the origins: thank you

The origins. Hmmm. Let’s see, where did it all start?

Ah, yes, I know. Here we go…

me

Thank you to mom and dad, for making my life a possibility, for having me, raising me, and loving me.

music

Thank you to mom and dad, for seeing my love for music, for listening and believing me, for giving me a ukulele for Christmas by the time I was five. Thank you for getting me started with piano lessons and then guitar lessons at eight, for paying for all those years, and for sitting every week outside the music store, in the car, while I played and practiced and fell in love with an art and skill that has shaped my life and who I have become.

Thank you to every music teacher I have ever had, especially Dave, who has had a massive influence on my life, and also Steve — my two favorites.

Thank you to all the wonderful musicians I’ve been lucky enough to play with and talk about music with. Music together is my absolute favorite kind.

writing

Thank you to mom and dad, for giving me my first journal for my tenth birthday and suggesting I fill it with anything I thought, felt, or wanted to write on.

Thank you to my mom, for loving words and showing me a life with nonstop reading and writing.

Thank you to Mr. Peyton, for being an excellent English teacher, one of my high school favorites, and for promoting thought, discussion, confidence, individualism, respect, effort, articulation, and community amongst our class. I was inspired further by the magic of language, thanks to you.

Thank you to the wonder cohort of January 2023, for giving me space to voice my longings and dreams, for pushing me to begin and to have the courage to share.

Thank you to everyone here, who reads everyday magic. 💕

our marriage

Thank you to Jake, for seeing me and being sure of me, for loving me and pursuing me, and for sparking a love story when we were so young that we now get to enjoy for our entire lives. Thank you for our first seven years of amazing partnership and all the adventure and loyal devotion you have brought to my life.

Thank you to every respectful, happy, romantic, committed, united, joyful, patient, earnest, trusting, kind, fun couple we know who have modeled good marriages for us and shown us clues along the way for how we want to do it and who we want to be together. We’re watching, and we’re practicing.

friendship

Thank you to the people who both soar and cry with us. Thank you to the best friends with whom I share my favorite memories and stories. Life is better with you!

Thank you to those who have gone before me on the path of cultivating community and friendship. Thank you to everyone who believes in and cherishes it. Secret sauce. True magic. A treasure.

lifting

Thank you to Susie, for introducing me to powerlifting and teaching me so much. Thank you for walking beside me as I found a whole new strength and empowerment within myself. Thank you for believing in me and speaking words of pride and awe to me always. Thank you for seeing my transformation and cheering for it. Thank you for being the first to start this journey I am now determined to stick with, and for building in me a love for something that makes my life, body, and mind so much better!

Thank you to everyone in the incredible strength community. There are too many to name who have personally impacted me, and even more who make up the vast, amazing web of strong, supportive, hard working individuals.

Thank you to my dad, for finding a gym passion soon after I did, and for this and all the many other ways you have changed and supercharged your life. We are all inspired and grateful to know you.

my work & career

Thank you to everyone who poured into my education and opportunities. Mom and dad will always be at the top of this list!

Thank you to all the wonderful students I had the privilege of teaching and all the terrific families who were part of my music studio. Thank you to everyone who supported and shared in that part of my life, who celebrated and marveled at my business, who guided me and helped me through, who worked alongside me, and who had any part. I will forever be grateful for that very cool and important time in my life, that dream come true, the great start to my career and skills development, everything I learned.

Thank you to the bridge jobs I had along the way to where I am now; the ones that were never as big, meaningful, or impactful as my studio, but that still served their own useful purposes. To Carlos, for being my favorite boss I’d had. To my fun coworkers for the happy memories. Even to the hard times, for building in me the resilience and resolve to keep going, to bounce back from failure after failure, and to take the good learning opportunities and experience boosters wherever they’re available. To the rejections I received that would have been the wrong spot for me to end up. I have loved finding out it all works out for the best.

Thank you to my job and boss and team now, for the chance to do what I do and what I love so crazy much. This is in my top two favorite jobs I’ve ever worked, rivaled only by my music studio. They have each come at the perfect time and been just the right fit. I am astonished by my dumb luck and super cool experience in this role.

the sum & the parts

Thank you to Love, God, the Universe — for all of it. For everything. For life and every bit it contains. For the grace to carry on, for all the heart woven through everything, for the harmonious way you work for our best interest, in each adventure, effort, mishap, and wondering. Thank you.

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I thought it would be fun to look back at the origins of some of the most important parts of my life, to see where things started, to look at the sparks that brought on all of it… and to say thank you.

Gratitude, musing, noticing, remembering…

We each write our stories and play our own songs, and if we’re lucky, we have an orchestra of others helping along the way. I’m very happy and grateful with mine.

Life is so cool.

What are your origin stories? Where did things begin? Where have you taken them? What have you been able to weave together, out of seemingly separate and different parts of your life and experience? What seasons have shaped and defined you the most? Who inspired you and gave you wings to fly? What was introduced into your life, even entirely unexpectedly, that has made it so much better? What will you do next? What will you spark for others?

Happy 2023, and happy 2024. Onward! ❣️