Saying yes to what matters most

It’s been a while since I last wrote, two months to be exact, and what a full two months it’s been.

Since then, I’ve found myself in six states and two countries: Nashville, Denver, the Bay Area, New Jersey, Connecticut, back to Denver, Boulder, Longmont, London, and Edinburgh. Some trips were for work, co-facilitating a leadership team's offsite with The Roundtable Institute and attending The Talent Gathering in Scotland, and others were for life’s most tender and joyful moments: my sister’s birthday, a dear friend’s wedding, and another’s Celebration of Life.

Somewhere in between, I joined Diana Gisel Yañez on her Highly Sensitive Money podcast for an episode called “Money, Boundaries, and Care”. If that title speaks to you, tune in here.

Today, while listening to music between calls, Jason Isbell’s song The Life You Chose came on. The line that always stops me in my tracks is:

“Are you living the life you chose?
Are you living the life that chose you?”

It probably stops me in my tracks because I’ve known the quiet pain of living the life that chose me and the courage it takes to begin choosing again.

For me, choosing is saying yes to what matters most.

That’s one of my favorite parts of being an entrepreneur: the freedom to say yes to a Brandi Carlile concert at Red Rocks with my sister and cousin, lunch with an old college roommate, easing jetlag by going dancing with strangers, witnessing a friend get married, or showing up to celebrate a life well lived.

One of the earliest lessons from my coaching training was that living our values isn’t always easy or convenient but it’s always clarifying.

To honor authenticity, I’ve been saying the inconvenient truth more often.
To honor connection, I’ve been showing up for the big moments, the small ones, and everything in between.
And to honor creativity, I’m nudging myself back toward it: taking fall leaf photos in Scotland, and (gulp!) signing up for a local storytelling night that’s equal parts yikes and yay.

With so many heartbreaking breaches of human rights and democracy in the US and around the world, living our values feels more vital than ever.

So I’ll leave you with a couple of questions I’m sitting with:
✨ What does living the life you chose look like for you right now?
✨ And if you find yourself living the life that chose you, how can you meet yourself with gentle kindness right there?

I’d love to hear what resonates, or even your Halloween costume idea if that’s more your speed. (I’ll share mine too!)

Sending you love as we move through this beautiful October. 🍁

Warmly,
Stacy

A few pics from my adventures over the last two months in no particular order...