Life is a journey. The road we walk is a culmination of our daily experiences. If the destination is living a full, aligned, and satisfying life, then the journey is choices informed by the every day experiences. This travel diary is the space where I share the road I’ve walked, what made an impression on me, and how that experience informs my choices going forward. It’s about approaching life with curiosity, myself with compassion, and letting the road take me to where I’m meant to go. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

To be honest, this is the second version I wrote for the August Travel Diaries. In the original one, I had a few ideas of what I wanted to write about, but I kept getting stuck - like the words weren’t ready to be written. And it wasn’t until I was flying to Dallas in the last few days of the month, that what I was trying to write, still needed to be processed. And instead, what I share below is what is meant to be shared now. I hope that these posts meet you where you are each month and in me honoring the right timing for me, that it encourages you to bask in the right timing for you as well.

In August, instead of just feeling different, I have been living differently. From the shift last month and giving myself this 3 month break from working, I have continued to gain more and more energy to “do” things again. The days where I am drained of energy and don’t leave the house are less, and when I do go out now, even though the places might be the same, I exist in them differently.

I’ve helped my husband film a few things, we saw Mumford + Sons (I will always see them when they come to KC), I went to the Nelson Atkins Museum to see the Mucha exhibit (which was timely because his storytelling/motion through his art has influenced manga and i’ve read ALOT of manga this month), I saw Spiderman, the Odyssey and Hadestown (this last one I went by myself and loved it), I walked more and am doing yoga more consistently… the phrase “I’m more like myself” doesn’t quite explain what I am feeling, because there is not a previous self to come back to. There’s only a new self, some bits of the old version, some bits that are new, but even then, it’s all been scrubbed clean… leaving a version of me that feels even more centered, aligned, and confident.

It’s the break that has shown me and in this time of space, I have identified that while I’ve been in heavy grief, it was closely intertwined with burnout. You might have noted it if you have experienced it before, but while I thought I had been in burnout before, I now know what burnout actually feels like. There’s a wide range of things the last few years that could of led to it, and I don’t believe I should have done anything differently, but here’s what I’ve learned in my journey of healing.

1. Resting is not truly resting unless there is protected space for play. The best way I recharge/relax is through imaginative/immersive play. I took a play quiz from the National Institute of Play, and my play style is a Dreamer (You live in the world of imagination and pretend, where reality bends to possibility. You find play in fantasy and stepping into alternate worlds through your mind's eye). Given all the fantasy books, movies, and video games I play, especially right now, no one is surprised. It felt good to have what I was already doing validated when I received the results.

2. Physical resting and mental resting are hard to differentiate and fully do. For me, in order to mentally rest, I had to get my body in a place where it was no longer in flight or fight.

3. Movement is not for my mental health, it’s for my creative health. Movement is how I work out words I want to share or ideas I want to implement, it’s not necessarily the thing I need to do to feel better emotionally or mentally.

4. My body is sensitive and often needs less “things” to feel better (from how many serums I use in my skin care routine, to how many excedrin I take when I have a migraine…). When I need more, it means it needs support in a foundational way.

5. A lot of my decisions have been made based off of what “might” happen - both good and challenging. This is a form of living in the future, and I am working on making decisions based off of what is factually happening now. (Of course planning and being prepared is important, but they do not need to be influenced by fear and overwhelm)

6. I’ve lived in my mind for too long, and when I prioritize living in my body, things work out better than I hoped.

These things might seem small or vague, but for me, they are monumental shifts in how I go about my day.

The result of these learnings is wiping any last fear of what other people think of what I say or do, it’s allowing me to enjoy and appreciate what’s right in front of me, and creating a sense of grounded clarity that is unwaivering.

It’s this clarity that has led us to decide to sell the land in New York where our airstream, Maggie, has been a vacation rental for 2 years (if you wanted to book a stay, we are closing for good on October 6th). It’s the same clarity that has led me to approach this coming season with curiosity and being present - only to be underlined by the fact that on my way to Dallas for the Frequense conference, I saw that I flew in the exact same plane from KC → Dallas in 2017, to my first Beautycounter conference, and also when I felt (in my body) that Beautycounter was worth spending my time on and it would turn into something big — a few short months later I would be replacing my nursing income, leaving nursing, and the rest is history. The timing is not lost on me. The fact that I am attending another conference, but drastically different than that girl from almost 10 years ago. And while I am not waiting to see if I trust Frequense as a place to build a business (I have already felt and experienced that this last year) I am waiting in anticipation for what this parallel trip will mean in the future.

P.S. → (Lauren from the future after the conference coming in: turns out this was the trip i needed to lock everything into place. It’s the same clarity that comes when i disconnect and travel somewhere.)

BOOKS I READ:

• Eastern Body, Western Mind
  *this is actually the first non-fiction book I’ve read all year. Since I used to read at least one personal development book a month for years, it felt like a big step of seeing how far I’ve come in healing from burnout.

• Violet Evergarden (animated tv series + movies)

  • “It’s not a problem”

• Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (video game)

• Elantris

  • “Do not dash if you only have the strength to walk, and do not waste your time pushing on the walls that will not give. More importantly, don’t shove where a pat would be sufficient.”

• Better Than The Movies

  • “You look best when you’re you.”

• Broken Dove

• Abby Offsides

  • “Life is messy, it’s imperfect and it’s hard. And you can make plans, but they’re going to be derailed. You can carve out space for yourself, and see it filled in by forces outside of your control. You can check boxes, but you might be surprised by what you’re not tracking… I’ve finally found the right path forward. You can’t ever predict what will happen… all you can do is try your best… and that best can be pretty extraordinary. Life is a game and it is beautiful.”

• Frieren (tv show + manga)

• Dawnshard

  • “If no one had traveled this path before, then she didn’t have to compare herself to anyone, did she?”

• Leafy Corner (video game)

• My Happy Marriage (tv show)
  

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

NEW DISCOVERIES:

Every year over our anniversary, we take a trip somewhere. The last few years have been shorter, domestic trips, but this year, we are headed to Paris, Northern Ireland and Ireland and will be gone 3 weeks. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the mental space to truly enjoy the experience of planning a trip instead of checking off things on the to do list before we leave.

I’ve remembered what it’s like to curate a trip for the pure enjoyment of it and it’s been so nice to feel that excitement again. I even went a step further this time and created a travel capsule with images of the clothes/outfits I’m bringing.

→ Travel Wardrobe Capsule Links

It was time to upgrade my backpack that I use for all my trips and would let me travel with only a carry-on. I’ve had my eye on Peak Design for months because they are a B Corp, are intentional with their design, and I just admire them as a company. I ended up ordering the 45L Travel Backpack, the Regular Tech Pouch, the Regular Wash Pouch, and the 12L City Crescent Bag. The Tech Pouch fits my Switch 2, 3DS, Kindle + all the chargers while the Wash Pouch fits my skin care, hair care, and makeup. It feels so good to have everything from the same company and for it all to fit together so well. And it honestly made packing a breeze. Everything had its place 💛

WALKING FORWARD:

I’m learning to balance staying in the present with planning ahead. Honoring that I am still burnt out from sharing/creating videos or photos while also trying to capture this season for myself. And continuing to approach familiar places with curiosity and openness to how this version of me experiences them.

Re-wiring + letting things unfold.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. Because without it, you are just going off feelings instead facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be. Instead, it leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

I woke up one Thursday morning and felt better. They said this would happen. That one day, I would wake up and the weight of grief would not be so heavy. Turns out they were right. It’s the shift I have been waiting for. The one I thought I would never get to. The one that would lead to me living life again - of feeling like myself, but a new version of myself. All this mental, emotional, and physical healing work these last 7 months finally feels like it’s paid off.

And with this shift, I started something quite unconventional.

I decided to take a 3 month break from doing anything that is connected to achieving a “goal”. Whether it be to build my Counter or Frequense business, to earn commission from a post, to take steps towards a certain outcome. Anything that I think I “should” do. For the majority of my adult life, every action I took, every thing I said yes to, was in pursuit of achieving something. Which has left me feeling quite lost about “what’s next” for me. I’ve had a short but successful nursing career, built consultant businesses to success, I’ve launched my own coaching business… I’ve had a lot of success in my life - but at what cost to me internally? To have every action carry weight, leaving little space to remember what it’s like to do things for fun. If something didn’t feel valuable enough, I’d rework it until it was - and in doing that, I’d strip out whatever made me want to create it in the first place. There were a few rare moments, where I wouldn’t analyze or plan and just “do” and it was those things that connected the most with people - but again, they were few and far between. I imagine this is something that wouldn’t be seen from the outside, but slowly created friction inside of me.

So I find myself at a crossroads. Of making it through the rough terrain of grief and nervous system regulation, and now I have the energy to move forward. But forward to where? Who I was before no longer fits. This version of me needs space to learn new thought patterns, new confirmations that I am on the right path, new experiences. And that is what this three month break is for. Something new is coming and I know it will come when I least expect it. I know I will be invited into it. I know it will be an opportunity that actually fits who I am now. And while I wait, I’ll learn that spending my time in happiness + creativity has just as much worth as systems + being seen + offers.

