Personal Growth
Personal Growth is where the beautiful mess of becoming unfolds. Here, you’ll find honest stories and reflections about the real, often messy journey of growing—whether that’s learning to love your changing body, navigating new seasons of life, or practicing self-gratitude when things don’t look perfect. These blog posts are for anyone who knows growth isn’t neat or linear, but full of messes, unexpected challenges, and quiet victories. Expect posts that encourage you to embrace the chaos, celebrate the small wins, and give yourself grace as you bloom into the woman you’re becoming.
-
What the 90s Asphalt Challenge Taught Me about Community and Burnout
When is the first time you felt embraced by a community? For me, it was during the summers of my youth on walks home from the pool. “Mama, how are you doing that? Aren’t your feet burning?“ No sweetie peatie, my feet aren’t burning at all. In fact, back in my day, we used to Read more
-
Grieving a Dog with Kids: What Helped Us Heal Together
The Mess of Grief: Losing our Sweet Kane Our sweet silver-lab, Kane, went to be with God. Now my youngest prays, ‘God, help Kane shine bright in heaven.’ Saying goodbye to our silver-lab Kane on my daughter’s 10th birthday was a different kind of grief—and now we are trying to find peace in the mess Read more
-
Wet Footprints and Messy Joy: Why You Should Reclaim Play
There are wet footprints all over my kitchen floor. Why? It’s sprinkler season, y’all. Sprinkler Season and “Hitting the Tramp” Earlier this month it was still a little too chilly for the pool, but my wild girls were all about that sprinkler life. A trampoline sprinkler, to be specific. My sweet friend got it for Read more
-
Messy Growth: A Yellow-Dust Life or a Beautiful Disaster
Ah yes. Spring is here, the messy growth, the smell of poop wafting in the air (embracing growth during discomfort is essential), and to add to that? A powdery yellow dusting of pollen. Covering every available surface, including my dog whenever he goes outside to pee. He doesn’t seem to care, but the yellow tinge Read more
-
Putting Myself First: The Closet Cleanout Confidential
Tackling a closet cleanout isn’t just about clothes—it’s about making space for me. Join me as I put myself back on the list Read more
-
The Year of Enough: Setting Realistic Goals for Real-Life Growth
The Mess: New Year’s Resolutions Here’s why mine always fail. They are overly ambitious. Burn out and failure lie ahead, but I want to make this the year of enough. I’m guilty of this in my professional life. My mantra was always I will work harder. But working harder doesn’t always yield fruition. Sometimes it Read more
-
Learning to Be Grateful for the Women We’re Becoming
The Mess: Struggling to Stick to a Workout Routine I can’t stick to a workout routine. I recently shared this struggle with my husband. During 2020, I developed a disciplined routine of workouts. I really found my stride in daily yoga and eating healthy, but somehow over the last four years I have lost all Read more
-
Overcoming Anxiety of New Beginnings: Fear to Freedom
The Mess: Stressing over the unknown. I don’t mean what the future holds or when I will die. I mean overcoming anxiety of new beginnings. It’s the inescapable anxiety that bubbles up anytime I am faced with something new. At the height of my anxiety struggles, even something that promised fun made my chest tight. Read more
-
Taking Action in the Face of Procrastination
Caution. Potty talk ahead. Not swear words, but a literal problem with the toilet in my bathroom. Yes, that’s right. Today’s mess is the clogged toilet in my bathroom. Not disgusting, but inconveniently overfilled with toilet paper. I won’t go into the details of how it got that way because I’m sure you’ve all experienced Read more
-
Protecting Against Resentment in Relationships
Today’s mess involves a phone call and a completely burnt out wife with two young kids, who is on the verge of losing it (it’s me I’m the burnt-out wife). It is a mess and a reminder on protecting against resentment. It’s a Tuesday in the Taylor household which means gloriously no one has any Read more