On the GIFT of stories

I am a self-proclaimed lover of stories (evidence in my About Me page: Lover of stories – written, photographed, shared, observed, etc.) and I was super excited about keeping a secret all year long working on a project capturing my beloved Grandma’s stories in one little spot. She turned 90 last December and to capture her 90th trip around the sun, we embarked on a week by week journal prompt from the company Storyworth that happened to be blowing up my social media ads around this time last year.

Because of different time commitments, we made it through 26 stories. The most beautiful gift was the time I got to spend with her each week on the phone, catching up on life and hearing about her childhood/past (many stories I had heard before but I still loved hearing them again). I also loved digging through her old pictures and memorabilia to find snippets to add to the book.

The trickiest part? Keeping it a secret!!! Both she and I didn’t tell our families what we were working on which meant sometimes she (or I) had to hear some doubled up tales of life from my mom or other family members. My mom was brought to tears as she opened up the gift and realized what was inside. I know she will treasure this book and the light-hearted tales inside for years to come….

My Grandma, Mom and I reviewing the finished product, sassy photos and all!

I highly recommend this gift for someone in your life or even for YOU if you want to capture your own voice and experiences for future generations – the emailed prompts and questions made it super easy to input text and photos and then did all of the formatting directly on the website. Click here for a little discount code if you’re interested.

On knowing better

I’ve always loved the phrase KNOW better, DO better and it’s something I strive for in my personal development efforts. There have been a number of podcasts that have really opened my eyes (my ears???) to some new perspectives that I’d love to share with you if you’re looking for more personal development growth as well.

  1. The Goop podcast. I also highly recommend the mini-docu series they did on Netflix as well. Alternative healing messages, interesting viewpoints on parenting and connection and other non-traditional offerings of living, learning and loving. I never miss an episode and learn something new every time.

2. Nice White Parents. The tale of segregation in New York City public schools. From the creators of my all time favorite Podcast, Serial, this is well-done and entertaining to listen to. Be prepared to think about your own privilege and power when advocating for your children in education. There were times I was walking and listening to this and literally clapping, raising my hallelejuah hands and hearing someone articulate back to me my own frustrations with our current and BROKEN educational system.

3. Unlocking Us by Brene Brown. I’m sure you’ve already heard of this amazing author and shame researcher, but her podcast puts her knowledge (and amazingly soothing voice) into bite size nuggets to absorb the goodness. Loved this particular session with Austin Channing Brown.

4. I Mom So Hard podcast. Because I need a little balance on my walks….want to laugh and listen to two ladies that I want to be friends with? I have loved their youtube/their instagram lives/their live shows and now they have a podcast which is equally laugh out loud hilarious. Check it out!

What are you listening to right now? Any recommendations? Leave them below!