After a decade of fine tuning all my time to be of “worth” to have every post, every email, every action lead to a predetermined goal, I am learning to post (or just be) for the pure reason of my happiness. Everything I do is because I want to do it not because I think I have to.

It sounds simple but it’s actually quite challenging.

BOOKS I READ:

I recently had a friend tell me that she started reading one of the books I’ve listed here, and she thought “oh Lauren likes spicy things”. I couldn’t stop laughing when she told me. It’s true, because I will always love a good love story and appreciate women empowerment in all forms.

If you are interested, I started a Fantasy Club on Fable, my favorite app to record what books I’m reading. The club is called “off the map” because you’ll always find me in a world that doesn’t exist, whether it’s tv, reading or video games. it’s a perfect way to read alongside others, but also read at your own pace.

What I Read This Month:

• The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy

• My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (in preparation for seeing her in person in August)

  • “when you get a choice, you’re a fool not to take it.”

  • “you will learn what everything costs.”

  • “It turns out, the act of making a choice, of choosing a path, doesn’t mean the other path disappears. It just means that it will forever run parallel to the one you’re on. It means you have to live with knowing what you gave up.”

• Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (I finally finished!)

  • “Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.”

  • “The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it?
    It's the next one.”

  • “Failure is the mark of a life well lived.”

  • “Do you wish,” Wit asked, “that you could go back to not being able to see?” “No,” she whispered. “Then live. And let your failures be part of you.”

• Thank You for Listening by Julian Whelan

  • “she couldn’t reclaim who she once was when who she once was no longer existed.”

  • “we break, in many different ways. But it doesn’t mean we’re broken.”

  • “It was a past she no longer wanted back. It was simply a part of her present and she was free to pursue her future.”

• The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Manga Vol 1-3

• A Court of Mist & Fury (third time reading in preparation for ACOTAR 6)

• Daggermouth

  • “For those of us with rebel hearts, for the black sheep, for the ones who’ve been told they feel too much or too little. For everyone who’s never felt like they belong. Welcome home.”

  • “She’d waited her whole life for power to be given to her, to be worthy of it, for permission to use the influence she already possessed.”

  • “Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power.”

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

I haven’t stopped thinking about the breakfast from my new favorite hotel in Denver, Populus. The omelet had goat cheese, leeks, mushrooms, calabrian hot sauce and roasted potatoes. Yum.

I also made stuffed peppers with quinoa and ground turkey. I did an experiment with freezing them and I’m happy to say that it worked out well!

NEW DISCOVERIES:

The fact that this section is here feels like a miracle. To be in a place where I am not just going through the motions, staying in my hole out of survival, but experiencing new things again.

• Oak Essentials Sunscreen
  (finally one that meets my safety + branding standards since Beautycounter/Counter doesn’t have a body sunscreen)

• Oak Essentials Deodorant
  (Sadly, the last of my Beautycounter deodorant ran out, and I had tried so many “clean” brands before. But this one actually smells good, controls odor and sweat, and looks pretty) PS. Here’s a detox guide if you haven’t switched your deodorant yet

• Wedding Formal Makeup
  (I recently had to do my own makeup for my mom’s wedding. Thankfully the ladies at Welwythn & this youtube tutorial were so helpful)

• Faithfull + Kivari
  (two sustainable brands that I discovered at Clairvaux as I was shopping for outfits for my mom’s wedding events - here’s the link to what I wore in the photo above)

WALKING FORWARD:

Amanda Kloots posted a quote on her instagram that said,

“ ‘How did you survive it?’ ‘I didn’t. I’m somebody else.’ ”

Which sums up this grief journey so well. It’s an undeniable feeling that I am forever changed - significantly and chemically altered for the rest of my days. With the weight of grief being less and my nervous system coming into a new balanced state, I am now in this place of letting this “somebody else” have room to run… or walk… whatever she wants to do. It’s a place that I’ve been wishing to get to for 7 months. It was a painful path to get here and I am sure a difficult path to embrace going forward. At least for a time - until this “somebody else” is so rooted, so at ease, so undeniable that I forget the journey it took to get there.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. Because without it, you are just going off feelings instead facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be. Instead, it leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

More days than not, this month, I’ve found myself in a place of being curious. Before, I would be curious about the people and places around me, but now, it’s all introspective. What feels like the first time in my life, my body is requiring to be heard, and my mind is no longer in the driver’s seat. The image that keeps coming to mind, is a girl just sitting peacefully in a room, just watching. She’s not trying to make anything happen, she’s in a space of surrender.

Every day, I can literally feel my brain re-wiring itself. I am a different person than I was 6 months ago, someone who is permanently changed. I can’t really lean on what I used to enjoy, or what energized or relaxed me. It’s like I am meeting a new person for the first time.

It’s hard work to be in this place and most of the time feels extremely disorienting. But beneath all the re-wiring, I know that it’s a necessary work for whoever Future Lauren is supposed to be.

ON REPEAT:

So many artists have put out really good albums this year and I’m just rotating through all of them

Listening Now:

you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love by Olivia Rodrigo

The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs by Noah Kahan

Prizefighter by Mumford & Sons

Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. by Harry Styles

Middle of Nowhere by Kacey Musgraves

Coming Up:

Daughter from Hell by Gracie Abrams

Good Grief by Sara Bareilles

BOOKS I READ:

I had the joy of seeing Jenna Bush Hager + Anna McCallie speak at a book release in Kansas City. Rainy Day Books does a fantastic job with author speaking events and it’s so fun to be able to hear the author speak about their process and also their books.

What I Read This Month:

• Pretty Painful Grief Letters by William Hunter Howell

• The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

• Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

• Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

• Abby Offsides by Anna McCallie

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

Kansas City has changed so much in the last couple of years and there are so many amazing new small businesses that have opened. My goal is to work my way through my list of new places and Fern Bar KC has been at the top of the list for sometime. The atmosphere here was so beautiful right down to the texture of the paper for their menus. They release a new menu every season and right now it’s inspired by the fountains throughout the city (Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains). I tried their NA Mountain Air and the NA Margarita and I was blown away by the complexity of each drink. I didn’t feel like my experience was dimmed in any way.

WALKING FORWARD:

Truthfully and honestly, I don’t even know. Right now, I find it hard to even know what the next will bring or where I’m headed. All I can do is focus on this moment in time and enjoy it for the experience that it is. As a Generator in the Human Design, the best thing to do while I wait to respond to whatever is coming my way, is to spend my time doing things that I enjoy. So, I fully plan on enjoying the sun in my backyard with my funboy tanning bed and a book, taking my morning walks (these socks are a game changer), continuing with acupuncture and my foundational daily supplement stack, and experimenting more with photo and video.

Here’s to being curious + waiting for what’s next.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. Because without it, you are just going off feelings instead facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be. Instead, it leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

Writing this post for this month has been a challenge. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that I realized that I’m not quite ready to share, and that’s okay. The few days leading up to the end of the month, I usually start to reflect on the previous few weeks and see what comes up and what I feel like I need to share. To be honest, it all feels pretty jumbled inside - which usually means that I don’t have the clarity to share how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking. So maybe it’ll come up in the future.

What I do know, is that May brought another fresh wave of grief, but in ways that I wasn’t prepared for. Like many of you, my schedule was full of social events - graduation parties, celebratory dinners, and everything else in between. What ended up being disorienting was being in situations that would have normally energized me or felt easy, but they ended up being overwhelming and difficult. Every time, I was confronted with who I was before Ella dying and who I am after. So, yet another wave of grief came crashing down.

This disorientation along with conversations with those close to me, made me come to terms with the fact that Ella was more than just a dog, she actually helped regulate my nervous system for over a decade. A decade that was filled with starting my first full time job, my parents divorce, leaving a promising nursing career, 2020, building a prominent business and then it being gone almost overnight, starting my own coaching business, and so many other things. She was my therapy dog that helped me through all of that, and now, I am having to do the work of helping my body find it’s way back to healing - something that I didn’t even realize I needed. Mentally, I have done SO much work, but my body needs that same kind of work too.

So, I’m doing my best trying to navigate this new, more sensitive version of me. Among other things, I am supporting my body through these practices:

• Crocodile breathing after my strength workouts

• Restorative yoga on my rest days

• Breath work sessions before bed with Calm

• Noise dimming ear buds from Hears

• Using the Bevel App to best support my body

• Staying consistent with this daily supplement stack + magnesium/CBN for sleep

• Asking for help where I need it.

This sensitive version of me, needs days to recover after doing something that was off my regular routine, and the days were I feel focused and energized are on their own time line and wave. I just feel like I am along for the ride.

