If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s probably that this has been a weird year. And while we all weather the same storm on different ships, I don’t think any of them have exactly been a Carnival Cruise.

I personally started in on this year with a booming business, a new baby, and a toddler (read: my new boss), and like anyone else reading this will probably agree, it’s hard to say exactly how life will look on the other side. I’ve struggled to find peace with the situation, oscillated between feelings of appreciating silver linings and wallowing in deep despair, and spent inordinate amounts of time making hard decisions for my family and my kids who aren’t old enough to make them for themselves yet.

The balance of mental health and self care vs. dealing with the world has been a hard one to strike in the midst of a summer full of canceled plans and that inescapable Groundhog Day feeling upon waking each morning. So we decided to get away for a long weekend in the White Mountains, a lifelong annual retreat for me and my family.

I’ve visited the White Mountains almost every year of my life since I was a kid, and this year certainly looked a little different than usual, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t restore some much needed order to my heart and soul.

The world is a strange and beautiful place, and I am grateful to have been able to reconnect a bit with nature, disconnect a bit from the news, and find some peace last weekend. Here’s to seizing your own joy, wherever it may be hiding—I hope you find it.

Cheers, friends.

If you’d like to connect with me, drop me a line on my contact page. Here’s to new friendships in a time of much solitude. ✌️