Hello, friends! I’m happy to be back from a much needed hiatus from posting on my site. To be entirely honest with you, the past year was the most tumultuous period I've yet experienced and I’d been feeling drained of joy. My heart was broken and it allowed self-doubt to seep into everything around me. I was constantly comparing myself to others and feeling like I was coming up short of my own hyper-critical expectations. If you have ever wanted to crumple up an entire year and throw it in the trash then you get my drift. I knew that I desperately needed to take a step back from putting pressure on my creativity and give myself space to heal. In that space, I read some books, allowed myself to feel sad, angry, and everywhere in-between, had countless meaningful conversations with my friends, family and therapist. Most significantly, I attempted as hard as I could to give myself grace. I’d like to share a few thoughts I came out on the other side with with you.

1. Run hand-in-hand with your imperfections. You are the only you out there and that is wildly amazing.

2. Progress is happening, even when you feel like shit. There will be days where you feel great for 15 minutes and then feel like hiding under the bed for 4 hours - this doesn’t mean you aren’t healing and making progress! Your experiences day to day leave you as a different, more self-aware person than you were the day before.

3. Even when you feel completely alone, broken beyond repair, and ready to give in, you are worthy of complete unconditional acceptance.

4. Be gentle with yourself. Where we rob ourselves of acceptance is where we need it the most.

5. Become your own role model. Look to others for inspiration, see what you like about them, and decide to take specific actions in becoming that person for yourself.