This month has brought its share of challenges and quiet moments. Even when the fatigue and pain run deep, or when the world feels heavy with unkindness, I’m reminded that life’s small sparks can still feed the soul.
What’s Been Stirring Me
What stirred me most this month was watching cruelty play out—online, in the news, in the everyday ways people speak or dismiss each other, and the cruel nature of some people who have attacked my family. It’s wearying to watch unkindness escalate. But it’s can also be motivating.
The article I wrote, The Power of Compassion: Bridging Divides in a Divided World, was born out of that ache. A deep sadness over how normalized harshness has become. Especially when I see how the words and actions of public leaders embolden others to act with similar disregard for humanity.
I wrote it because I needed to. Because I believe in the quiet power of compassion to shift things. Maybe not all at once—but in small, stubborn ways.
That brings me to a new section on my website: Cultivated Moments.
This is a space where I share small observations, glimpses, and photos of things I notice in the world—moments that capture a feeling, a story, or a sense of connection. Sometimes it’s a place, sometimes an object, sometimes a fleeting detail that lingers in memory.
For example, I’m finally sharing a photo I took a few years ago—Grappa’s House, a vibrant, bold restaurant tucked into the slopes of Park City.
It wasn’t just the beautifully restored architecture or the lively décor that caught my eye—it was the energy of the place. Bright, inviting, and full of character, it felt alive with stories and history. Just a photo, yet it carried a spark of inspiration. A reminder that there are places in the world—and within us—that celebrate boldness, beauty, and life.
What Filled My Days
Alongside the art and soil, most of my hours were claimed by my full-time job—those 40+ hours of work that require brainpower, focus, and sometimes more stamina than I think I have. But that job also helps fund this life I’m cultivating. It gives me the stability to create, to care, to build.
The dance between my day job and my dreams is still something I’m learning. It’s not a graceful waltz yet—more like improv jazz—but I’m finding rhythm in the spaces between.
In My Body This Month
Multiple sclerosis continues to write its own story in my body.
This week brought waves of deep fatigue, sharper-than-usual hand pain, and headaches that lingered longer than welcome. Some symptoms have returned since my stem cell treatment—reminding me that healing isn’t linear. It loops and stumbles, surprises and stalls. But I’m still in it. Still listening. Still honoring what I can.
And when I needed rest, I rested. When I had strength, I used it. That matters.
What I’ve Been Writing
This month, I published five new pieces:
- Presence, Pasta, and the Permission to Slow Down, inspired by my first attempt making fettuccini—a delicious reminder that slowing down is a form of self-care.
- A First Look at Grappa’s House in Park City, where I shared the charm of a special place I love.
- The Power of No, inspired by my efforts to manage my energy better.
- Understanding Multiple Sclerosis Brain Lesions: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options
- The Power of Compassion: Bridging Divides in a Divided World — the most emotionally demanding of the five, reflecting on weariness with unkindness close to home.
What I’m Reading
I’m currently immersed in Love Yourself Big: A Guide for Women Who Do Too Much. It feels like a gentle invitation to slow down and be kinder to myself, even in the busiest of seasons.
What I’m Preparing
I made homemade fettuccine noodles for the first time—just a simple batch, but made with care and intention. There’s something grounding about the rhythm of rolling, folding, cutting. I could feel myself coming back to the moment as the dough gave way to something soft and alive under my hands. From that experience, I wrote and published an article: Presence, Pasta, and the Permission to Slow Down. It’s about more than noodles. It’s about reclaiming time. Letting ourselves do one thing at a time. Letting presence rise.
I also started a batch of Red Wine Vinegar and Tarragon Vinegar, but found my batch of apple cider vinegar had turned to wine after I let it ferment to long.
I started dehydrating some of the herbs from our garden. Comfrey, Basil, Chives.
What I’m Creating
I launched three new journals this week: the Personalized Elegant Sacred Geometry Journal and the Teal & Gold Muse Fairy Journal. Each carries a little magic, a little meaning—and sending my first order to Canada felt like lighting a candle in a new part of the world. They can currently be found in my Etsy store. And out in my garden, I’ve been harvesting comfrey. It’s stirred ideas for new healing salves—maybe a balm for pain management, inspired by the earth and grounded in personal need.
What I’ve Been Listening To
What I’m Carrying Into the Next Month
I’m walking into the next month with this mantra: “Peace is found in embracing the present moment.”
Not in wishing things were different. Not in bracing for what’s next. But in being here, now.
- Even with MS.
- Even with pain.
- Even with the noise of the world.
Because here—inside the now—is stillness. And stillness is where I can breathe. P.S. What’s been feeding—or stirring—your soul this week?
