Trail Mix :: No. 10

The Secret To Happy Change, Plus Some Perfect Words For A Tragic Week, A Fun Summer Calendar, A Book of Experiments, & More!

Hi there,

And welcome to the Trail Mix Weekly-ish Letters for us curious and ambitious folks. Below you’ll find a colorful assortment of goodness to keep you fueled and inspired for all your various adventures- current favorite books, podcasts, articles, and other interesting tidbits for you.

If you’re like me, you pick through your trail mix to find your favorites- M & Ms, dried dates, or the salty nutty bits.

Treat these letters just like that! Rummage through the words and resources below and snag only the pieces you find the tastiest. Feel free to leave the rest (the raisens?!), come back to it later in the week, or pass it on to a friend who might enjoy it!

The Secret To Happy Change ( & 4 Questions That Help)

This week we received the keys to our new home and drove their immediately to show the kids (they haven’t even seen it yet).

The house in the exact location we’ve been dreaming about for a couple years now. Although it needs to be loved back to life (aka: major updates and remodeling) the potential is right there and we’ve already begun painting and tearing down ugly shelving.

Even though I’ve physically moved between cities (and countries!), every two years or so over the last decade, it never gets easier.

NEVER.

Even when the change could be considered minor or one I chose, expected, and prepared for…

I still flounder. I still cry myself to sleep. I still complain about leaving the familiar. I still worry about how I’ll survive the new and different. I still spend way too much time holding onto what was.

Although, we don’t officially move until the middle of June, this entire week I’ve been a mess. I’m ready to experience city life again and to meet our fun neighbors and bike around the city we love so much. And yet I spend most days consumed in fear and freaking out, ranting to my husband- I’m not sure I can handle this and how will we remodel a house and not kill each other in the process?!

After I gather myself, I notice why I have a knot in my stomach:

Instead of viewing life as an unfolding adventure, I’m stuck in tunnel vision, violenting refusing to explore, imagine, and amplify the alluring mystery of the path and process before me.

Change, if we are willing, is an invitation to start fresh, to restructure or knock out the walls within ourselves and start shaping the next chapter of our lives.

Or in the words of the wise Sue Monk Kidd, “There is no place so AWAKE and ALIVE as the edge of becoming.”

So, here are 4 questions I’ve been mulling over in my mind and answering as I go about my week. Please tailor them to fit whatever change you are walking through right now…

1. What practical resources and rhythms will help to make this transition easier and more delightful?

2. What would it feel and look like for me to thrive in the midst of change?

3. What affirmative, adventure-related words can I use to describe our upcoming move?

4. What am I looking forward to in this new season?

Perfect Words For A Tragic Week:

“For every person who has spent this week crashing around from grieving to furious to donating to praying to calling elected leaders to feeling afraid to marching & protesting to comforting scared kids— I see you, & you’re not alone, & keep going.”

-From the lovely Shauna Niequist (she also lists some places to donate!)

A Fun Calendar I Bought For My Schedule-Loving Child (& me!):

Summer Break Calendar from Essential Calendar

The Only Book I Think I’ll Buy On Sales & Marketing:

Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results by Larry Kendall

I Like This Version of Beauty Better:

“Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.” Toni Morrison

I Love This Idea For A Journal:

I heard author and investigative reporter David Epstein talk about his “A Book of Small Experiments.” Inside he lists out new things he’d like to try every other month or so.

Saw This With My Own Eyes:

We watched a first time paraglider launch out into the sky with a dog strapped to her chest last weekend when we were hiking.

It was hilarious and I couldn’t peel myself away. I had to see them catch the wind. It inspired me to think about what silly yet slighty terrifying adventures I have yet to take.

I Wrote About The Importance of Making Exceptionally Simple Connections This Week:

Why Our Flag Can Stay Half-Mast Forever (& What We Need To Be Talking About Right Now)

“More than ever we need to start learning how to talk, face to face, about the weather, honey crisp apples, dahlia tubers, soft cotton t-shirts, swimming lessons, the novel you finished, and the fish you caught last weekend.

These are not the conversations of the privileged. They are signs of our attempts at true connection.”

When The World Feels Like Too Much, Try These 4 Tiny Actions

“I choose to care about you right now. I know it won’t make the headlines because the most revolutionary acts never do.” 

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And this concludes our weekly-ish handful of Trail Mix. Thank you for snacking with me and I hope you found something delicious in here!

For your weekend: May you spend more time outside in nature and dreaming up how to make the world a more beautiful place than you do watching TV, sitting on your buns, or despairing over the future.

Traveling with you into adventure,

Charissa