ON REPEAT:

This month, I’ve been leaning more towards calming playlists - this instrumental one is one of my favorites for waking up in the morning, breath work after a workout or winding down in the evening. I especially love the song “The Sound of Being Safe”.

BOOKS I READ:

This month, I’ve been switching back and forth between reading or watching tv series. Off Campus has become my personality the last few weeks - I loved the story telling, nostalgic nods, the music, and how happy I felt after the series ended. Like everyone else, I immediately started reading the series - which has made me appreciate how a book and the adaptation can be good in their own ways.

One of my favorite (?) series, Outlander, aired their very last episode - I don’t think I’ve ever been so stressed out about the livelihood of characters in my whole life. While I have mixed feelings about what the author caused the characters to go through, the adaptation has been airing for 12 years so it’s an end of an era. I am happy to say that the ending did a beautiful job reminding us of all that we’ve been through together.

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

Keeping things simple and prepped has helped remove decision fatigue.

I started prepping my yogurt bowls in these cute jars so for breakfast, all i have to do is take this jar out of the fridge and throw some chicken sausages in the air fryer.

• Yogurt Bowls

  • 1 cup greek yogurt unflavored

  • 1/2-1 cup fruit

  • 1 tsp honey

  • 1 tablespoon chai seeds

For lunch, I’ve been prepping greek bowls, again, I literally just take this out of the fridge when it’s lunch time.

• Greek Bowls

  • 4 oz chicken breast

  • 1 cup cucumber

  • 1/2 cup red onion

  • any additional veggies

  • 1 oz feta

  • 1 tablespoon creamy dressing

  • season with greek seasonings

WALKING FORWARD:

Walking forward with the awarenesses of this last month looks a lot like taking it day by day. Of releasing expectations or assumptions about who I am and what I will do and approaching each day with curiosity and lack of judgement.

On the days where I have more energy, motivation and focus, I won’t second guess it, I’ll take advantage of it. Like, when I organized and purged my closet and then a few weeks later, organized and purged our attic. An advantage of letting go of the “old version of Lauren” is realizing what’s important and what’s not important - which translates into simplifying the things we own.

This isn’t an easy road to walk, but I’ll take the “normal” moments when they come and embrace the “off” moments - giving myself permission to let go or shift as needed. It’s all leading somewhere, but I don’t have to know where I’m headed.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. Because without it, you are just going off feelings instead facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be. Instead, it leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

Over the past week, I’ve been trying to land on the one thing that challenged me this month - but it feels like it’s too many to count.

I made it to the gym for the first time in several months and it felt so good. Physically and mentally, I felt like I had given myself the space I needed in order to be ready when I came back. Turns out, I got a little too excited and injured my calf which meant I was hopping around or not walking around for days. It felt like after so much waiting, when I was finally “back”, I only ended up taking two steps back.

Recently, I have been struggling with grief rising back up to the surface. Not as debilitating as it was those first couple of months, but it definitely felt heavy in my chest.

I knew that the changing of seasons would bring fresh grief, but I don’t think it prepared me any better. April was always the time that Ella, Mike and I would break out of our winter cocoons and spend hours outside. We would lay in the hammock, read on picnic blankets, and she would trot around the yard with her toy or just enjoy the spring breeze. I think Spring was Ella’s favorite season.

Later in the month, we drove up to the Finger Lakes, NY to open up our airstream airbnb (I’m actually sitting in the airstream as I type this) - even though Ella had never been in the airstream, we still felt the weight of her being gone. In the moments where we would think about coming home to her, or driving back early to be with her again. Being in a space where the last time we were here, we had a dog waiting for us back home.

There have been MANY trials when it comes to Maggie (our airstream) and our property - which is a saga for a different time. But one of the most devastating challenges is that our airstream used to be surrounded by woods, but about a year ago, the plot next door was sold without us knowing and now there is a very large house with very little tree coverage in between. (Thankfully our neighbors are lovely and know we rent out the airstream May-October). In hindsight, maybe we shouldn’t have built Maggie’s spot on the property line but it didn’t even cross our minds that the plot next door would be sold anytime soon. If you didn’t know what it used to look like, the property is still relaxing, quiet and lovely, but it was extremely jarring to us. We have adopted a mindset that our situation is not how we dreamed, but it is what it is and we will find a way forward. We had hoped that a lot of our time up here this past week would be relaxing and doing a couple of upkeep things here and there but the need to plant some sort of barrier for this season. We learned how to create a berm and plant trees and now our space between the properties looks a little better and we are crossing our fingers that the trees survive and grow fast.

Grief is weird. It’s disorienting. There are moments or days where I feel like a new version of myself, and then others when I’m questioning the direction of my life and deeply feeling the hole in my soul. I hate that time just has to pass, but it’s teaching me a lesson in just “being” and giving my nervous system the deep healing that it’s been needing for 10+ years.

ON REPEAT:

This month was a playlist kind of month. Here’s a few I’ve made that have been on repeat this month:

BOOKS I READ:

It’s been a lighter reading month (currently re-obsessed with Animal Crossing on my Switch) but it’s been good. I am just starting Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (the third book in the Stormlight Archive) and I have been carrying around my new copy of Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry… I even brought it to NY with the intent on finishing it, but as I am packing up, I’ve only read a chapter. She did make it into a photo though :)

On our drive up to NY, we listened to Abby Jimenez’s new book, The Night We Met, which is very cute and worth the read.

• “Life buries us. We get heavier and heavier as time goes on and we labor under the layers we’ve collected. Sometimes the layers make us who we are and sometimes they make us someone else entirely.”

• “There's something about going on a trip with someone. Seeing how the love exists everywhere, that it's something you carry wherever you go and not just the product of the world it was created in. Going grocery shopping together in a store you've never been to, figuring out what new place you want to eat at, discovering everything together and it all feels different and new except for them. They're the constant. They're the safe space.”
  

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

Another disorienting thing with grief is that my taste buds are changing. Experimenting with new dishes and focusing on simplicity is the creative outlet that I normally get from making cocktails (which my body is boycotting right now - even though i sometimes ignore it and feel miserable later). While we were at our airstream, I noticed how far I’ve come making simple flavorful dishes. Space is limited so we have to be extra sure that we will eat whatever we buy. Thankfully, on our drive, my friend Joanna, posted a simple kale salad that would be perfect for the week, and we could use those ingredients in different dishes.

For dinner our first night, Mike grilled burgers on the Blackstone, and I used our Breville Smart Oven Pro to make literally the best sweet potato fries, whipped up some aioli and Joanna’s salad. It was perfect and delicious.

So while things are weird, things are also changing for the better and I’m learning to sit with this too.

WALKING FORWARD:

Despite all the heaviness of being at the airstream again, it actually was the first time we have been out here and I’ve been able to truly see the experience through different eyes - how other people see it as they come and stay. it’s truly incredible that a few years ago, our land was just a mess of mud and now we have created a little getaway. Everything we chose in designing and supplying Maggie has been intentional and really adds to the experience. We have neighbors around us that we got to spend more time with and who are truly happy we are here (I am just glad they aren’t annoyed that we are from out of town and have a rental property). We have done something that many people wouldn’t attempt to do and we are learning so much along the way.

I’m seeing our property with new eyes and at the same time, seeing myself with new eyes. Instead of hanging onto what used to be, I am becoming even more curious in what is unfolding. Not judging, but just letting it be.

Walking forward, imperfectly, slowly and humbly.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. It’s why I have a reflection section in the Vision Board Course. Because without it, you are just going off of feelings instead of facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be, it instead, leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

Thankfully, this month has felt less like an ongoing challenge, and more like experiencing the fruit of all the hard work I’ve gone through the last few months. Each day I feel a little lighter, I am discovering what this new version of life & myself look like. Yes, there are moments and days where the grief creeps up, but that’s to be expected.

In continuation from last month, I have leaned into what feels best to me instead of what I think I should do. For example, I am posting more on instagram, but this time around, my filter before posting is “Am I doing this for me or am I doing this for them?”. That subtle shift has made all the difference in how I spend my time. I am not overanalyzing if something is of value or if it will catch someone’s attention - I’m just posting, because I want to. Whether it’s a concept I want to share, a photo of every day things, or the lighting looks pretty in the corner of our hallway. It’s been a creative outlet and a space for connection.

In Counter + Frequense, I have leaned into operating out of my gut feelings first, then letting the systemizing happen later. Coming from someone who values efficiency and systems, and spent years, trying to rationalize my gut feelings, this is a monumental shift.

I set up a Frequense table at an event this month - and instead of walking in with a “goal” for the amount of orders I needed to comp the cost of the table, or having a giveaway just to gather people’s information, I decided that I was just going to remain open to whatever happened that day - let the genuine conversations that I had lead to conversations about the products or writing down their info to circle back around with them later. It was valuing intentionality over systems for systems sake. When I got home, I created a system of following up with them - and even that went faster than it has in the past. It all felt effortless and aligned. It made space for me to have authentic conversations, not stress about meeting goals, and left me feeling energized and joyful.

