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Hello, friends! It's an exciting week on this end, with my youngest daughter turning 6 on Saturday. The last few days I've been preparing a sweet fairy garden party. With any luck, tomorrow the kids will all be casting nature spells and potting their own little plants to take home. In the meantime, I'm feeling scattered all to heck. I'm doing projects I enjoy, but my energy feels pretty spread out. Ever felt this way? I hear this from a lot of the moms I pass as I drop my kids off at school. Despite knowing it's best to focus on one thing at a time, it just doesn't feel realistic for some of us.

To work through it, I'm channeling the best of my friends and colleagues. For a boost of inspiration this morning, I tuned into this guy for a few minutes during my morning walk. I caught up with a friend Wednesday morning who, similar to me, finds comfort in active meditations by creating things like woven bracelets and sand mandalas on the beach. I often turn to my pottery wheel, but this week I'm grounding myself by making jewelry for my daughter. We're both struggling with the demands of every day life and the need to get quiet and focus in order to produce projects that are important to us. At the end of our conversation, I told him I feel like he needs to write his version of one of my favorite books, A Monk in the World, by the late Wayne Teasdale.

I have a few things for you this week, which I'll share below.

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• I'm in the process of capturing audio recordings to help my speakers relax and be present in the moments ahead of speaking engagements that might are sometimes riddled with stage fright. Do you know a yoga, breathwork, or meditation instructor who might want to share their work, too? Here's a link to sign up for your own teacher account on Insight Timer.
• This podcast episode, How To Pitch Your Best Ideas, is useful for those of us who don't view ourselves as salespeople or experts in marketing, but who are trying to convey the value of our work.
• You know the phrase, "Out of sight, out of mind"? This artist is in the midst of an experiment where she's curating her space so that she has easy access to all her creative materials. Everything is out so she can maximize her creative expression. What needs to be out and easy to access so you'll take advantage and do something you've been meaning to do?
• My free weekly virtual international improv speaking group (is that enough descriptors?) was ON FIRE today. The group who runs the sessions pushes me to new places every week. If you want improve your speaking skills, this is a great space.
• Thursday, June 9th at 10 am PDT I'm running a free virtual book club to discuss the Moth's new book "How To Tell a Story". RSVP here. Come whether you've read the book or not.

That's all from me today. Have a safe and wonderful week ahead, and I'll see you next Friday.

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