Author Archives: michelle

What Life Do YOU Want?

“Here’s to choosing a life we want to live in Europe.” That’s the toast Josh led with recently. And he said it in LA where we lived for 12 years (Nolan was five when we moved from Guadalajara). Pip squeak’s now a full-blown man doing life his way!

So grateful for our many years in LA and for what was felt, learned, created and experienced in this place filled with shine.

My guys are back to Paris now and I am spending some awesome time with my beloved college bffs.

But for now, this chapter of the first family visit back to where we once lived is complete!

Either here or there, the same perspective on life holds: it’s good. Great actually. We’re SO alive and with more time to love up on our people and have more adventures.

Life, keep life-ing!

WHAT LIFE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE (and lead)?!

Let’s make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…

To the best of the rest of your life!

Life is good.

We Deeply Wanted To…

We deeply wanted to…

Downsize while upsizing the daily experience of our lives. Experiences over everything.

Be around art so easily or walk by it in the architecture that makes up the city.

Buy our groceries every couple days (one of our favorite things while living in Amsterdam).

Trade in the car(s) for traveling within a/the country by train — and lots of walking…

Experience different cultures.

Live in a city where everything we needed was within a 5-15 minute walk (or a 45 minute walk… walking).

Travel easily and each weekend if that’s what we had the time and desire for.

Find comfort in new ways…

Feel anonymous (for a while), but make new friends from diverse backgrounds. Community & relationships ~ in the end, it’s what makes an experience an experience. People.

Feel a little lost.
Feel a lot found.

Feel free…

It’s less that we didn’t love our life in our previous city because we LOVE life wherever it’s been lived (you make it that way). [I’ve always said to Josh “You could put me on a plane, blindfold me and drop me in a new city to live and I’d make it a happy life.”]

But we simply *liked* certain parts of daily living in the U.S. less and less the last handful of years. I’m aware, too, that once you’ve lived outside at least once, you crave what that brought or brings your soul (exploration, student over expert, curiosity etc…).

It’s all true.

But it’s really this: experiences over everything. Suits and soothes most sizes ~ all souls.

Paris Over The Years…

Bringing Nolan to Paris for the first time six months after he was born in Amsterdam.

Paris over the years…

So proud of the baby-turned-man! His first semester of college is officially in the books!

So much life has been lived through him the last four plus months since leaving the United States.

Visiting Paris from Amsterdam on our babymoon.

Paris throughout the years.

Josh and I couldn’t be more proud of this loving man’s stamina, his deep and inquisitive FUN soul, his creative ability teaching himself new skillsets inside new passions, his bravery traveling on his own to different countries and everything in between that he’s learned and conquered while here with more to come.

We loved this city then and we really love it now.

Who are *you* proud of? It could be YOU. 😉

Let’s make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…

To the best of the rest of your life!

Life is good.

THINGS That Aren’t Things

THINGS that aren’t things.

I told Josh about 10 or 11 years ago that material gifts didn’t make me happy. He agreed (I thought he might), so we came to a simple and sweet decision for ourselves as a couple: for special occasions throughout the year, not just for Christmas, we’ll make and/or write each other some THING (we are both writers, and, Josh, for example, writes beautiful poetry).

Surprise was also an element we love around these types of “THINGS”… a year and a half ago he gave me an invitation on beautiful paper that read “You are invited to a poetry reading tonight at 7pm”…

We also decided to continue to **experience** THINGS together. Creating this new life in France is one of those THINGS and taking a spontaneous three hour train ride to another part of the country (Aix-en Provence) recently for a couple days is yet another.

THINGS that aren’t things…looove those types of THINGS. It’s what led us to start the Greater Good Party in Los Angeles and other cities in the US, as well as be present together for ongoing prison reform work over the last few years (a new creation coming from our desks soon, notes about that THING in these photos), keep an eye out…

Ah, these THINGS — they add years to a life…they add joy, memories, connection, calm, meaning and magic (as does he). And I love this, I love this little life.

How are you loving your life this season?

Let’s make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…

To the best of the rest of your life!

Life is good.