It may seem like this way of doing business might not lead to success or that I am missing out on things, but honestly, I’d take a sense of fulfillment over achieving someone else’s definition of success any day.

So, the challenge this month was practice. Practice in making room for “me”. Practice in doing things differently - and seeing the aligned experiences come my way. And by the end of this month, I am in awe of what is happening and incredibly happy.

ON REPEAT:

This month, I’ve been switching back and forth between either Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally album or the Mumford & Sons Prizefighter album. Both are perfect vibey albums and are full of musical mastery.

BOOKS I READ:

I finally finished the second book in the Stormlight Archive, Words of Radiance, and it included the best chapter that I have EVER read in any book. The way that Brandon builds this world, takes you on internal & external journeys of characters, creates very satisfying moments that remind you of what happens when you choose to push through the uncomfortable.

Compared to last month, I’ve definitely been reading more. I did read Brene Brown’s Strong Ground, which was good, but it showed me that I’m still not in a place for personal development books like I used to be. I just want to show up as I am and learn from doing instead of reading. Another way to get used to this new version of me.

• Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

  “Stop it, she told herself. No timidity. You’re past that. Taking a deep breath, she moved forward”
  

• Secret History + Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson (both in Arcanum Unbounded)
  “It is strange,” the man said. “People get such a small amount of time. So many I’ve known say it—as soon as you feel you’re getting a handle on things, the day is done, the night falls, and the light goes out.”
  

• Strong Ground by Brene Brown
  “The gift of the paradox is that if we hang in there and tolerate the tension—grounding down and holding both ideas—a new and deeper level of understanding is “born.”
  

• The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
  “People who love you for your usefulness don't love you at all”
  

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

I’ve had a lot of conversations around creatine lately. If you are a woman in your 30s+, your body absolutely needs a baseline of creatine every day. It is essential for brain health, mental clarity, reducing fatigue, muscle recovery + performance, endurance, stamina, mood, and healthy aging. Yeah, why didn’t we know about this before?

This podcast from Kelly Leveque is an excellent way to learn more. She also has a great creatine.

Personally, I’ve tried a few clean/high quality creatines, and I felt the most immediate difference with Frequense’s creatine - the difference is the 11 harmonic frequencies that are bringing your body back to balance and optimal health so it can utilize all the good nutrients you are giving it.

If you don’t have it yet, grab one of these two options and let me know how you feel a few days in!

WALKING FORWARD:

I am prioritizing enjoying the moments as they come my way. Of leaning into what feels natural to me - what I feel pulled to. Not overthinking - not strategizing. Letting my intuition & excitement lead, then systemizing later. It’s a rewiring that my mind and body are demanding.

The last few years have been lonely compared to how full my days used to feel with connection + relationships. I lost a lot of that when Beautycounter closed down - but I am discovering a new version of that with Frequense. It’s marrying my love for helping people take care of themselves at the foundational level, in simple ways, with my love for connecting with women one on one. I’ve learned to not ignore when aligned opportunities effortlessly come my way. Usually they come right on time. I’m not overthinking it, just spending time in a way that excites and feels meaningful to me. Right now, that looks like meeting people for coffee and setting up at events with a wellness/health focus.

I also have a secret side project that I am doing - one that I am using as a way to enjoy the process vs hitting deadlines - there’s no timeline to when I’ll announce it. As part of this project, I got to spend some time with Erin Andergg who is the owner of Nomad Design Co, a candle and fragrance company. Her and I met years ago and have been cheering each other on from afar. If you are searching for safe candles to use or a clean fragrance - definitely order through her. Her intentionality and the experience she creates is lovely. When I ordered from her recently, it felt so good to be in a place to support other women in business, just like I used to.

And of course, still practicing the art of noticing beauty around me - and prioritizing taking care of my physical body through Frequense, Counter, and acupuncture at Taochemy.

Feeling like the clouds of grief are clearing, and while I am still carrying it, I am becoming friends with it.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. It’s why I have a reflection section in the Vision Board Course. Because without it, you are just going off of feelings instead of facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be, it instead, leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

At the beginning of this month, I thought I would be writing about shifting from doing gym workouts to doing home workouts - allowing me to gently get back into movement and provide privacy as movement turned into crying on the floor. But what actually challenged me this month was getting sick for the second time in less than a month - first it was the flu that left me in bed with a fever for days then it was a horrible sinus infection that, again, left me in bed for days. I very very rarely get sick and it’s never to this degree. It was another sign from my body that my nervous & immune system are completely shot - the grief of losing Ella completely resetting me to “zero” and all I can do is ride the wave.

As a laid there, I felt frustration of not knowing my body at all anymore. Of feeling betrayed by hopefulness as I started to get glimpses of a new version of my normal self, only to be bed ridden literally unable to do anything. But as the days went on, I was reminded (again) of how much stress my mind and body had carried over the last several years - and even though I was taking care of myself in all the right ways - what I thought was “the norm” was actually still a lot more than I needed to carry. It’s like when you are working a job thinking you are doing fine, only to realize after you leave, that you actually weren’t. I had been subtracting what no longer served me, and adding in mindful practices, but there was more subtracting that needed to be done than I realized. It’s a humbling experience to walk through, but also a gift because now I know what it feels like and I can make future decisions accordingly.

ON REPEAT:

I started making a new playlist for my workouts (the old one is here) which honestly feels like a win for me because, for months, I haven’t wanted to listen to anything too upbeat or too happy. A new playlist for a renewed vision of strength + wellness.

For calmer vibes, I’m really enjoying anything Coldplay or my playlist from the fall (which was what I was listening to during my workouts until I was ready for my Stronger playlist.)

BOOKS I READ:

Between getting sick, reading the second book in the Stormlight Archive, which is HUGE, and making my way through this insane chronological order of the Marvel universe, I haven’t read much this past month. I can feel that I am inching closer to reading personal development books again, the Other Side of Change was sort of one, but it was more storytelling of how people navigated unexpected change - it’s a beautiful book. I’ve heard good things about The Knight and the Moth, and I just got it from the library so stay tuned.

• Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

  “I was unprepared for the grief my loss brought - like an unexpected rain - breaking from a clear sky and crashing down upon me.”

  “Do not let your assumptions about a culture block your ability to perceive the individual, or you will fail”

• The Other Side of Change by Maya Shankar

  “Stay curious when life makes other plans. Change can transform us in unexpected ways. We just don't know till we get there”

P.S. If you are making your way through the Stormlight Archive, I have really enjoyed listening to this podcast, to help me keep track of all the moving parts. The way they discuss the books reminds me of my literature classes in college and it just makes my heart happy.

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

Currently, my body has been boycotting caffeine, sugar and alcohol - it almost feels like my entire being is clearing & resetting - allowing only nourishing foods & beverages. It’s been extremely disorienting but for the most part, I’ve chosen to embrace it - to move with how my body is leading me & creating a gentle place for it to land. I’ve continued to experiment with more plant based meals that feel inspiring and easy meals to keep me going.

• Frequense Rise & Source (caffeine free)

• Organic India Tulsi Tea

• Chipotle Black Bean Bowl (similar recipe here)

• Popcorn + Nutritional Yeast

• Immune Boosting Ginger Shots

• My morning yogurt bowl is still going strong

WALKING FORWARD:

I am prioritizing arming my body with all that it needs to continue to process & heal.

Which looks like taking Frequense’s Rise, Source and Sync to help physically & mentally regulate by giving myself the essential foundations each morning & evening. Wearing tuned jewelry. The necklace (this is a similar to the one I’m wearing) helps raise my internal frequencies helping my body function better, and a bracelet (similar one here) to help neutralize any harmful frequencies in my environments which is huge for me right now since I’m overly sensitive in loud/noisy environments. I’m also scheduling regular acupuncture appointments to help support my emotions & nervous system - I recently had one and it made a WORLD of a difference. Even though I’ve been open & gentle with myself, allowing grief and emotions to flow through me, and verbally processing with trusted people, I’ve come to realize that I need extra support in the physical sense - that’s where things are getting stuck.

I’ve also been finally getting to a place where I can start putting words to awarenesses that I’ve had since Ella passed away. Things have reoriented for me and so many things that used to hold weight, no longer do. One of them is that I’ve accepted and am leaning into the fact that I need to be in person to know how I feel about something. It can be as small as shopping for clothes or as big as partnering with a company.

Instead of spending time scrolling online to pick out an outfit, or to shop a sale, I am confident in the fact that I make my best fashion decisions when I’m in person or traveling. So no more time scrolling, but waiting for the in person shopping moments that naturally come and being okay with knowing that things “might” not be on sale - what I choose will leave me feeling confident and comfortable for years to come.

