On my mind: flowers, feeling "almost," change, and following whims

A collection of bite-sized ideas and observations

I tend to prefer brevity when it comes to reading during my scroll sessions. I listen to plenty of podcasts and audiobooks and meander through a handful of novels each year¹, but when reading online, I’d like to be entertained, inspired, or impressed fairly quickly. This is likely because social media has ruined my attention span, but the fact remains: I’m probably not going to linger for long unless it is a top 3 topic for me² AND incredibly interesting.

This is in direct opposition to the way I naturally talk and write—it is truly one of the only ways I am a maximalist. My brain is fueled by tiny details, and thus in conversation, I pepper most exchanges with (likely unnecessary) context and commentary. I lean toward lengthy, descriptive sentences with dashes and parentheticals, and often find myself working to break sentences in two and delete, delete, delete.

Regardless, being that we’re all relentlessly inundated with images and information to consume, I’m challenging myself to keep these weekly posts quite concentrated. And as I am the type that loves structures and systems, I’m introducing a new post style today that I plan to return to on perhaps a biweekly basis.

Sometimes, I haven’t quite had the time to fully develop or polish an idea I have bouncing around for a post, but I do have several observations I’d like to document. Enter On My Mind (OMM), a collection of bite-sized observations and ideas that have come up for me this week.

On My Mind (OMM)

1. I took my son on a walk yesterday morning and stopped to snap of photo of the black eyed Susans we have in our backyard. This giant patch of flowers came from two meager bunches, on clearance at the end of a summer. My husband planted them, thinking he didn’t have much to lose, given that they were just a few dollars. Each year, they come back bigger and happier than ever. I love the chance of it all — spotting the flowers on the clearance rack, deciding to plant them here, and now it’s one of our favorite little backyard corners. Often, the best things come from no plan at all.

Working on a whimsical, cottage-y landscaping vibe around here.

2. Today is the Fourth of July, but our kids are still too little to stay up for fireworks. At their ages, (1.5 and 4), it’s also challenging to find activities that they can both enjoy equally. I feel like we’re in an almost stage: it’s not quite easy yet to go out to dinner, to travel, to grocery shop, to celebrate holidays, but we’re almost there. In this stage, most things are a balance of challenging and fun, challenging and necessary, challenging and “I’m glad we did it.” I know this season won’t last, and I want to bottle up their littleness forever, but a little less challenging and a little more fun won’t be a horrible trade off.

3. Right now, I’m in the middle of a decently big change in my life. (More later!) Historically, I have a hard time with change—as most people do, right? But this time, underneath it all, I feel a sense of peace. Even though some things about this change might present a learning curve, I feel ready for it. I feel at ease with letting it unfold vs. trying to plan it all out. Now, if I could only copy/paste this feeling onto all future endeavors, that would be great. 😂

4. I have an entire document FULL of ideas for posts here and on my Instagram³. I have videos on my phone intended for Reels I have yet to make. First, it must be said that I don’t really enjoy creating content for social media. This could be because I have incredibly limited free time, and the idea of spending it on my phone feels like a waste. That said, when I do actually post, it is almost always something that I saw that day, documented, and found the time to edit and share. Because I wanted to. Same with here, on Substack: although I have a giant list of post ideas, I rarely reference it. Instead, I sit down and write about what is on my mind or heart. This kind of organic social media participation—rather than a meticulously curated or planned content calendar—is what works for me.⁴ My official strategy is this: follow a whim if it presents itself. As someone who is very structured, baking in an opportunity to be whimsical is so needed. (I’m planning to be whimsical. This is so very, very on brand. ♡)

1. I am desperately trying to read more. I’ve found it tough, since having kids, to choose a book over mindless scrolling before bed. I’m just. so. tired. 😴

2. My current top 3: Taylor Swift, parenthood, and the election, with special mention for recipe videos.

3. A sample post title: “The least they could do is carve it into a bear” — I fully intend to write this one. So for you, the footnote checkers, you have a sneak preview!

4. I do not earn a living from social media. I know for those that do, content strategy and calendars are absolutely needed.