I’ve been down lately. When I got down, I crawl into my turtle shell and that only compounds my loneliness.

At my best, I am vibrant, creative, fun-loving, warm, a good listener. I notice beauty in unlikely places, an abandoned building, a dandelion, a old man sitting on a park bench. I feel filled up with joy like in that scene from American Beauty.

But when I lose sight of balance in my life I get sad and anxious and down.

My main goal is to get more “healthy” habits to keep me in check. I’m a directionless 20-something right now. Floating along. I need to find some love and community and an outlet for my wild spirit.

All of my other things are working toward this big goal.

I purposely made this goal “live life” rather than “be happy” because you can’t be happy all the time. You need to feel pain, sadness and loss. But I do want to feel content and full.