I’ve been partnering with Frequense for a year now. I was drawn to their concept of simplicity without sacrificing quality, pioneering a new category of frequency tuned nutrition products (combining two proven health categories meshed into one), and how they address the root problem of feeling your best. I’ve been sharing here and there, but have been watching the founders (full of intentionality & integrity), dissecting the business (both high level and at the affiliate level - it’s incredible solid & generous), and assessing if this was something I wanted to dedicate more of my time to. I had peace & confidence about all of the above, but I knew that experiencing the company in person would be the final step of assurance- so off I went to their conference in Fort Lauderdale. And everything was confirmed.

They are a company that has a solid vision + plan and a business model that allows flexibility to share in a way that works best for you. They are focused on helping people feel good through simple steps and the rest (i.e. the website) can be built out as they go - it’s more about meaningful one on one conversations & personalized recommendations than chasing trends or following the crowd. They are focused on what’s important (community + curiosity + quality) and it truly was humbling to see so many different types of people in one room, all focusing on doing good in the world. And that’s what I want my 2026 to be filled with.

For years, I’ve been subtracting. Saying no and “getting rid” of things that no longer (or ever) aligned with the life I wanted to create. Now, especially with my new perspective, I am ready to start adding with intention. Not adding to keep myself busy or because I think I should, but because they are pathways to living a life that is fulfilling and meaningful to me. Working with companies like Counter and Frequense because they are making a difference & leading the way. Working from local spots & meeting new people. Russian manicures + acupuncture appointments. Occasionally posting on instagram from a place of what I want to share instead of what I think people would see as valuable. It might seem like a nuanced shift, or no different than what I’ve been doing, but it feels significantly different to me and I am excited and curious for what it will lead to.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Before scrolling down, I’d love for you to watch the video below. It came to me on my walk yesterday & there’s a special invitation for you 💛

Yesterday on my walk, I was reflecting on a conversation I had with a coaching client earlier that day.

We were talking about those moments, in times of stress, when you realize that you are exhausted and overwhelmed. Usually it comes as some sort of warning signal from your mind or body, telling you that you are burnt out, and that you can’t keep going unless you fill your own energy tank.

These signals can look like:

• Easily being frustrated

• Taking frequent deep breaths

• Second guessing yourself or what-if spirals

• A lack of motivation or zoning out watching TV

• Riding an emotional roller coaster

• That “if one more thing happens I’m going to lose it” feeling.

Then, in a state of overwhelm you frantically grasp at any “self-care” ritual that you’ve heard works, that feels the easiest to do, so that you can start to feel slightly better again. The cycle continues and you stay in a state of retroactively trying to stay ahead of it all.

If this resonates with you, I want to give you hope that there is another way, and it’s simpler than you think.

There is a way for you to incorporate easy simple rhythms that naturally feel you up. They are the ones where after, you breathe a little easier, allowing yourself to take care of yourself and those around you with more ease.

This conversation got me thinking about my own journey - the rhythms that have helped me, that have allowed me to function even with the loss of Ella, even when unexpected challenges come my way. That have allowed me to feel most like myself.

And I’d love to share more with you:

I Invite You to Live Well

WHEN: February 7th at 10am CST

WHERE: on your substack app. CLICK HERE for the reminder - you’ll be getting an email right before i go live, too. so make sure your notifications are on 💛

If you haven’t joined a substack live before, it functions similarly to a FB or IG live. You’ll see me, but I won’t see you. You will have the ability to comment, ask questions, etc. If you join live, I’d love for you to interact with me the comments so I feel less alone!

Get more from Lauren Varel in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

So I know who is planning on coming live (and not leave me to just talk to myself) comment below letting me know you are coming. Those that comment will receive a gift from me (once you comment, make sure to keep in eye on your inbox).

One of the foundational daily rhythms I’ve incorporated in the last year is taking Frequense products every morning. I 1000x believe that they have supported my body & mind to have more energy, more focus, and more ease, no matter what comes my way. In the live, I will be sharing more about my partnership with Frequense, how these products work, and help you decide if these might be a good option for you.

I will of course be discussing other rhythms outside of Frequense, as my intention is to empower you with the ability to choose rhythms that work best for you, right now, in this moment in time.

I hope to see you there,

Lauren 💛

Life is a journey. You don’t necessarily have to travel somewhere to have a travel diary, an every day road can also teach you things, change you, challenge you, and take you towards future you. Every step you take, every moment you live is moving you towards something. I’ve found that when you take a moment to really look at the past, it informs your future decisions. It’s why I have a reflection section in the Vision Board Course. Because without it, you are just going off of feelings instead of facts and it doesn’t quite lead you to the person you want to be, it instead, leads you to the person you think you should be. Walking towards the person you want to become happens often through small individual choices. That’s what this travel diary is about. Showing you how I am spending my days, how I am facing challenges, how I proactively insert rhythms to fuel me, and how I create space for myself to change without judgement or forcing anything.

WHAT CHALLENGED ME:

While I’ve walked difficult roads before, none compares to the one I am walking with the grief of losing Ella. To some, it might seem like she was just a dog, but to me she was part of my soul, always an extension of me, my comfort companion, and my baby dog. I am experiencing her loss emotionally, mentally, physically and it’s a lot. Every aspect of my day is different. This level of grief is new to me and leaves me feeling not like myself most days. I am someone who faces things head on, finds a way through, processes fully, and starts moving forward again relatively quickly. Optimism and hope come naturally to me - in full force. Grief has another plan for me. It truly requires time to pass for healing to come. There’s no more efficient path to take. So while I feel overwhelmed by thinking about things too far ahead, I am doing what I can moment by moment. I am letting emotions rise up, speaking words when they come, and leaning into the times where I feel a whisper of creativeness and joy. I’m welcoming support from those I love whether it be in person or over a text. I am trusting that one day, while I’ll always miss my Ella, the grief will be smaller, and I will meet my normal, but changed, self again.

ON REPEAT:

Music has always been a balm for me & with our house being so quiet, you can almost guarantee that there’s music playing. I’ve loved the reminder of how instrumental music can convey what words cannot and it mirrors how I’ve been feeling lately. These two playlists, one instrumental, the other with lyrics, have been particularly comforting these last few weeks.

BOOKS I READ:

No matter what book I picked up this month - there was a theme of loss, grief, or overcoming hard obstacles. For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked to books as a source of comfort when I needed to come back to myself or to get me through a difficult time. There’s something about jumping into a different world, the intention it takes to read, that brings me peace, provides a new perspective, and introduces me to new characters to carry with me.

• Brimstone by Callie Hart
  What Losing Someone You Love Feels Like: “It feels like trying to make sand flow backward in an hourglass. It feels like being surrounded by people and being the only one who can't find air in the room. Its drowning on dry land”

• The Conditions of Will by Jessa Hastings
  “You can’t avoid the avalanche of emotions that come with the termination of a relationship; you can only prolong them, which I refused to do. I looked every feeling I felt square in the eye and stared it down until it rolled over”

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  *highly recommend the audio
  “The only way to learn is to live.”

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Huge by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  “Sometimes reality comes crashing down on you. Other times reality simply waits, patiently, for you to run out of the energy it takes to deny it.”
  
  “I think being yourself—your true, entire self—is always going to feel like you’re swimming upstream.”

• The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

  “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination”

• Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

  “When one abandons certain fears and assumptions, an entire world opens up”

Support your local bookstores by using Libro.FM or Bookshop.org when ordering your books. These links contain discounts on your first order. My favorite local KC bookstore is Monstera’s Books.

FOOD + DRINKS:

For food, I’ve been leaning into warm and comfy + colorful and crunchy & honestly I’m proud of myself for making food & spending time trying new recipes. Last month, I was having a hard time even doing that so that’s progress I guess. Like with everything else, I’m listening to what my body needs & following that path without judgement and it’s been exactly what I need.

For drinks, I’ve had a solid morning and evening ritual. A way to begin and end my day setting myself up for success & trying to feel an inkling like myself. Every morning, I take Frequense’s Rise & Source. This is honestly the only reason I’ve been able to function since Ella passed away. Even though it seems like I shouldn’t be able to get out of bed, the effective simplicity of it, has allowed me to get ready each day (whether that’s doing my makeup or changing from sleep comfy clothes to day comfy clothes) and it’s given me the mental clarity to choose how to navigate this season in a way that is best for me. My evenings have ended with a cup of Tulsi Tea to decrease my stress & usher in a restful nights sleep (my phone told me that I’ve averaged 9+ hours of sleep this month). When I’ve felt like it, I’ve gone to a local spot for a drink or dinner to change my environment and breathe a little life into my creative soul - this month it was Wild Child & I can’t stop thinking about their martini.

