You can choose goodness, kindness and optimism over cynicism and negativity. And when you do, you can expect the right ideas, intentions and people to show up to support you.

“We cannot selectively numb emotions. When we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.” >Brené Brown
Allow yourself to feel your feelings: your sadness, grief, guilt, shame, embarrassment, contentment, anger, joy. Allowing is not the same as wallowing. This is whole-hearted living: to give yourself permission to be vulnerable enough to feel and accept your humanity.
Beautiful lettering by Maggie Adan.

“Don’t do what you know on a gut level to be the wrong thing to do. Don’t stay when you know you should go or go when you know you should stay. Don’t fight when you should hold steady or hold steady when you should fight. Don’t focus on short-term fun instead of long-term fallout. It’s hard to know what to do when you have a conflicting set of emotions and desires but it’s not as hard as we pretend it is. Saying it’s hard is ultimately a justification to do what seems like the easiest thing to do–have the affair, stay at that horrible job, end a friendship over a slight, keep tolerating someone who treats you terribly. There isn’t a single dumbass thing I’ve done in my adult life that I didn’t know was a dumbass thing to do while I was doing it. Even when I justified it to myself, the truest part of me knew I was doing the wrong thing.”
>Cheryl Strayed

In the time of Instagram, we’re under a lot of pressure to make things perfect—our OOTDs, children’s birthday parties, even our bookshelves and handwriting. Everything has to be arranged just so, showing off our impeccable style and taste.
But what if we don’t have to be perfect? What if we can instead look at life the way Joanna Gaines explains in her book The Magnoila Story: “What am I going for in life? Was it to achieve somebody else’s idea of what a perfect home should look like? Or was it to live fully in the perfection of the home and family I love?”
Bask in the imperfection, the mess, the chaos that is your family and life. Whatever it looks like, it is uniquely, authentically yours.
“If you can’t find happiness in the ugliness, you’re not going to find it in the beauty either.”
>Joanna Gaines, The Magnolia Story

“Looking for what’s wrong prevents us from seeing the perfection that exists in our lives right now. We must all ask ourselves what would happen if we changed the lens through which we view the world…Looking for what’s right is a life-enhancing choice—a choice that promises peace, contentment, and fulfillment.”
>Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Instead of fear. Instead of silence. Instead of compromise.

Connect with your spiritual side.

I call it the life changing magic of gratitude. It doesn’t matter how bad your day turns out, there is always something to be grateful for.
It’s my favorite habit: starting the day with prayer, meditation, journaling and a written list of five things I’m thankful for.
Awesome word art by Maggie Adan.

We’re so busy doing, getting better, improving our lives. There’s nothing wrong with that but what if there’s another way?
What if today, we just allow ourselves to receive, to open our hearts to the reality of our lives, to surrender to what is? What if today, we accept our lives and our selves in all of our beauty/ugliness, courage/fear, divinity/humanity, nobleness/pettiness? What if we see the grace in the chaos, the blessings in the lack, the elegance of its rhythm?
Elegant calligraphy by Maggie Adan.

“Here’s to the ones who dream,
foolish as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts that ache
Here’s to the mess we make.”
>Mia Dolan, La La Land
Dreams. Love. Possibilities. Passion. Beautiful movies and dance and song. Oh, and Ryan Gosling. These are what fill our hearts and make life worth living.
Fun word art by Maggie Adan.

To your deepest desires. To joy. To pleasure. To love. To your dreams. To whatever it is you’ve putting off for when you feel worthy.

Following your heart is always scary. Most of the time, it makes no sense, it’s not logical and it usually goes against what you’re supposed to be doing.
What if the first courageous step is to listen to it?
Take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and ask your heart for its wisdom. See what comes up. Hear its voice.
Beautiful paper cut by Maggie Adan.

It whispers to us: “Maybe the time isn’t right.” “This is your next step.” “Why are you still doing this?” “This is what makes you happy.”
It’s a tiny voice, but a loving one. You try to ignore it but it refuses to be quiet. You look for alternative voices–from your friends, on the web, from so-called experts.
What if there’s another way? What if you listen to it? What if you follow its wisdom?

Heart-crafted is a mishmash of the words handcrafted and heart. It’s also my philosophy of living from the heart–of loving, listening to and trusting yourself fully.
You craft your life the same way that you craft something with your hands. You take your time. You’re focused. You’re doing something creative. It’s not perfect or easy at first but as you keep going, you feel a sense of joy and pride at what you had made.