In one word, January was FULL. Full of life, surprises, food, fun and the list goes on. From January 1st staying up to 1 a.m. (January 2nd) at our dining room table talking and laughing with friends, to a spontaneous 48 hours in New York City, to ending January with treats at a new favorite spot in town, January ushered herself in with opportunities for joy, freedom, and intention (three of my core values)!

::flips through her Best Today® Guide to recall everything that happened:: Let’s break it down by three categories: work, play, personal.

Work.

We kicked off January with a 2-day workshop at Best Today® (p.s. word on the street is we’re hosting a 2-day conference in December 2023 so make sure to join the Best Today® email insiders to be the first to know the dates), launched new products that were then featured by Shop Essence Live in partnership with New Voices Foundation. I wrote an article for Essence Magazine helping others to get started with building intention and consistency in their days and led a corporate training for a repeat client’s women’s leadership mastermind. I did A LOT of talking in January in hindsight.

Play.

January saw lots of time with our friends visiting and chatting it up while our children played. I’m immensely blessed to have a strong core of friends here in Greenville. We all have children around the same age and they do not tire of one another. Spending time with them is as easy as breathing and I count it one of God’s gifts to me and my life in this season.

Perhaps my biggest form of play (mixed with work) was a 48 hour trip to New York with Melarie. Being the talented illustrator that she is, we attended a book event for one of her clients and didn’t miss the opportunity to eat, shop, talk business and hit broadway! But not just any broadway show (though they’re all amazing I’m sure) we saw Wicked at Gershwin Theatre which was on my list of things I want to do in this lifetime. And to make it all the more special, I was able to see Brittney Johnson as Glinda!

A Black woman portraying Glinda the Good! It was everything and a plate of fries. I loved every second. I screamed at the close of the first Act as I tend to do because the end of “Defying Gravity” is what broadway magic is made of. I’ll never forget looking up at Talia Suskauer in the air singing those final words of “Defying Gravity”!!! I literally screamed through my mask!

While in New York we managed to eat amazing meals which included the best calamari either of us had ever had (it was from Quality Italian Steakhouse). A trip to the Museum Of Modern Art was also one of the first things we planned for our trip (after Wicked of course) and making our way through the different floors was serene and inspiring! One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to visit at least one art museum. Lastly, a trip to New York is incomplete without shopping. It’s no surprise that all of my items were neutral. I love what I love! Give me cream, black, olive and denim any day!

Oh and those donuts you see below? Every time I travel without my family, I bring home donuts if the city where I’m visiting has any type of unique donut shop that we don’t have at home. A little tradition for when I travel. If I can’t find donuts, it’s cookies or cupcakes, but always some sweet treat when I return! This tips donuts were from The Donut Pub onBroadway in NYC if you’re ever nearby! Show them the picture below and get the one that has the white center. I don’t remember what it was but it was apple something and it was AMAZING! You’re welcome!

Might I also recommend breakfast/brunch at Gramercy Kitchen in East Village and the Srirachacha breakfast wrap from Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company (the honey bacon srirachacha cream cheese is SO good!).

January also housed lots of play with my littles as we continued our weekly library visits, trips to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, reading books, coloring and a little bit of couch time watching Number Blocks and Matilda.

Oh, and I think this falls under play. I spent a little bit of January planning my daughter’s upcoming birthday party! When it comes to a birthday party, I am team EXTRA! I love everything from a custom invitation down to custom favors. But now, I have a child old enough to tell me exactly what she wants which I love just as much. I did get to pick a cute little favor bag for donuts to go in because we decided letting everyone leave with a sweet treat was the best favor! It was so fun to party plan again. We hadn’t in so long thanks to Covid.

Personal.

I shared in the first weekly post in January that I was toying with the word “MORE” for my word of the season and I have decided to commit to it. It’s the word that has come up for me in my journaling, thinking time, and conversations. Right now that MORE is focused on more time in God’s Word/scripture, whether reading directly, studying or engaging with sermons and bible studies.

As soon as I set the intention, the space was made so beautifully for me to prioritize it and I have been reaping the joy and benefits already! I am naturally a learner so making more quality time to engage with what I’m reading has been a joy!

Of course on the flip side of “MORE” is less. I have taken intentional time to prune and choose less and the easiest place to start has been Instagram. I share more about that here in episode 100 of the Best Today® podcast if you want to know more. But know, whenever you set an intention there is likely something that needs to be released in order to support your end goal/result. Failing to do that part is why I think many people fall back into old habits and patterns when trying to aim for something new, different or more.

I’ve also wanted to make MORE time for writing. Like writing these words to you right now. I’m excited to see where this MORE takes me. I imagine I’ll share here on the blog as time goes on.

I’ll leave you with a verse that has been singing to me since it came up in bible study earlier this month:

“you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5

“Living stones” immediately reminded me of Joshua’s instructions from God to take twelve stones and appoint men to take the stones as a sign to tell future generations of the miracle that God had worked for them. The stones served as a memorial to the children of Israel.

I love how this reminder that I am a living stone in the body of Christ takes me back to remember the significance of stones in the Old Testament. My desire is to continue to live in the joy found in finding myself more in God’s word. That is my ultimate MORE in this season!

A Question + Thought.

One of my favorite parts of my week each week are my individual call times with friends. Several friends and I have designated days that we set aside to talk—highly recommend if you’ve been looking to connect with friends who aren’t physically close by. Saturdays are my days to talk to my friend Emily, our conversations are filled with deep conversations about all the things. She loves and understands so much about the brain, how we’re wired as humans, neuroscience, and psychology and I bring my experience with working with thousands of humans and we have a great time thinking through many of life’s challenges. One of these days when we’re both “retired” we may have to do a podcast so you can listen in on our conversations.

This past Saturday during our conversation, Emily asked me a question that was so good I told her to text it to me because I needed to see it in writing:

what is the antidote to the illusion that consuming another’s life is living one’s own life?

All month long my mind has been on how so many people are being deceived and distracted by this world and a large part of it comes from social media and other media forms that have led us to believe that there is internal value in spending so much time consuming the lives (whether real or not) of others.

If we can see that the fruit of social media is distraction, breakdown of mental health, unhealthy comparison, discontentment and the list goes on, why do so many people continue to willingly give it so much of their energy, effort and attention?

I’ve spoken with women in their 60s who say they don’t know who they are or what they want. I know this is true for many younger than that. And I also know that the answer isn’t found on the internet.

I understand that being still and sitting in silence left with your thoughts can be painful and challenging for many. Social media and media in general allows you to be distracted and avoid the effort required. But this is an invitation for you the reader to seek a life of intention and to do so by asking what you can prune to turn down the amount of distraction and deception that is fed to you on a daily basis.

That’s one of the more predominant things on my mind these days. My growing disgust with social media despite its few applaudable parts. I cannot be on social much because I am witnessing a generation of humans continue to lose sight of themselves and, for me, it is very hard to watch when I’m working so diligently to be a help to those people.

Whew, January was a mouthful! January your word is FULL. Let’s see what February has to offer. Right now, for February, I’m looking forward to a big announcement coming to Best Today® at the end of February, finalizing a new product coming later in 2023, lots of pilates, and maybe getting in a hike or two with family and friends.

Would love to know if you’re reading so leave a comment when it feels right to you!

Leading with intention,

Shunta

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