• Frequense Rise & Source

• Organic India Tulsi Tea

• Wild Child’s Coldest Martini

• Emily Blunt’s Turkey Bolognese

• White Bean, Tuna and Kale Salad

• Pickled Onions, French Onion Dip, & Dressings from Good Things from Samin Nosrat

• Creamy Mushroom Pasta

• Morning Yogurt Bowl (from a recipe from a Frequense friend)

  • 1 Cup Greek Yogurt

  • 1 Cup Blueberries

  • 1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

  • 1 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

  • 2 Tbsp Cooked Quinoa

  • 2 tsp Honey

WALKING FORWARD:

I am using my experiences to inform how I coach my clients. I recently was on a call last week where someone was feeling drained by a certain situation and it left her feeling like she didn’t have anything left for doing things she loved and being creative. My advice was to write down creative ideas that came to her, but not feeling the pressure to put them into action right away. The idea would be ready and waiting for her when she was ready. That’s what I’m embracing going forward. Trying to do my best each day, and not making myself feel bad thinking “but I could be doing more”. I really do feel like my last bit of perfectionism has been eradicated from me because I literally don’t have space for it. No longer am I doing things because it’s what I think people want or what I should do, I only have the energy to show up as I can and what feels right to me. I am letting my intuition and body dictate what I do each day, leaving me in a posture of acceptance, instead of pushing towards the next thing, squeezing every ounce of opportunity out of my day. It’s truly embracing what enough is. I thought I had gotten to a good place with all of these things before now, but as with everything, there’s always space to grow, learn and change.

See you down the road my friend,

Lauren 💛

Life right now looks a lot like taking things moment by moment - of walking the valleys of grief and embracing the moments where I feel like myself which feel few and far between.

Just a few months ago, I didn’t know that when I finally had the clarity of redesigning our office that it would be a place of comfort after losing Ella because it was the only place in our home where there weren’t years of memories with her.

I didn’t know that for my birthday, when I bought a coat I’ve been wanting for years, that it would be the hug I needed as I walk around the park because even that feels like a mountain to climb.

I didn’t know that Counter’s oil cleanser and cleansing balm could be an easy comfort each day and night. Two simple steps that took care of my body physically but also brought comfort emotionally.

I didn’t know that by following my intuition of taking a break from this platform, realigning my business to what fit this version of me and closing down The Unconventional Woman’s Club (a story for another time) would give me the space I needed to grieve & a clean slate for what was ahead.

I didn’t know how heartbreaking it would be to take photos at home without Ella in the background or cuddled up with my cup of morning coffee. The ones here are some of the last.

We don’t know what’s ahead, we only know what’s right in front of us. Even the small insignificant things can have meaning that you won’t fully grasp until it’s time. Hug your puppies & people tight. Know that so much happens behind the scenes and we don’t know what others are going through. If you are just taking your days moment by moment - you aren’t alone.

💛 Lauren.

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barcelona.

Back in November, Mike and I had the opportunity to lead a river cruise trip through France that had the option of staying in Barcelona three days before. Of course, we wanted to take advantage of visiting Spain, a country we had yet to visit.

Considering that these three days were part of a group trip, this visit was a little different than our normal traveling. We stayed at a larger hotel on La Rambla (the famous shopping street in Barcelona) instead of a Boutique hotel near the old city (more on this later) and some of our time was spent on different tours.

As I was researching before we left, my list of restaurants and shopping, I knew that 3 days wouldn’t be enough and that we’d be making our way back soon.

Looking back, I didn’t take as many pictures as I normally would - in fact, we were traveling with good friends and NEVER got a picture of the four of us together. But I do have links to share with you for when you travel to Barcelona.

My advice? Put it at the top of your list asap.

CLICK HERE TO SAVE MY BARCELONA RECS ON GOOGLE MAPS

The Food:

As someone with gluten intolerance, going out to eat, especially in a foreign country can be hard. For me, when I first started navigating this, I was horrified to request dishes to be modified if it was an option - it felt like an insult to the chef and their vision. But then Will Guidara said in Unreasonable Hospitality, that just because someone has an allergy, doesn’t mean they should have less of an experience at your restaurant. Coming from him, that felt like my green light. To not feel bad, to seek out restaurants that not only removed the ingredient from my dish, but upleveled it. In Barcelona, I found this city to be the easiest one to find those restaurants.

My favorite thing across the board was the small menus, the small plates, and the ability to say “we’d like one of everything”. When in your life can you do that and still walk away feeling good about what you spent?

My restaurant/cocktail bar list is long on the Google Maps link, and of course I didn’t make it everywhere, but below are the places we ate at and I would highly recommend:

• Suru

• Franca

• Cañete

• Parking Sotaño

• The Original Old Fashioned

• delaCrem Terra

The Shopping:

It wasn’t until the second day, after a walking tour of the city, that I realized where all the artisan & boutique shops were. It was away from the La Rambla, and the biggest Zara in Europe, away from the tourist attractions… it was in the old city, down little alleyways that reminded me of Venice. This is the area that stole my heart & I can’t wait to go back.

Throughout all of our trips, Mike and I usually get either a mug or piece of art to remember our trip by. Each time, the artist finds their way to us or we stumble upon their shop. In these bigger cities, you’ll find that art is not hard to come by, but there are a lot of shops that are selling the same thing that is geared towards tourists. As with everything, walk a couple of blocks away from the main areas, and you’ll find a truly unique piece to bring home. This time, we found pieces at The Wall and Boxart with a wishlist of pieces from Maison Cactus (we only had so much room in our bags).

I used to feel guilty about the shoes or clothing I bought on vacation, until I realized that I end up wearing those pieces for at least a decade and they become my favorite pieces in my closet. I don’t go into trips thinking I’m going to buy xyz, I just let myself wander and explore, and sometimes end up at my new favorite store across the globe. So instead of talking myself out of that custom made belt or leather purse that looks like a book and the designer only makes a few - I know that I won’t be buying a purse when I get home just because I liked it, instead, I’ll have a treasure for years to come and a fun story to go with it. Shopping Lauren usually only shows up when I’m out of town and Home Lauren is satisfied with what she has in between trips. A few months later, I love my custom made belts, books from Backstory, outfits from Angle, and our art looks beautiful hung up in our home.

• The Wall Gallery

• Maison Cactus

• Box Art Gallery

• Bonenfont

• Angle

• Iriate Iriate

• Toru & Naoko

• Backstory

• Backstory: Shortlist

The Vibes:

Barcelona is truly a beautiful city. The architecture, the people, the little details around every corner. It’s a city where it’s easy to want to move fast but it craves for you to move slow, to listen, to explore, to take your time and soak it all in.

🧡 Lauren.

2026 isn’t about the next goal, it’s about how showing up is enough. Enough for me, enough for others, and enough for how I want my life to be lived.

Significant loss can change your perspective, and for me, the last 20 days have been the saddest days of my life. We unexpectedly had to say goodbye to our sweet 10.5 year old golden doodle, Ella… a loss we weren’t prepared for. One that is so much harder any other loss we’ve experienced.

In the last 20 days, I’ve come to realize what truly is meaningful to me - both giving and receiving. How a little goes a long way and that life should be built around spending it with those you hold dear. To cherish every moment and to not let it slip away because of being busy.

Right now, I am in the depths of grief and can only look to the next moment instead of months ahead. It's a grief that I am still processing - that may or may not make it to these pages someday. But for now, I am thinking differently about how I want to spend my moments in 2026. As I went for a walk the other day, these questions came to mind, born out of things I want to hold onto and things I wish would have gone differently.

• How can I be more present in the coming year?

• How can I make the path to presence more easily accessible?

• Is there anything that I am currently committed to that is keeping me from being present in the moments that matter most to me? Is it something that I can let go of or change to prioritize it differently?

• What are the everyday moments that I love that I could capture on video? Not for posting but to treasure for years to come?

• How can I take care of my body more so that I can live more vibrantly for longer?

• Who makes me feel seen? How can I create more room for them in 2026?

• What work do I enjoy doing the most that also feels effortless? How can I change things so that “that” is the only “work” I do?

• Are there areas that I need to abandon logic in order to make room for curiosity?

• What am I putting off for “someday” that I can actually do in the year ahead?
  

All of this reflecting made me start thinking about practices that have helped me move forward with intention, something that would also be a gift to you.

The single practice that has helped me the most has been creating a vision board at the beginning of each new year or season. This practice is not about putting pretty pictures on a board, #goals, or fitting into someone else’s version of success - it’s about giving space for you to create a roadmap to the most confident and alive version of yourself. In the last decade, I have been blown away by things that I have put on my board, not knowing why, that later come to fruition. In fact, on my current vision board, there are red poppies, and now I know they symbolized the remembrance and passing of our sweet Ella.

A couple years ago, I gathered up all that experience, intention, and resources and created The Vision Board Course, so that you could have this experience too. Whenever the time is right, to be completed when it works best for you and in your own timing.

I don’t have a fancy website page telling you why you should do it. But I am making the Vision Board Course available to you if you are ready for it. This course (really experience) was born out of decades of my own learnings of what it means to create a vision for myself, the truest, most pure version of me.

It’s designed to gently guide you through it, from the moment you click purchase, to when your board is completed. You don’t need to have everything “ready” before you start, I’ll let you know what to do as we go along.

It is something you will treasure and come back to time and time again.

