Life Lately

Hello, hello. It's Wednesday, we're here, we've arrived. Hope you are finding joy somewhere in your day. Maybe it's on a walk. Maybe it's a text from a friend. And if it hasn't happened yet, My wish for you is that something joyful pops into your day soon. So my name is Jane Nichols. I'm here for the next chapter in life lately. I don't want to just put out there a couple of things. The first thing I'm just going to pop out there is what is happening in your life lately? What is bringing you joy?

You started with the joy question. What is causing you to pause? What is offering a challenge that might require some creative thinking or a plot twist? So I answer my own questions. What's bringing me joy? I love coffee shops. I don't drink coffee. Now here's why. I do have a dog and my dog is very friendly. He's a golden retriever so if you've been on here with me before sometimes he'll make a cameo. As you can see today I'm in an office so there's no major with me today. However, we walked to the coffee shop this morning and I don't know, my dog was a little extra something today.

Maybe it's the moon, maybe it's the day. But we walk into the coffee shop and if we get there in a certain time of the morning, there's always a table with these three awesome, most of the time it's two, really awesome gentlemen who have been friends with each other for like 36 years, maybe longer. And one's an artist, one's an accountant, and the third one, when he's there, he's a lawyer. But today, I'd gotten a text message that said the whole group wasn't going to be there. So if Major and I stopped by, we'd only get to see one.

So we made it a point to go. And we walk in, and Major knows that it's the right time window. I don't know how he knows. But he races into the coffee shop and he runs to the table. Like, I let go of the leash because he runs over. And on Wednesdays, there's a bonus table, these three other people that also meet. So there's six of them sometimes. So there was five of us. And these individuals have an insane amount of laughter. Hi, Brianna, how you doing today? So offering up three questions on life likely to start.

What's bringing you joy? What's causing you to pause? And what's causing you to pivot? So my joy is going to the coffee shop with my golden retriever. I'm going to sum it up quick. But today, like he just sat there staring at everybody, moving table to table, and everybody would laugh at how he would move. And then I turn around and these people would be sneaking my dog treats like they think I don't know. So that brings me joy. What's causing me to pause? Friendships. You know that point in time when friendships start to transition and you don't know it's coming, something happens.

Maybe there is a life-changing event or maybe there is somebody going through something and they're not ready to share. So what's causing me to pause is just sitting back and watching some dynamics with friends because We all evolve and we all change and we shift and sometimes if you approach those friendships the same way that you did maybe even a year ago or six months ago, it might not feel right because whatever's going on in life, it's not right. So that's giving me pause. And what's causing me to plot twist, I started a new project this week and my first day here on this new project, they were like, oh yeah, we're gonna be in office three days a week.

And I was like, nope, our contract says two, but this week I'll come in three. So I had a plot twist a lot this week. But also inside that, I feel like I've been rediscovering my voice in this project while I am excited about it, because it's gonna be very different than any one that I've been on for a long time. I'm setting boundaries for myself and I'm not always good at that. So my plot twist for me is how do I still set boundaries that are going to be healthy for me, but also serving my new client in a way that feels respectful and good for them.

So in life lately, I really just want to open up doors and windows for us to be really present Again, you know, I go out to Instagram or social media and people will do these April photo dumps or May photo dumps or they'll add that hashtag and just like put a photo and just say life lately. And when I look through them, I'm always excited to see what's going on for them. If it's somebody especially I'm close to and maybe I haven't seen for a while. But also I've started to notice that what we're choosing to put out there isn't all moments and maybe all moments we don't feel like taking a selfie or a photo of something and both can be true.

But what I've really started to appreciate more is when I can walk into a situation or conversation and just be really present in that moment and that is life in that moment and in those moments I've in my coffee shop group with my 80 year old coffee dates that have become a part of my lifeline, I get to actually just show up and be real. I can show up after my spin class sweaty. I can show up feeling sad. I can show up just wanting to listen to their dialogue. And that gets to be a part of my day.

So my question for you is, if you're here and you're driving, don't answer. But if you want to, type in the chat, what is bringing you joy? What is causing you to pause? And what is offering an opportunity to plot twist? I think when I first started, I might have said, what is a challenge that's happening? And those three questions are questions that allow me to feel grounded and present in a moment. And inside the middle of a crazy day, if I just take three minutes, a minute for each question, maybe I write it down, maybe I just reflect on it.

And if I sit with those three questions, it really allows me to One, feel good. Finding something that brought me joy today. I don't always think about that. I might always think about all the things that are challenging me in my day. That could be true and all could be true. I love this. So joy for Brianna's spring pause, a work plot twist, get that. the book I'm reading. I love that. So I'd love to know what book you're reading. I just started reading this book, which is also why I'm thinking a little bit more about life lately.

The book is small. It's called The Sound of Snails Eating, and it literally is about snails. I didn't know this going in. I should have asked more questions, but I was at a bookstore in January up in northern Minnesota, at the end of a retreat and I was attracted to these couple of different books that had animals in their titles. And when I asked the person at the bookshop, she was like, oh, these books are fabulous. They were part of our book club this year. This bookshop has a book club and they will ship out books to you, which is really fun.

I haven't signed up because I already have a stack. But this particular book the sound of snails eating really resonates with the three questions. Because in the book, without giving a lot of detail away, there's the narrator, the voice that we hear in the story, which we don't ever get a really full description of what's going on with them until we start to move through the book. But this person is ill and they're bedridden right now, and a friend brought them a snail. That's all I'm going to leave you with.

But it's helped me to consider what it's like to rediscover plot twists, to understand and have a different perspective on what's causing me to just pause right now. And it's helped me to again remember what is something that's bringing you joy because No matter what our circumstances are, all three can be true and all three can help us ground into the moment. So thank you for joining me today on Life Lately. I have a different topic each week. I'm here on Mondays and we are talking about the power of pause and I have a different topic on Mondays and I'll be coming in on Fridays too.

Sorry I feel like my brain is just like so consumed with this new project right now it's actually causing a disruption in my mind right now. But I love being here with all of you and I'm excited to come back and I also will just add one thing. I recently rediscovered my love for writing. Everybody's creative in different ways and I took a leap of faith and I also had joy in putting a concept together, writing it from a heartfelt place and putting it into the universe and just the feedback that people are sending back to me.

So when you're thinking about these moments and these pauses, what might be something that you want to put out into the world as well? So I look forward to being here with you again. I promise to keep my head on straight and I will chat with you all soon. Enjoy the rest of your day and go