10 Personal Things I’d Like to Share With You
Most of what I share with you is personal because it’s what I believe, or experienced or recommend. However, it’s not usually directly about me. It’s important to me to not share everything, to recognize the difference between personal and intimate and to share things that matter to you.
This list is a little more fun and personal than usual and I’m including a few things that are for you too.
I’m Courtney Carver and this is what’s true for me today …
1. I work closely with my daughter. Even though we have our own businesses, we co-create a podcast together called Soul & Wit, she helps me with social media and she’s a big part of the day-long business workshop coming up next month. Learn more about the Bloom Workshop here (and read her cute bio).
2. Multiple Sclerosis is my responsibility. When I was diagnosed with ms in 2006, I tried to figure out what I did to get it. I blamed myself for it. Now I know that I am not responsible for it but I am responsible to it. It’s why I destressed, decluttered and dedebted my life. It’s why I take good care now. It’s why I say no, why I go to bed early and why I do my best to live by Liz Lesser’s mantra, “Do no harm, take no shit.”
If you guilt trip yourself when you get sick and can’t get things done or you struggle with a chronic condition, please reframe. You are not responsible for it. You are responsible to it.
3. I don’t support everything I’ve ever thought or written. While I believed what I was writing was true when I wrote it, I’ve changed my view on different things over the 12 years I’ve been sharing my life on the internet. There are people and thoughts and messages I used to support that I don’t support anymore. I won’t let that stop me from sharing what’s meaningful to me now. Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” That’s what I’m doing in life and work.
4. Getting back to basics is a part of my wellness routine. Even though I enjoy routine and self-discipline comes pretty naturally, I often come back to basics in different parts of my life and ask, “Is this still working? What needs to shift? Does this still feel good?” In The Simplicity Space membership, we are focusing on getting back to basics for the next few months to ask those questions and more in relation to your simplicity journey. We are only opening up to the waitlist for now, so please join here if you are interested in learning more.
5. I watched Love Is Blind AND The Ultimatum. They were both horrifying to watch and I really enjoyed myself. I had so many fascinating conversations with friends about them. I share this because I want you to know that I live with less, I take walks, read books, meditate every day AND I watched these reality shows. I’m just over here being human.
6. I’m reading three different books right now, four if you count audiobooks. This never happens. I am a one book at a time lady. If you are curious …
- Things That Matter I’ve been reading this for the last few days and I’m chatting with the author and my friend, Joshua Becker today, Thursday, April 21 at 1:30 ET right here if you’d like to join!
- One Italian Summer Reading this one at night before falling asleep. Note: was crying before page 8.
- Co-Dependent No More From what I understand, this is required reading for most adults.
- The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale (audiobook) I’m taking a long time to listen to this one but having a blast with it.
7. I treasure my alone time. Most of my dear friends and family don’t live near me. They live in other states and countries. I miss them and stay connected with phone calls and FaceTime (not social media). I love spending time with my nearby loves and I treasure my alone time. It’s essential for my work and wellbeing. I can be alone by myself or alone with other people. If I’m working at a co-working space or cafe, everything around me disappears. I love being with my people and spending time alone. Both things are true.
8. I don’t mind if you correct my grammar. Seriously, I usually guess when it comes to commas and other punctuation. I’ve emailed my friend Tessa many times asking, “does the comma go here or here” or “is this the right word here?” When I received the edits on my first book, there were hundreds of instances where I didn’t do it right. I used to get lots of email messages about typos and such but not so much anymore. I actually don’t mind it because then I can easily correct things. Just don’t let the typos distract you from what you want out of an article or message. So not worth it.
I hope this gives you permission to start writing more (if you want to) even though you aren’t sure about commas.
9. I’m not very organized. As soon as I start organizing things, or putting things in order or having to arrange things, I am out of my element and a bit annoyed. This is why living with less stuff really serves me. I remember people pointing out where shelves and other cabinets could fit in my home, so I could have more room for my stuff and just thinking about that exhausts me. Why does our stuff always need more stuff? If I get more stuff for my stuff, I know I’ll just end up with more stuff.
10. I feel very connected to you. Whether we’ve met or not, I feel very connected to you. After almost 12 years of sharing myself and my journey on the internet, I’ve connected to people through email, social media, blog comments when I had them and in person events. Knowing that we are all in this together, that we are all on the path even though not always at the same place at the same time makes me feel supported, connected and encouraged to keep connecting with and supporting you right back.
I was inspired to write this post, which is really different from what I usually share by her 10 things project and her 10 things article.
xo,
Courtney
P.S. If you have a small business or are growing something online like a blog, podcast or other creative project and want to share your work and grow in a gentle way, check out Bloom! It’s a one-day business workshop I’m hosting with my amazing team to encourage the kind of work that won’t wear you out. Learn more here. Space is limited.