Everyone’s experience is uniquely theirs and it meets them exactly where they are at - just read the reviews at the bottom of this page. One of my favorite things is when someone sends me a picture of their vision board, pointing out which thing JUST happened and their mind is blown. They didn’t put that picture on the board because they thought they should, it just felt like it needed to be there.

Their experience could be yours, or there might be a different, more meaningful experience waiting for you. Let this be the year that you start with investing in yourself from day one.

Just to give you a glimpse of what’s on the other side, the video below is the first video that you’ll watch as part of the course.

If you are wanting 2026 to look (and feel) different than the years you’ve lived before, The Vision Board Course is ready for you.

Access The Course

I hope you’ll lean into it.

🧡 Lauren.

It happens every time. Without fail. Without me noticing. As time goes on, as I experience this feeling time & time again - but I have started to identify it faster.

This thing that creeps up is the uncomfortable feeling during seasons of transition. No one talks about the internal floundering that happens in your mind when something that used to occupy your thoughts & days all of a sudden is no longer there.

For me, it comes when a long-term commitment has served it’s purpose and no longer fits where life is taking me. Once I leave, my mind starts grasping for anything to fill the void that has been created by a change in my routine. It shouts that keeping that vacated space open is wasteful. I have things to do, people to meet, goals to achieve, and time would be much better spent doing something else than just sitting with my calendar empty. There’s an overwhelming feeling that I don’t have time to sit and enjoy what it’s like to have “less” on my plate.

But that is not the truth.

This “floundering” of the mind is natural - I’ve learned to expect it because it will always come. It’s the mind trying to cope with the fear of the unknown.

But my heart and my spirit thrive in the unknown. They seek it out. They create it. It is not something to be afraid of.

I have learned to not be surprised by it. Not to fear it. But to embrace it. To welcome it with open arms.

Because this uncomfortable space is necessary. It is required to let it be. Let it sit. It is needed to re-calibrate, to reflect, to realign.

Without it, or to pre-maturely fill it, robs me of clarity, confidence, & ease required for the next season.

I never felt this more viscerally than I did years ago, during a group exercise. I learned that sitting still can take more willpower than moving forward. Sitting still is not lazy, it can be just as powerful as taking the next step forward.

In the exercise each participant was given a number that only we knew - the task was to get in numerical order without using our voices & with our eyes closed. My natural tendency is to lead & direct - to create order from a chaotic situation, but there were many in the group that immediately jumped into that role. And it caused me to pause and an image flashed across my mind. A lighthouse. A quiet beacon that stands still to call the boats home.

I was meant to be a light house, and by standing still, by providing a reference point to orient to. I knew that this was as powerful and meaningful as directing. It was more important for me to stand still, to be an anchor, than to move and place others in their spot. Standing there was one of the hardest exercises for me and my thoughts were a never ending loop of “stay here, you are helping others find their place. Do. Not. Move.”

And it worked, everything fell into place as it should. A miracle if you ask me.

I have found a version of standing still is keeping the space open during seasons of re-alignment. No time is wasted. No opportunity is missed. Everything falls into place as it should.

I can stand still. I can have clarity. I can have courage to stay on the path I’ve chosen.

On the road less traveled by, this is common place. You will find yourself saying “no” to good things to make room for the great. In saying no, you are architecting a life that is a reflection of who you are outside the expectations of others.

In these seasons, standing still & reflecting are requirements not options. It means that the next step you take is not out of fear, routine, or desperation, but it is authentic, life giving, and meaningful.

Keep that space open my friend and enjoy what unfolds.

🧡 Lauren.

I’m going to be honest, I’ve been dreading posting for a couple of weeks now.

But before we get into the reason WHY I’ve been dreading this particular post, let me give you a little background so you understand how I got here…

Mike and I always take a trip over our anniversary in early September. This year, our destination was San Diego (I promise a travel guide is coming soon for paid subscribers!) and it was a really lovely trip. It was the perfect combination of relaxing, shopping, adventuring, and eating - which by our standards = amazing. The last couple of years have been a roller coaster & truly stretched our capacity for the unknown in so many ways. Even our ten year anniversary trip to Maui last year, didn’t really give us the reset & relaxation that we desperately needed. Just the weight of how our lives shifted when I lost my job unexpectedly, while in the midst of getting our airbnb up and running, & choosing to start my own coaching business, not to mention processing the grief of what I’d lost, felt like a never ending load we were carrying. Almost like we were constantly walking through mud, just trying to get to the other side. Thankfully, through it all we had each other & business kept coming in for Mike.

Creatively, the amount of words I had written in the last year and a half was astronomical. Between this newsletter, my website, instagram posts and reels, free ebooks, trainings and courses for the members of The Club… the line from Hamilton, “why do you write like you’re running out of time” kept coming to mind. The amount of content I was consistently creating and posting was so far and above whatever I had previously done. While it did take intentionality to create all of that, it truly felt like I was directly connected to my well of creativity. Something, in my mind, that had been suppressed for years, underneath my identity of being organized, and “good at systems”. This year and a half, I just let it all go & really connected with that creative side of myself.

While this past couple of years have been essential to my own clarity & confidence. It also created a mental weight of believing that the only way my businesses could succeed was through growing on instagram. I knew I had something people needed to hear, a space that felt like peace or a breath of fresh air, and I was doing all the “right” things. But it wasn’t taking off like I thought it would. It wasn’t until I received a call a couple weeks before our San Diego trip, offering me a contracted coaching position, that I realized exactly how heavy that weight had been. The description of the job was literally what I had been building within the Unconventional Woman’s Club. Essentially, I was being contracted for the coaching services that I, Lauren Varel, can provide - and immediately I felt like what I had created in the Club was for this moment. This job. I had a financial safety net within my business, that I hadn’t felt for almost two years. I felt like I could breathe again.

Together, and individually, we had worked so hard to make the unknowns… known. And by the time we were in San Diego, many of them were. Our airbnb had done well and was being booked pretty regularly, I had the coaching job, things were falling into place.

So going into San Diego, I felt the freedom to just check out and enjoy that feeling of “known” and security again. So, I didn’t post on instagram…or maybe I did. Twice, I think. But it literally was just a picture in my stories. No words. And it wasn’t until we were flying home that I posted a carousel, recapping our trip. I wasn’t thinking about what I had to post, or trying to capture wisps of ideas to hash out more later. For me, instagram was more about being the vehicle for my business instead of something I consume, but it had affected my mindset in similar ways I think. Without instagram, I woke up with a quiet mind. I had a deep peace that transcended more than just the “knowing” things would work out. I could tangibly feel it.

I do want to share that I am really proud of what I created in my instagram. A couple of years ago, I gave myself the goal to test what it would be like for me to really go “all in” (according to my standards) online. To find my own system that worked and to keep showing up consistently. And I did it. I figured out a rhythm of creating and posting that’s tailored to my unique strengths, energy flow, and inspiration. It feels uniquely mine. And honestly, I feel like my account is now this little work of art.

When I got home, the morning after returning home, I woke up with that running list again. And I realized, it didn’t have to be that way. At it’s basic level, I had control over how I woke up in the morning. I could treat every day like I did on vacation… and what was the one thing I changed? Instagram. So, I started to experiment with what it would be like to not post on instagram… turns out that weight and running list lifted. Then, I progressed to deleting the app off my phone, trusting that my backend systems would keep working and I would be connected with the right people in real life. And I found myself with quiet mind mornings again.

What I didn’t expect, is that release of instagram, created a ripple effect, that was actually quite abrupt. Almost immediately after deleting the app, I found myself no longer having access to that creative well I had become so connected to. I had no words anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to take a photo or video. Nothing. It was like all that I had access to for well over a decade, was now behind a closed door that wasn’t budging. It’s an odd feeling to no longer have access to a part of you… one of the truest parts of you. But what feels different about this, is that I know it’s just behind the door and the door will open again on it’s own time.

I’m not worried about “what if it doesn’t come back” or “everything will fall apart”. I know it will come back and for now, I just get to be curious about life again. To do things that inspire and fuel me for the sake of just that - not for the sake of posting, sharing or writing.

So here comes why I’ve been dreading this post.

It’s because I don’t have words anymore. Actually, as I write this I am extremely shocked that I have been able to write about this at all. I have been dreading this, because I know that I’ve communicated a certain cadence to you (and my paid subscribers) and I have to keep giving that to you. I want to keep going, but truthfully, I don’t know what that will look like going forward. But what I do know is that I am going to try to bring you along on this journey as best I can.

Don’t worry, I have grace for myself to let myself do what I need to do. Believe me, I’ve spent years learning to prioritize my own needs above the expectations of others. But I think we have something special here. I think that’s why I felt the need to move to substack in the first place. It’s almost like my past self knew this was coming and wanted to keep a space open - a space that is flexible and not in the world of social media.

