We Can Do Hard Things- august 2025

Happy first Monday of August! (:

I'm sitting down at a campsite in Northern Italy after biking 62 miles. I'll be totally honest right now- this is one of the last things I want to be doing. You know what I'm talking about? Not that you don't actually want to do the thing, but it's now the thing that you have to do, and that's the stressful part. But I’m doing it, a little because I’m stubborn and I’m committed to it, a lot because I love and miss you all so much!!!! So please please feel that in this pretty short August newsletter (:

It's day 5 of bicycling through Europe and I'm getting my booty handed to me, ya’ll. My booty is actually the thing that hurts the most on my body haha! It's what has provoked the topic of this email (the hard bike riding, not my butt being sore!) Before I even get into this thang- let's take a deep breath. No really, if you've got it in you to shrug your shoulders up, back & down, give that a try. I'm right there with you. 2 big breaths in through the nose, out nice and slow, gently through the mouth. Breath control has been saving my life (no like, it actually might be saving my cardiac health) while I push through these first few days of cycling. Maybe give the neck a few little circles, unclench the jaw, toes and tongue, and just like that, boom baby, we're ready for this thing (:

I hope each of you are doing so well! By the time this email gets to you, it will be a few days into the new month. I hope the summer has been so sweet to you! July was a whirlwind of a month for me. I’m sure for you, as well. Mine was filled with a lot of wine, bread, cheese and gelato (we've been in Greece, Albania and Italy so can you blame me!). I got to catch up in person with one of my best friends, saw my family for the first time in 7 months in Italy where we all met up & Arden and I started our next adventure of cycling from Italy to Scotland over the next 2-ish months. 

In total, we’re just over 7 months into the “year of travel” and I’ve never thought more about being done with it than just a few days ago. And I know exactly what it was- going from suuuper comfy cozy in Greece and Italy with delicious food and familiar people who I love dearly, and then ditching all of the hot showers and spacious mattresses for 60+ mile bike rides with an aching body, getting soaked from the rain, sleeping in a tiny tent and not doing laundry for a week. That’ll do it for just about anyone, honestly. 

But, for what it’s worth, I’m still going. And I’m going to continue going because I know I’m capable of hard things. I never try to speak from a place that I haven’t visited myself (self love, grieving, acceptance, challenges, etc) and this year has pushed my limits and boundaries in so many ways. My intention with these newsletters this year is not to just share about my experiences or what I’m learning or blah blah blah. I have had intentions of inspiring you all, maybe encouraging each of us to observe our habits and norms a bit more, and to ask harder questions, but I’m also very faithful to the belief that the real magic is in the mundane. So when we do hard things, like, yes biking across states and countries, but also the things like having challenging conversations with family, choosing to forgive, trusting that finding a new job that brings us joy is the right decision, and so many other things, they slowly, and hopefully, become less hard. 

One of my favorite things to remind myself of is the fact that we don’t even have to do the hardest of things alone. We can surround ourselves with people who want nothing but the best for us, who want to hold our hands, who, more than likely, don’t have the right words to say, but it doesn’t even matter because their presence alone is the gift. It’s hard to be with people who are moving and not be moved. Notice who those people are who inspire you, motivate you, and who are consistently and constantly on your team. And when we build and really work on our self-love and self-trust, we increase tremendously our confidence in who we are. And when we are more confident in who we are and what we’re doing, it’s easier for us to see others for who they are and better love and appreciate them. 

I wrote a whole newsletter a few months back on celebrating the small wins- don’t forget to do just that! We are all so much more resilient and able than  we sometimes think, and just the simple gifts of being able to move our bodies, to feel seen, to see the people you love flourish- those need to be celebrated daily!

I hope August is a reminder of how far you’ve come, where you’re at, and where you’re going to! I miss you all more than you know (so much that if I do come home before a year, you’ll be the reason why!!!) Keep being you because it helps us all be a little more like ourselves <3