Another year, another moment to reflect on the miracle of being here. May these new year lessons and reflections rekindle your hope for something new if you’ve been feeling lost, stuck, sick, behind, or doubtful about the state of the world. Things can change. It’s rare that they don’t.

Humble advice: Don’t graduate from being a student of life. Keep your eyes and heart open, curiosity alive because it will keep you alive. Here are some reminders to use every sense you’ve been equipped with to feel everything fully, to appreciate the little things, to live like you mean it.

Letting life be a classroom opens a lot of doors, makes light out of the darkness, mends a broken heart, and plants meaning where others harvest nothing but suffering. Instead of being a victim, being a student of life lets you live more, love deeper, give & receive easier. Read these quotes if you want that.

These autumn poems are selected for both their visual and emotional scenery. While every season lends itself to poetry, the wistful, wind-swept trees of autumn help us to notice more deeply the beauty of life even in its “final” stages.

Elevating the mundane to the miraculous – or at least the meaningful – is one way of seeing the sacred in everything. “Sacred” is that elevation to the level of divinity, whether you believe in a higher power, the intelligence that drives life, or the miracle of existence.

I wrote a poem for my best friend for her 30th birthday this year and wanted to share it with you in case you wanted to share it with “your person.” Consider it a reminder: beautiful people don’t just exist—they are everywhere. You never know when you’ll run into someone who makes you remember what love really means.

On my birthday, this is my gift to you: 30 grateful thoughts in poetic form. It’s what I most love to write. Please enjoy (that’s my birthday wish). Note: I feel most creative when I'm grateful, and today that creativity came through as this poem. I hope you love it. I hope you love you.

Don’t take life for granted (because it’s kind of a miracle). Instead, go deeper into the miracle of being alive. Be here, now, fully and with purpose. Read these notes to inspire how you take your next breath and treat the next moment. When you shine your appreciation on what you love, the whole world as you see it will shine brighter.

My first book, Sleep Affirmations, is now out and available anywhere books are sold! To keep the celebration going, I’m sharing 5 affirmations from this new bedtime book for adults (with pictures).

In all the busy-ness of world, when do you allow yourself to stop spinning? This moment is your life, certainly, but how to feel as though you are truly alive, breathing in the life energy that makes the breath possible? Let these poems remind you to pause, connect, and immerse yourself in the miracle of being here.