Mikaela is a new friend. Actually, as I sit here reflecting, she may be the only new friend I've made throughout this pandemic, and what a blessing getting to know her has been.
Early in the pandemic (back when everyone was going on multiple walks a day), Asher and I ran into her and her husband on our street. It turns out that they had just bought a house in our neighborhood. Hello neighbors!
After that, we started interacting on Instagram. We connected through stories and I quickly learned how genuine and caring Mikaela is. Yes, we laughed at memes, but we also talked about life. Looking back through our conversations, the first thing we discussed was our focus words for 2020 because we both wanted to work on "compassion". Honestly, I don't even know if Asher knew that was a 2020 focus for me. The more we talked, I realized that she always has a well thought out and introspective view of the world and I've learned a lot from her example already. You'll get a glimpse of what I mean in her story!
We also connect on food. Boy do we love food. I never get enough of seeing her dinner plates and hearing about her recipes. Getting her signature "BLESSINGS" response to my food stories is one of my favorite things.
Mikaela - Thank you for your authenticity, for your encouragement, for your friendship. I'm so looking forward to when we can make dinner together - I'd love to try your mac n cheese!
1. Name: Mikaela
2. Hometown: North Georgia
3. Current town: Avon, Connecticut
4. Favorite song? Wow. I literally skipped this & filled the whole thing out to come back to this. I truly do not think I have a favorite song. I am a very emotional listener. My favorite song changes constantly. I get extremely obsessed with artists or albums for months & then move to the next one. But Talahina Sky by Kings of Leon is always & forever in my top 5. It's a secret bonus track & the title is where the band grew up. A few years ago, my husband surprised me on a cross country road trip & took me to Talahina. It was a dinky town with like five businesses, but I cried when we arrived. It's one of my most cherished memories.
5. Favorite book? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
6. Favorite recipe? I'm weak for Mac n cheese. I experiment with different recipes & cheeses constantly!
7. What does resilience mean to you? A way of life, dude. No matter the mess that life throws your way, you push through. But more importantly you recognize traumas & work on healing them. For yourself & for others.
8. Describe a time when you were so happy you felt like singing out loud: Such funny timing because it was literally last night when my favorite band (Kings of Leon) released their first album in four years. My husband & I were supposed to go see them in Ireland on our first international trip this past summer but everything was canceled due to the world shutting down. So, last night... last night & today are pure joy.
9. Share a story about something you regret or the hardest thing you've even had to go through: I regret thinking that I had to live regretting things I did. I grew up in a pretty shame focused environment, and I'm learning a lot of people were taught to feel shame so that they didn't repeat their mistakes but I'm a firm believer that it does more damage & I'm trying to just cover myself & my family in grace now.
10. What do you do to get through the hard times? Cling to the good. Rest my body & my soul every chance I get. We live in such an urgent world that we're in constant burnout. I think many of us age much faster than we should. I want to be better when I'm older.
11. What is one thing you can't live without? I used to say coffee but really I think it's actually the safety that it provided me for so long. It creates this bond between people unlike anything I've ever seen & I've been drawn to it ever since I can remember. So, my real answer would have to be safety. Growing up in a home of inconsistency & not always feeling safe, I cling to that now. I create it wherever I can. Again, for myself but also to provide that for others.
12. Describe what you are going through now in one word, and then explain: Right now is a weird & exciting time. After working in coffee for 7 years, I'm coming on a year of not. It's been a strange time to reconnect with myself without attaching that part of me to my identity like I did before.
13. What is the one thing that you are most proud of? I'm proud of myself for letting go. I was embarrassed for a long time that I allowed people & things to dictate my feelings & overall wellbeing. I'm learning how much control & freedom I have when I take the reigns.
14. If you were to offer one piece of advice to other women, what would it be? Trust your intuition. There are so many people trying to tell women how they should be, dress, act, etc. It's disgraceful & disheartening. Find your tribe & thrive.
15. If you got to be Oprah for a day and give everyone one product, what would you choose? Ha. Coffee. I would shout out all my favorite shops and businesses. Learning the intricacies of the supply chain of coffee. The diaspora. It is absolutely insane how much people don't realize just how much has to happen to get coffee into this country, let alone into your cup every day. It is a glorious thing.
Be sure to leave some encouragement for Mikaela in the comments! What parts of her story did you connect with most?
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