We know that well-being is more complex than how we feel in our homes, yet we also can acknowledge that it plays a part. With so many things outside of our control, our homes are a place we can usually influence. How can you impact how you feel in your own home? What makes your home more life-giving to you--either relationally or practically?

One of the best benefits of play is that it can help cultivate in kids (and adults too) the ability to notice and delight in small, everyday kinds of things. This can have a profound impact on well-being especially as we move into our adult lives where many of our days can feel mundane at times…

So much of our lives are focused on checklists, productivity, responsibilities, and things we need to accomplish. All of these things typically are purposeful, and it certainly feels great to check things off and feel like we are moving forward whether at work or around the home or more broadly with life goals. Yet, sometimes we go about this focus with tunnel vision at the expense of ourselves.

What greater love is there really than to care for another, and yet how profoundly exhausting it is at the exact same time. If caregiving is not just for a very short season, then it’s especially important to examine and take into account what makes caregiving more sustainable.

Navigating the world of kids’ extracurricular activities can be really fun, energizing, and meaningful. It can also be overwhelming and difficult to make decisions, discern between options, and navigate that line between giving kids opportunities and ensuring that there is some room to slow down and simply play…

Holding things lightly versus with clenched, tight fists is so helpful when nothing is going as planned and as hoped for. When something-like the weather, sickness, other people’s decisions-are outside of your control, focus on what you can influence.

In the context of this post, I am speaking more to every day frustrations versus profound disappointments and heartbreak that invite grief and mourning.

In an age where images abound around us, through social media, Pinterest, and various websites, it’s easy to feel like we fall short of perfection all the time. Yet, perfection is not real. It is not the gold standard of what we “should” be. There’s a better way…

Sometimes we know clearly what opportunities lie before us, but most of the time we are enveloped in a veil of uncertainty which can make walking forward anxiety provoking. So much of life’s journey and mitigating anxiety is really about becoming okay with uncertainty.

Sometimes, it very much feels like the holidays happen to us. We get caught up in the hustle of activity, the list of things to buy and wrap, and the holiday commitments. In a sense, it can create a kind of survival dynamic of just getting through it all. While some of this activity is so fun and meaningful, we also may benefit from a little time to pause, to slow down and breathe, and to remember what it’s all really about.

Many of the stories that make up our lives are stories of grief–whether losing someone through death or through the myriad of ways that living grief shows up for us. We may grieve what was, we may grieve what is now, and we also may grieve for what we thought would be. Yet, in the midst of the grief is the ever present, the ever bidding for our attention concept of gratitude. Gratitude in all its glory shines light through the pain and reminds us that there is some glimmer of goodness, growth, redemption, beauty, and love.

Around our homes and daily lives we have rhythms too, rhythms that ground and connect us to ourselves, to each other, and to the world around us. Rhythms are something that we can count on and trust, and rhythms hold us up and can help us breathe when other things might feel like they are falling apart. Rhythms can be as simple and mundane as saying good morning, making your bed, brushing your teeth, and nourishing your body, yet they are significant…

For a long time now I have been writing and sharing about self-care of a deeper sort. As nice as manicures, massages, and hair highlights are, there is a deeper part of us that longs for and needs nurturing. This extends beyond caring for our physical bodies, though that’s important too. It’s about attunement and nurturing of our whole selves–body, emotions, mind, and spirit.

On paper there was nothing “productive” about it. It meant pressing pause to the endless checklist of what needs to be done for the home, for our kids, and for work, yet it was nurturing on the soul level. While rest can be so difficult to access and make room for, maybe it really is as simple as saying yes–yes to ourselves and to our souls, yes to our faith and what really grounds us, and yes to connection both with ourselves and others.

At the deepest level, it is typically much less about equally dividing up tasks and so much more about feeling seen, heard, and valued. Feeling respected and giving respect are basic human needs and are often enhanced through effective communication as you work to advocate for what you need and also hear what your partner needs…

When we can name our priorities and let go of some other things, we are more likely to experience margin, which is the equivalent of taking a breath. Margin does not happen by accident; typically we have to claim it through setting boundaries and acknowledging our limits.

Yet, her question stuck with me, like holding up a mirror. Am I making space to take care of myself? How can I make room to read because it is something I so enjoy? How is my own mental health and wellness?

A theme that comes up in my work often is that of paying attention to what is life-giving. When something is life-giving, it has the power to refresh us, to energize us, to relax us, to inspire us, to grow us, to nurture us.

Summer in all its sunshine, later bedtimes, and water play is so much fun, yet sometimes can be especially challenging for moms in the self-care department. Summer requires an extra amount of switching gears, juggling on mom’s part, and shifting schedules. Amidst the fun and playfulness there can be a real challenge for moms to integrate self-care into their days, so that they care for their own well-being while caring for children and other responsibilities…

Grief touches our lives and pierces our hearts in various ways. Traditionally, grief is interpreted as loss through death, yet the reality of grief is that it can be over so many different things. Often these losses have nothing to do with death and yet may be incredibly profound yearnings for what was or what could have been. The term “living grief” is helpful for being able to name and validate such losses. In exploring the concept of living grief, we name the less tangible. This helps us to make sense of things.

Play brings about laughter and connection. Play integrates bodies and minds. Play connects people with one another, whether spouses, families, friends, or teams. Play is good for our nervous systems, encouraging us to not be on such high alert all the time. Play evokes wonder and our imaginations, a sense of creativity, and perhaps a belief that all things are possible.

The postpartum experience is different for each mama and child, yet what is common in each postpartum story is the significance of the transition and the exhaustion physically, emotionally, and mentally. There is a complexity of emotions, in that there is often joy and excitement, yet also the range of so many other emotions…