Welcome back to Picture Love Friends. I'm doing something a little bit different today. I feel the need to reintroduce myself for a number of reasons. Maybe you don't know me and I am new in your ear. So great. An introduction is, is a useful, practical thing to do, right? I'd also like to reintroduce myself to those who have known me for any period of time and may have known me even during a different stage of my careers, I used to be a public school music teacher. I used to be a leader in direct sales businesses. I used to be many. Roles. I've even worked in banks and dressed for the 17 hundreds and given tours in a historic manner. Those are all jobs and ways that I worked, you know, with a skill of one sort or another. And most recently I was an entrepreneur, and I think all of these jobs or careers have given me a plethora of not just skills, but experiences that I can draw on to be the version of me you're listening to right now. And the reason I'm talking about myself like this is from a place of appreciation to those who have known me as an older version and stayed with me and loved me in spite of the many changes in vocabulary and location and wardrobe or hairstyle. Thank you for those who are open to the fact that we're all works in progress. I believe that anybody who listens to Picture Love is one who cares about self-awareness and showing up better in the world. I believe that people who listen to this kind of conversation and participate in it are ones who want to do better, be better, but in the sense of growing together and making a difference. Letting your ear, be filled with some positivity, some constructive information for once rather than all of the dysregulating click bait that we hear so much of in every direction. I wanna thank you for those who are willing to do their own work and grow. Not be afraid to be seen differently. I think that is courageous. It's not just authentic. It's willing to step out and be seen as something different as once we thought we should be perceived as or we were perceived. I wanna thank the people who are willing to show up as their newest version of themselves honoring the old, no shame here. But really excited and enthusiastic and celebrating the change that comes with growth. And I believe that, honestly, yesterday, I was the best version I knew how to be of myself. And I believe, and I share from a place of authenticity, and in my case, courage because it's, it's kind of hard to put your heart out in the open where other people can criticize. Right now I wanna come to you with a conversation of, not look at me, but look with me. So thank you to those who have loved me through my changes, even though sometimes it just seems weird. And I'm willing to joyfully be that weirdo if it means I'm showing up truthfully and honestly, because not to be about me, but to be me with you. How about that? What if, what if we set the intention to be our newest self with people instead of in front of other people? There's something more connected about that. It's like looking at each other from eye level instead of looking up to somebody or being looked down on from somebody. By releasing the judgment of old and new and understanding that we are all pieces of a whole and we all go through different chapters and different stages of life. I even found myself writing a little thank you note to my older self, and it was prompted by a meme or something I saw on Facebook that's, a fellow uplifter posted. And it was so beautiful and it was this adorable picture of a more mature woman, maybe has a few more years on, on me. But this mature woman was wearing her finest lipstick, her dressiest clothes, and she said, be that person who wears your favorite clothes, just 'cause you want to, instead of saving them for someday. I'm, I'm paraphrasing. It was a much catchier and more condensed than that. But it made me realize, oh wow. That's one thing I've been struggling with lately is my, my wardrobe, partly because I move from one environment to another. So my cold season is much shorter, and partly because, you know, closing my business and how I used to dress was to reflect a message because of all of my training and branding. Everything was about branding. You need to look like your brand. You need to speak like your brand. You need to network your brand. You need to market your brand. I took so many classes and courses and I mean online, Rutgers business school, I mean the whole nine yards, because I thought I had to be, have all the credentials in order to be good at whatever I was doing at the time. I hired web designers, I had business coaches. I, I spent a whole lot of time and money trying to become an expert instead of just becoming me. And, I don't fault myself for that. I, if anything, I thank my younger self for investing in me, for giving me the lessons. You know, I mean, I literally paid off debt that I had accrued for the sake of being equipped to do what I was trying to do at the time. And I thought that that was the right thing to do. And honestly, looking back, I think it was, I think I made, I made decent choices. Could I have made different ones that were good? Sure. But arresting the good and the bad and just saying they are experiences that I allowed myself to have for the sake of reflection and maturity and above all, I think my emotional intelligence is far greater 'cause of all the lessons that I learned. Maybe if I go back, I wouldn't do everything the same way. Likely I would do a lot of things differently. But that doesn't mean I look back with, I don't know, regret or, I don't know. I think what I'm trying to say is. It's all helpful information. None of it went to waste. And I'm so grateful to speak to you from this place of open optimism, thriving. I'm living on my growth edges. And when I say I'm living on my growth edges, I mean, I'm saying it's okay if I don't have a title, a job title to tell you. It's okay if I don't have a category to put myself in right now. I'm just a soul on a journey learning that it's so much more important to find the joy and to find the love, and to to celebrate all the little steps along the way, rather than being the best brand I can be. So if you're still listening to this, thank you. Thank you for picturing love with me through authenticity. Thank you for picturing love with me. by walking with me, talking with me, looking with me at the ways that we can approach each given day. And in this space, we don't have the pressure to plan 10 days, and 10 years in advance from now. It's okay to dream. We are rooted in picturing love here and now, and a lot of that has to do with loving ourselves first. So that's how I see my no longer personal brand, let's just call it my energetic imprint right now. Growing from a place of love and authenticity. Growing from a place where it's okay to say the weird thing. It's okay to have a bad day or a bad moment, and then have a great day right after that because I finished dealing with whatever came up. And I wanna be the permission slip for other people to do the same as well. So what is your energetic imprint today? What makes your heart smile today? Even if your face isn't showing it? What's occupying your heart? What can you celebrate in yourself that you have accomplished, that you can look back and thank your younger self for going through, that you could stand on today? I guess that's the takeaway. What is our energetic imprint? Today, speaking of energetic imprints, I got a text from my uncle who sent me a happy Valentine's Day photo from Antarctica. And here we live in North America, the northeast. Well, actually I'm in the south now. I love my aunt and uncle. They're just so much fun and they listen to Picture Love. Hi, aunt Kathy. Hi Uncle Dave. I love you. Thank you for supporting this show. And they had, were toasting from Antarctica all bundled up. And it just, it warmed my heart. And the reason I'm, I'm sharing this is not just to thank them for, for standing with me from all around the world. They're such, avid travelers and I love that about them. They're always adventuring in going to new places. I, I live vicariously through some of their stories and photos. It's wonderful. And. That's part of their signature, that's part of their energetic signature is seeing and exploring and, and being authentic wherever they are. Even though their feet have been many more countries than mine. I always feel like there's a degree of resonance because not just that we're family, but it's their openness and their open hearts to share. I love that about them. They inspire me. So wherever your energetic imprint is today, I hope you find something to toast. I hope you find something that makes your heart smile. I hope you'll come back again and again and again, and let's just keep growing alongside of each other. Let's start considering. What is the kindest thing I can do for myself right now and how can that benefit the rest? Please don't ever be kind to the world and not yourself first because you are such an important part of this world. And that is one thing that I am learning as my cup never runs empty if I fill it first and then share from the overflow. So I'm sending you so much love right now. Thank you for going deep with me for a little bit. May our energetic imprints be just where we need to be in any given moment. Never look back with regret. Only look back to measure and enjoy the now because right here and right now we are where we're supposed to be. I'm so grateful that you are here with me. Yes, that rhymed. Oh, well, I'll catch you next time. Keep picturing love, friends, wherever you are in the world. I love you.