simple days with bonnie rae

“Life is brutal. But it’s also beautiful. Brutiful, I call it. Life’s brutal and beautiful are woven together so tightly that they can’t be separated. Reject the brutal, reject the beauty. So now I embrace both, and I live well and hard and real.” Glennon Doyle, Momastery.com

Life has not been so slow and simple lately. With a surprise wedding, saying goodbye to my very best friend Kiley, planning a babymoon/honeymoon and preparing for little one (ten weeks to go) – you could say that these past few weeks and months have been the opposite of slow, simple or minimal.

Life will always have ebbs and flows. There will be times when we need to tilt our time and energy toward important things as we tilt away from something else to make room for it. I have been tilting toward all of these huge life events these past few months, both the beautiful and the heartbreaking. To make all of this happen I have accidentally tilted away from self-care.

Yes, in general I’m healthy and happy and getting sleep for myself and for baby but I’ve not been caring for myself and my body the best way I know how.

In times like this (busy, sad, happy, beautiful, heartwarming, heartbreaking) I like to reset. I need to reset.

For me, a reset is slowing down enough to focus on what you need. To strip away everything and hear what you most want from life, what is most important and calling to you. Right now? Little one is calling to me. He has 10 more weeks to grow with me and I want to make those 10 weeks full of good nutrition, exercise and so much love and rest.

After you know what you need? You say yes to the things that will make it happen, and you say no to the things that won’t. My October reset started with saying yes to a trip to visit Chase’s parents in West Virginia. After saying goodbye to Kiley we needed to get away. To sleep and rest and fill up with love from family, so we did just that. While away, I said no to a big project at work. One that did not fulfill my heart or further my purpose or my why. Saying no isn’t always easy but it is respected.

Other things I’m saying yes to: a vegan, plant based diet (this has been far more vegetarian as of late), pre-natal yoga every day, long walks with Max in the evenings (now that the weather has finally cooled off), letting my wonderful husband help (he often has to remind me that I don’t have to do everything on my own, even when anxiety is telling me a different story.)

Things I’m saying no to: evening events at work, extra projects, going at the pace I did before I became pregnant, negative or scary content (media, books, podcasts – put good in, get good out.)

Do you need a reset? Is October your month to shift, tilt and refocus? If you said yes here are more resources to help you get started:

Your Why: Why start with why?

Your Why: Legacy 

Your Why: Values

23-day Priority Reset

“Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your feelings need you, your perceptions need you…Go and be there for all these things.” Thich Nhat Hanh

More soon,

Bonnie Rae xx