Doe Writes

 Teach something.  This should be an easy one.  I know I have a lot of knowledge and do a ton of teaching throughout my days.  Part of my life’s mission statement is about my drive to teach others.  But I’m drawing a blank.    Inspiring and teaching others through my enthusiasm for  Striving for My Best  with patience, kindness, calmness, exploration & adventure.   I love reflecting on my mission statement.   When I spent the time earlier this year working on a ton of self reflection and exploration, it felt so incredible to develop this statement that feels like it so aptly describes my personal and professional goals in a way I don’t think I’d previously been able to tap into.   My core values: Exploration.   This is my drive to be my best self.  To constantly seek knowledge.  Whether it’s from a book or from new experiences.  Reflecting back on my previous life choices, it’s why I chose t...

Today’s prompt is to make a list.  Doubt it will be one of my more profound posts, but I’m in (I LOVE lists – very Type A over here)! My first thought is to brainstorm a list of the steps I can take to work on my writing project of writing articles for work.   Or studying for my AREs.   Those both seem helpful, yes, but not terribly thought provoking or exciting.   What about a bucket list of sorts.   Fantasize about places I want to travel.   Put my current big goals (and maybe some new ones) in one place. In no particular order – my life list: ·          Build a Tiny House ·          Take 1 ARE ·          Pass all Architectural Exams ·          Get my Architecture License ·          Complete my ALEP accreditation ·     ...

I think the part of my life that I was the most naïve about was finances. I take that back, there were a lot of parts of my life that I was naïve about. This will be a ramble, not sure I have much of a point, yet. Finances.   Growing up, we had it pretty easy.   I had all of my basic needs met (by far), we traveled, went out to eat regularly, I had birthday parties, my brother and I got a weekly allowance and my parents owned a nice home.   But we didn’t talk about money, or financial savviness. The biggest discussion about finances that I remember was one summer when we were taking our annual (sometimes twice-a-year) roadtrip out East to visit my grandparents, and extended family.   As we stopped along the way for meals, I remember my dad mentioning several times that we needed to pay for everything with credit card, not cash.   To this day, I don’t know why.   There must have been some big payment that they had to make out of the checking account,...

The past week was hectic. The start of an all virtual school year, while trying to come to an agreement on what is the best solution for 2 full time working co-parents on how to best handle the added load left me with little mental capacity for much else. But I knew it was going to be like that. I had prepared myself and cleared my plate to focus on the priority of the moment, figuring out my son's schooling. I was overwhelmed at times, but reminded myself that it's okay to be overwhelmed. I was able to not curl up in a ball, but keep taking steps towards getting it all figured out. And I feel so much better now, having waded through the hard work. Staying present in those moments, knowing it was hard and uncomfortable, but that in a few weeks, we'd be into our new routine (whatever that was going to look like), and back to a newer "new normal." Today I'm back to working on rebuilding my habits, systems and plans on how I want to achieve great things, but m...

How might it feel to be a kid going back to school in these times? We’ve made all the usual preparations for back to school. The new backpack, filled with school supplies. My first day of school outfit is picked out (I tried it on enough times that I had to wash it again yesterday), I know exactly how I’ll be doing my hair and makeup – I’ve been practicing my new look all summer. I can’t wait to see my friends. Will I recognize them with face masks on? Will I be safe going back to school? What are classes going to be like? Will I like my new teachers? Will I get good grades this year? I anxiously go to bed the night before the first day, so many questions swirling through my head that it’s difficult to fall asleep, but eventually I must fall asleep because my alarm is already going off, signaling the arrival of the new day. I rush to the bathroom before my younger sister and brother can get there. After a shower I put on my new look. Try on the mask that my mom made for me, che...

I love the 500 words a day challenge, and I'm working on building consistency, as well as not beating myself up if I miss a day.  I'm finding it's a little easier to knock out my 500 words before I start work as part of my morning routine, but on the weekends when my schedule is a little looser, I struggle to get back here to write. Today (Sunday) with a lot of things I want to get done to set myself up for a busy week ahead (lots of work deadlines + the start of virtual school for 1st and 12th grades). I'm using my weekly habit reflection in conjunction with my writing habit. So here's a little peek into some of my other goals and self work I'm doing! We're working on learning to let go of perfectionist habits, and have daily homework of 'Half-Assing' something we would otherwise struggle to do or feel like we could only do "Perfectly" for it to count. Week of August 10 - 16 Habit Reflection: What was your goal for the week? Week 2 of w...