Hey, beautiful friend.

Today, I send you the exuberance of jumping up and down, arms high above your head, and energy vibrating in your body.

I send you the sky —  how open it is, how receiving. How it promises us that so much more is possible than we know, or that we can see, in the moment.

I send you my bird friends who were crowing loudly and excitedly today as if they were sharing a message with us all—  that it’s good to be excited. It’s good to feel good. It’s good to make a joyful noise.

***

Today’s audio LoveGram is a continuation of our conversation last week, which was 100 Percent YOU.

We’re continuing to look at what is it that stops us from being who we are, from having the experiences that we want, and from feeling the joy of simple things that call to us.

We’re looking at how that Squawky Polly in our head keep us from joy. Like for me, there’s a song that I want to listen to over and over again, and I get told by silly Squawky Polly that there’s something wrong with that.

But I do it anyways.

And, what harm is there, right?

In fact, it is the opposite: there is joy.

[By the way, you know where the expression, “Squawky Polly” comes from? When my son was about ten years old, I was explaining about  Monkey Mind and the voices in our head. I told him that I wished I could come up with an original phrase since Monkey Mind is used so much.

I don’t know how he did it, but Kayne came up with Squawky Polly. It is really fitting because those voices in our heads can be pretty darned repetitive and noisy, can’t they?!]

***

In today’s message I also share with you a conversation I’m in the middle of with my friend Maggie about changing things up that we normally do so that we can live a life that has more connection, less stress, and less debt.

We’re talking about questioning things and looking around with new eyes to see what do I want to let go of in my life that is weighing me down?

We have so many cultural obligations and conventions and we often forget to question whether they’re really serving us or supporting us anymore

And at the same time, we can ask, what are the things that lift me up? What are the things that energize me, that bring me joy?

[Make a list! And gift yourself with them, as often as you remember!]

***

I hope you’ll listen to today’s LoveGram.

And I hope that you will start 2022 off with a commitment to living YOUR life.

Remember Bronnie Ware and the Five Regrets of the Dying?  The top regret of people on their deathbeds is “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

I don’t want that for you. (Or me!)

I want you —right now, starting now — and every day —  to feel as if you’re living the life that is YOURS to live, that is coming through YOU.

I want you to feel alive in the world in a way that is You-Unique.

***

I love you and am so grateful to you.

Thank you for being by my side throughout this pandemic. Thank you for helping me walk through all of the grief, uncertainty, and disappointment with a magnifying glass that amplifies the joys that are also present. Especially the joy of being connected to kindred spirits!

Thank you for choosing to step out of the cookie cutter life and be courageous enough to live out loud who you really are.

Who you are is perfect.

You make a difference.

You MATTER!

Seek celebration — even in dark corners,

xo Sherry