centered on the idea of, what’s next? As we prepare to watch them fly in the next several years what’s next for us?
A few years ago I had this same conversation with my friend Taryn. A lot of what we chatted about I wrote about here. The main gist was looking around at our lives and discovering a passion that we could pour our hearts into as the other pieces of our heart grow up and move away? We were stumped.
I always assumed that Taryn’s passion would have something to do with children or babies. I thought this because she is a mother of four and is the most adored elementary school secretary ever. But as much as she is passionate about little ones, that’s her day job. So she began dreaming about other things that light her heart on fire. Sometime in this last year she connected up with a new teacher in her school and discovered they both like all things old and seeing how they can restore these treasures and make them new. After months of going to vintage fairs and finding treasures they have opened up their own booth in a market in our little town. Rusty things and chippy paint! Who knew?
I love all that vintage stuff Taryn is in to and other than her mama I am hands down, one of her biggest cheerleaders in her endeavors to repurpose the rusty things she finds. Me? I love the final product but could never have “seen” what it could become when it was in its original state. Heck, even in its finished state I have no idea how to make it fit or look cute in my house. Because of this I now make Taryn come over and arrange my stuff to help me see what I already have in a different light.
All this to say, I will never be an interior decorator or a designer or someone who creates stuff with their hands. The one thing that brings me true joy is words. Written or spoken, words help me “see” things. When I see something written down or I write it down for myself it becomes a part of me. I love the idea of story and using it as a lens to view the world. Words and stories help me make sense of what is going on not only in my life but in the world around me.

He Makes Me Happy.
I have no idea what the future holds but I do know that I am going to keep learning about getting better at what I love to do. Something Taryn and I both discovered is a group of ladies a few hours south of us via Instagram who have made it their mission to encourage other women to do what lights their hearts on fire. They talk about dreaming big dreams, starting where you are, about being enough just as you are and to get out there and encourage others as you pursue your passions. They created a magazine called The Wild Woman Magazine. It comes out quarterly and it has been so instrumental for me on my road to … next.
Have A Beautiful Day My Friends!
Tiffany