It’s Monday, the second full week of August, and I’m sitting on my living room floor working while my kids play with their legos nearby. I can hear them negotiating as they create a story that is at the same time ridiculous and yet totally believable; a world with its own unique set of rules.  Listening to them, I am reminded of the boundaries we place on our own possibility. Governed by our own limitations, we determine how big our expression of life becomes.

Really. It’s a choice.

They go back to school Wednesday, my kids. Their long, short summer is coming to a rapid close already, and I recognize how they’ve changed since June. They’ve grown, in size, in spirit, in self expression. They are new kids, in so many ways.

And, as I examine that dynamic truth, I realize that I too have changed. This summer has been one hell of a roller coaster of learning, and I’ve continued to shift, one new experience at a time.

I didn’t plan for most of the things I’ve gotten to do in the last 75 or so days, I didn’t really anticpate them happening, and certainly didn’t expect them to present themselves as they did. I simply set an intention of growth and expansion, and accepted the lessons and opportunities however they showed up for me. And showed the fuck up, they did. Here’s a sample of some things I’ve done this summer that a) I’ve never done before, and b) I quite honestly never knew I could or would get to do:

1. Traveled to Austin, Texas three (of seven) times (in an eight week span).
2. Took an uber to the train, to the subway, to another subway, to a tram, to a plane, to another airport, to another plane, to another uber with three pieces of luggage and a purse. Because go big and not home. That’s why.
3. A ten story slide, the St.Louis Arch, ridiculous team building fun in humidity. Lion king hair, anyone?
4. Witnessed history being made, and celebrated with all the colors of the rainbow. #lovewins.
5. Won a dinosaur in a Cards Against Humanity game. Carried him in my purse for the last 60 days. Started an IG account (@dinosaursinmypurse) on his behalf.
6. Stood in a booth and talked about cold pressed juice for about ten hours, straight. Because juice.
7. Gong meditation. Yes. Gongs. Look it up.
8. Alignment yoga. Ow. Ow. And some more ow.
9. Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training.
10. Began regularly doing a team sunrise SUP session.
11. Been home for no more than five days in a row over a two month span.
12. Liquid breakfasts of organic cold pressed juice, every single day for eight weeks.
13. Colonics. Mhmmm. Yep. That shit works. Pun intended.
14. Experienced what felt like total and complete rejection from my own family. Mostly held it together.
15. Broke down, cried, and admitted my truest, deepest, darkest edge in front of a group of soul sisters and brothers I just met.
16. Had a two hour energy clearing. It blew my fucking mind.
17. Drove almost the entire length of I-5 in a two week span, with children.
18. Five states in two days. Five. In two days. Planes, trains and automobiles.
19. Rode in an amphibious vehicle on land and in water. And yes, with quackers (but not earplugs).
20. Let my kids leave the country without me.
21. Spent an entire day with one of my favorite humans in a front row seat at TedX Sacramento.
22. Had grown-up conversations about things that grown-ups do without getting emotional, completely stumbling over my words, or bailing.
23. Listened to a mini-lecture about crystals, and made a commitment to start carrying them with me for energy and healing. Go ahead, #judgeme.
24. Enrolled my kids in a charter school.
25. Skinned my elbows inner tubing behind the boat with my daughter, and my best friend.
26. Scorpion pose. Yes. For real. I have witnesses.
27. Blue Moon Cleansing ritual.
28. Pulled Soul cards.
29. Took my kids into desolate wilderness, and up the sides of rocks (not exaggerating) by myself.
30. Simultaneously watched four fireworks shows from the roof of a beachfront condo in Orange County.
31. Was on the news twice in one day, and with no makeup. #sohawt.
32. Did nine energy experiments; all of which worked.
33. Gave my real actual phone number to a man on a plane. Gulp.
34. Ate macrobiotic food. Three times. On purpose.
35. Attended an Open House for my children with my ex-husband and his wife. And sat by them. #awkwardfamilyphotos.

I could go on (shocking, I know). But I’ll stop there, at 35 because 1) that’s how many years of awesome I’ll be next month, and 2) I think I’ve more than made my point—

I did a lot of expanding this summer.

Space. I wanted it, and I’m getting it. Lots. And lots. And lots. And my life, right now, in this moment, already looks different than it did in May. Already. In just three short months. Three months.

What could you do in three months?  Shit, what can’t you do? So here’s the quick, repeated, take away message.

If you want your life to change — DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

No excuses. Just fucking do it.

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