Maybe these posts will feel more like letters… maybe they will just be a link or two of what I’ve been enjoying… Mike had an idea for guest writers or I thought about podcast like conversations. I’m not sure. I’m actually kind of excited about experimenting with what it feels like to step away from the monthly/yearly structure and step into sharing and creating on my own timeline and cadence. If I really think about it, I imagine that what’s best for me is less about the system and more about the inspiration. Giving myself the freedom to find stability and confidence in that.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for always giving me space to adapt, change and grow.

I hope you’ll come with me as I discover what it’s like navigating this creative pause and continuing walking this road less traveled by.

🧡 Lauren.

On October 1st, I woke up with one thought in my head, “Magical things happen in October.” It was so clear & filled me with the joy of expecting the unexpected.

For me, the most unexpected, lovely & affirming experiences have happened in October. I started dating and then became engaged to my husband. It’s the month I’ve achieved a promotion I was worki…

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This past weekend, we had friends in town who had never been to Kansas City before.

We packed our days full of restaurants, sports games, and shopping. At the end of each day we were sufficiently exhausted with our hearts full.

There were so many things that we did that I hadn’t done in ages. I hadn’t been to a Royals baseball game in probably a decade. A store I hadn’t been to in several years had grown & now stocked many of my favorite clothing brands. The Plaza Art Fair wasn’t as busy as I remembered it being in the past.

About half way through the weekend, I mentioned to Mike that this is what we could be doing every weekend if we wanted to. But we forget. We get stuck in our regular routines - missing out on what is right in front of us.

Do you do the same thing?

Get stuck in your routine of “normals” and miss out on new and different experiences because of it?

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Yes, it does seem easier in the moment to go out to eat at the restaurant that’s down the street from your house - but what would it be like to have a little more intention - to drive a little further down the road, to the place that just opened?

I bet you’d feel more alive, more inspired, and more fulfilled - even if it’s only 5% more than when you go to your normal stop.

When life gets overwhelming, our natural tendency is to make our circle smaller. To stick to what is known. To stay in the comfortable bubble.

But what we need in uncertain times is to make our circle wider. To experience new things. To meet new people. To see our surroundings with different eyes & to appreciate the small things.

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This week I hope you choose to take that different route home. Go to that coffee shop that is only 10 minutes further away from the drive-thru you frequent. Or sign up for a tour of one of your cities attractions.

I wonder what you’ll find when you take your own road less traveled & how that will change how you see yourself and your community.

Cheers,

Lauren.

If you know me even a little bit, you’ll know that I am a HUGE advocate for supporting your overall health through simple rhythms or systems.

I will get on a soap box about the little ways our energy gets “leaked” throughout the day - whether it be through decision making, putting others needs before your own, or being exposed to environments that aren’t life giving… you know, the ones that are more of a distraction than a recharge.

As a society, we’ve become so accustomed to having our base line be so low, that the littlest mishap or unexpected experience can throw off our entire day… or week.

And the only way back to yourself, to feeling better, is through a series of long “wellness practices" in your morning, a month long vacation, or a perfect routine of working out and eating healthy.

We underestimate the power of the small shifts.

That consistency, at the tiniest level, not only compounds, but it helps ease you into taking care of yourself in the day to day, instead of waiting until you are burned out and exhausted before making a hard reset. It helps these rebalancing and renewing rhythms be on auto-pilot instead of consciously making the decisions each day.

For me, I have learned the hard way in what it’s like to “think” I don’t need a certain practice, but then to later discover that it actually was doing more good than I realized. I’m sure you have too - you might have experienced it as shifting around your budget, cancelling subscriptions or appointments, in favor of sending that money to a need that feels more pressing at the moment. Depending on what you cancelled, you might have felt a little more on edge, a little less put together, or like a little piece of you was missing.

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Here’s a little deeper look at what that looked like for me:

Much of my income from a past job was used for our fun or extra things, so when I unexpectedly lost my job last year, we did a lot of canceling or adjusting. With things like nail appointments, 3 week long anniversary trips, supplements (because I was doing “fine”), Growthday monthly subscription, shopping money, wine club subscriptions, traveling to see friends, going out to eat & not looking at the prices on the menu, using truly clean & safe products…

While this list might seem superficial to some, for me, it’s a list of experiences that make me feel more like me.

That Growthday subscription? It’s the app I used for morning and evening journaling & listening to my dose of positive mindset thoughts for the day - when I cancelled it, it became harder to show up as my best self each day & to approach challenges with optimism and resilience.

The supplements? Turns out, I was feeling better because my body had what it needed to feel it’s best. When I no longer was taking them, I started to feel worse, making it harder to feel like myself in the day to day.

Going out to eat & ordering on vibes? That hits a part of my soul that loves enjoying and creating experiences for others. I am truly in my element when we go to a cozy restaurant and I get to order food & drinks for the table to share. Taking that away, or limiting that, stole an opportunity for me to share my creativity and love to others.

Changing the quality of skincare and makeup products I was using? I could feel the difference. Being the highly intuitive person, I notice subtle differences that others might not. For me, compromising the quality of products I was using, made me feel like I was chipping away at my quality of life one pump of lotion at a time.

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Were the decisions we made necessary? Yes. But looking back, I now know which ones I need to prioritize, because they replace the energy that unknowingly gets leaked throughout my day. Especially in the hard seasons.

Now, I look at the long term effects of not doing certain practices. I felt the difference a year made without them & to me it’s not worth compromising in these three areas, specifically because they decrease overwhelm, increase resilience & confidence - without adding extra to my plate each day.

1. The Growthday App: I am someone who naturally finds, listens and reads personal development/growth resources. I am always thinking how I can be better personally & in my business. However, removing the decision making of what to listen to or what to journal about is extremely helpful during a busy or hard season. All I need to do is click play on the “podcast” of the day. This app truly is the best thing out there & is the reason I am able to create and do the things I am doing today. My sense of confidence, clarity, and ability to figure things out is so much higher when I open up the app in the morning. It’s worth the $50/mo hands down.
   

2. Personalized Supplements: There is a lot that we are exposed to on a daily basis, things that are outside of our control, & it affects our bodies in a variety of different ways. Today, we live in a world where high quality, personalized supplements are a non-negotiable. Full stop. But the supplement world is messy & it’s not regulated, much like the personal product industry. Frequense supplements are designed to go where they are most needed in the body. And they address healing at the mitochondrial level (i.e. the powerhouse of your whole body). For me, I noticed a difference within an hour of taking my first scoop of Rise - and when doing the bare minimum feels like too much, this helps me gain energy, focus, and a sense of ease again. Mike and I always talk about how we would have never finished Evermore without the help of Frequense.

3. Clean Skincare + Makeup Products: Part of the reason I compromised on the products I was using is my favorite company closed. There just wasn’t another company to had the safety standards, performance & branding that it had. BUT it’s back and I’ve missed them! A way I am adjusting our budget without compromising all together is simplifying my routine. Instead of getting a full regimen (cleanser, toner, serums, day and night cream and eye cream), I am grabbing this multi-purpose cleanser, face oil, & serum. And less makeup day to day. Turns out my skin is super happy with it & internally I feel better about my long-term health.

I hope that hearing a little bit of behind the scenes from me, helps you be able to identify where your energy might be leaking throughout the day & what practices could help support you feeling more like yourself.

As always, I’m here for you. If you need help - the comments are always open.

Cheers,

Lauren.

As our lives change, it requires us to change how we get things done. Many times, we don't notice that our lives are slowly shifting over time, until all of a sudden, we aren't able to get things done like we used to.

It's easy to get caught up in thinking that once things slow down, then you'll be able to focus or maybe if you just try harder, it will …

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So, all week, I’ve been trying to take the thoughts in my head and put them into a substack post for you. But no matter how hard I tried, it just wasn’t happening.

Then, I realized that I could just record a video to send to you all (somehow that uses a different word part of my brain?). So here we are. Shifting to keep showing up instead of giving up all together or writing something that didn’t feel authentic.

Me sending you this video, is actually the perfect example of what I wanted to share. How to keep showing up for you during times of change or when you feel too busy.

If something resonated with you, please let me know in the comments. Hearing your thoughts makes me so incredibly happy.

Cheers,

Lauren.

Austin has been a city where I find myself coming back to time and time again. I first visited in 2013 for a conference and most recently visited to see Kacey Musgraves in concert (the tuesday before thanksgiving mind you). I’ve even stayed with friends while I decided to attend a Growth Day conference last minute. That conference led to a breakthrough that birthed the foundation that would later be The Unconventional Woman’s Club.

I’ve had lots of breakthroughs and meaningful experiences in Austin. I credit the food scene for playing a hand in those moments, because for me, enjoying food & drinks that have been intentionally created really connects deep in my soul.

This travel guide relies heavily on walkability, especially for when you are attending a conference or concert. Even though I’ve visited Austin several times, I know I am just scratching the surface. But I’m pretty proud of this list & I know you won’t go wrong staying, shopping, or eating at any of these places.

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