Alignment

This past month, I’ve felt light.

Free.

Happy.

And I’ve been questioning it—because life also feels complicated, hard, and heavy right now.

The world feels Tender. Uncertain. Unjust.

So how does that make sense?

After sitting with it, here’s what I know to be true.

I am living in deep values alignment.

The things that matter most to me—who I am at my core, how I care for my family, how I show up for my community—are woven into my everyday life.

Not someday. Not “when things calm down.” Now.

My values are simple and close: intimate connection, supporting others, curiosity, creativity, and solitude.

I’m holding them like guardrails—keeping myself focused, helping me stay on a path that feels honest, impactful, and rooted in integrity.

Being guided by my values has kept me from melting—at least most days—given the current state of the world. I don’t spiral in the question of “What can I do?” I don’t feel small or frozen.

I know.

My values tell me where to place my energy, how to respond, when to rest, and when to act.

Lately, living my values looks like:

Teaching yoga and mindfulness each week in a middle school—offering young humans tools for presence, regulation, and self-trust.

It looks like showing up fully for my coaching clients as they do their best, bravest work in service of their teams and communities.

It looks like holding my kids close and having honest conversations about our shared responsibility to extend kindness to others, even when the world feels confusing or heavy.

It looks like gathering a group and heading to the mountains—to slow down, to listen, and to be in meaningful dialogue about clear vision and honoring what the heart is asking for.

And it looks like tending to my own inner work: practicing pause, softening reactivity, and learning—again and again—how to communicate in ways steeped in curiosity and forgiveness.

Not only do I feel on purpose in my work and daily choices, I feel on purpose in my larger role as a human being.

That’s the invitation I want to leave you with:

Consider your values.

Name them.

Bring them closer.

Ask yourself how you might activate them—not as ideals, but as daily, imperfect, human practice—for the betterment of your own life and for the people near and far.

Lightness doesn’t come from denying the heaviness.

Sometimes, it comes from knowing exactly where you stand within it.