Whether you are new to Mindful Living or have been here since the beginning I am taking a trip down memory lane and want to share with you my favorite blog posts of 2016.
Thus far I have written 45 posts in 2016. That is a full 40 more than I wrote in 2015. I see writing in Mindful Living as a personal journey that I get to share with the world, likeminded individuals, and potential clients. It brings me a lot of joy to get creative, share my voice, and challenge myself each week. We'll dive more into that next week when I post my year in review.
It was difficult for me to narrow down my list to just five blogs. Every week that I share something, I find that it has some significance and tie to my life. Going back through the year is essentially a glimpse at what my year has consisted of. Growth, journeys, traveling, relationships, adjusting.
I enjoy having this reflection of what is current for me as it keeps me down to earth and real. I hope to build a conversation with my dear readers and write about things that matter to you. I appreciate you being here to share this journey with me.
Taking a Leap of Faith
This is by far my favorite blog post and was one of the most popular blogs of the year. It was the first time I wrote about the fantastic journey my husband and I took to move across the world to live and work on an Italian farm. In addition to it being personal, I still find the pieces of advice on what to do pre and post leap to be very relevant. This is one of those posts that I find myself going back to when I need to hear my own advice: trust your gut and don't let fear make decisions for you.
If you'd like to read about our journey to Italy and experiences working on a farm, you can check out the article I wrote for Mio My Italy here.
The Relationship Series
This month long series was deeply personal and scary. I asked my husband, Brian to come on board and share what he feels makes relationships strong. What I liked the most was our discussion about not only having similarities in relationships, but having differences as well and being able to learn from them. In Italy, we learned so much from our time living and working together and being in each other's company constantly. I was happy to have shared that aspect of our lives.
The Importance of Self-Care
As it turns out, I love writing about self-care, promoting it to others, and prioritizing it myself. This was another one of my favorites and also one of the most popular posts of the year. The idea that you could make something routine and simple be a regular act of self-care simply by being more present and mindful was a tool that resonated with a lot of readers. If you are feeling lost in your self-care routine, I would suggest checking out this blog along with the e-book 'Know Yourself Better to Give Yourself the Best: A Guide to Self-Care'
Turning 30 on Your Own Terms
I turned 30 this year and decided to dive into the stigma that comes along with this milestone age rather than shy away from it. Sharing my own outlook on questioning the timeline that we are "supposed" to be on and creating your own instead was cathartic for me and for others. I received some excellent feedback on this blog about how it helped put into words what others were feeling and helped those who are on a different timeline accept the differences in others.
3 Methods for More Mindful Travel
Traveling for five weeks in Europe was incredible but led me to reevaluate how we travel. It was not a sprint but a marathon and from that experience I learned about adjustments to make to have a more mindful travel experience. Things like immersing yourself in the local culture, trying not to over research so you do not lose those awe-inspiring moments, and traveling on the non-plan plan are still my biggest recommendations for traveling mindfully.
There you have it! My year in a nutshell. I hope you have enjoyed following along and catching up on these favorites for 2016. Next week I will be doing some reflecting and invite you to join with me in thinking about your year as a whole.