Traveling Insights: An Inside Perspective

Disclaimer: My last post was definitely a precursor to this one - if you haven't read it, I would recommend giving it a read before you dive into this. What would you do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow? What would you do if you knew you were going to die in a year? What would you do if your best friend died tomorrow? I would consider myself to be incredibly lucky, not having lost anyone close to me during the last two years because of COVID. For some reason, I just had it in my mind that things would continue to go as they did, I would continue making mistakes, learning from them, moving on, setting new goals for myself, rinse, repeat. Nope. Not at all. Change comes when you least expect it and and there's absolutely nothing you can do to prepare. My best friend, Megan Gladbach, was killed in a car accident on April 29th, 2022, when she was hit by a drunk driver in Missouri. Her boyfriend was flown to a nearby hospital in Springfield, and as of this writing, is still...

(Originally Draft March 28th, 2022) In reflecting on my time over the last three months spending living and breathing the beauty and magic that is Costa Rica, it would behoove me not to share some of what I feel I've taken away from this experience. And, in listology fashion, I've decided to share 13 reasons my life will never be the same, and the ways in which I'm taking every single second with me into this next chapter.  In many ways, this is an ode to all of the lovely people who have sprinkled my days and nights - strangers, friends, and adopted family alike. I would be remiss not to mention that you are, in many ways, the reason why I do what I do, what motivates me to get out of bed in the morning, and what pushes me to continue to seek grand adventures in life.  Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I know that when the time comes to express my appreciation for your hospitality and camaraderie, there will be no shortage of love and thoughtfulness coming from my en...

  Final Showcase para ILT Academy en St Cloud Fotos y descripciones de todos los emprendedores en nuestro grupo He tenido este gancho para escribir recientemente, pero en una manera más consistente. Una de las cosas que escucho uno y otra vez sobre el éxito es que es más un juego de números que nada. En un episodio reciente de Copyblogger, los coanfitriones hablaron de la importancia para los escritores de 1) no tener miedo de probar sujetos o enfoques diferentes y 2) dejar que tu audiencia/futuros clientes/lectores te demuestran lo que necesitan o lo que falta el mercado. A la vez que te has dado cuenta de qué resuena con las personas, sólo SIGUE en el sendero. Encuentra el mensaje que resuena y busca mil maneras diferentes de decir la misma cosa.  A mí me encantó esta idea porque relacionó con un artículo reciente que tenía que leer como parte de ILT Academy, un curso de emprendimiento en que he invertido mucho tiempo en los últimos 10 semanas. La idea detrás del método bul...

Final Showcase for ILT Academy in St Cloud Photos & descriptions of all the entrepreneurs in our cohort I've been feeling a pull to write recently, but in a much more consistent way. One of the things I've heard over and over again about success is that it's almost really just a numbers game. On a recent Copyblogger podcast episode, the co-hosts spoke about how it's important for writers to 1) not be afraid to try different topics or approaches out and 2) allowing your audience/future customers/readers to show you what's needed or missing in the market. Once you've figured out what resonates with people, just KEEP going down that path. Find the message that resonates, and find 1000 different ways to say the same thing. I absolutely loved that idea, as it related to a recent article I had to read for class as part of ILT Academy, a an entrepreneurship course that I've been investing a lot of my time in over the last ten weeks. The idea behind the bullsey...

Snapshot of flowers and herbs I've been selling at the Pelican Market I think I'm starting to realize what it feels like to break up with yourself. As in, an identity that you've held for yourself for years. How many times have I introduced myself as 'farmer' or 'future farmer'? What really constitutes a farmer, anyways? I remember thinking to myself just last week that 'wow, if I break 1K this season, I'll be officially recognized by the U.S. government as a farmer'. How dumb. What's more dumb is what it feels like to be working against the grain, putting energy in the wrong places, and coming out on the other side like a torn up rag. It's not that I've utterly failed at growing this season. In fact, I receive many compliments from customers and love to see the light in their eyes when they come upon my flowers at the Pelican Market on Friday afternoons. But it's the deep seated feeling that this is not right that's making me...

My source of hope. Planting.  You know how some days you feel like you're flying high as the sky and others really put you down in the dumps? I'm not really sure what's happening right now, but I get the sense that people are waking up as mother nature speaks her truth. She's done playing games. And we're watching. We're working to survive the storm. Recently, as I've spoken with friends and family about the woes of tumultuous weather and the toll it's taking on our farmers out here in West Central Minnesota, for the first time I've noticed that about 90% of people respond in the same way: "it's not weird, Emily, it's climate change." For the first time in my life do I feel like I am no longer the minority in not only believing - but knowing - this to be true. I've known about climate change since I was just a little kid. We started talking about it when I was in the 4th grade. Yet I always felt like this little bubble in my lit...

Early on in my trip to Costa Rica, Alonso had me listen to my tarot card reading. I can't remember if it was for December or January, but something that stood out was that I would be making a big trip and that I had the intention of looking for love. Love is definitely a theme of my trip. It showed up in so many ways: Running around from store to store to buy Christmas gifts; having sopa Azteca ordered for delivery so I could have a hot, fresh meal for lunch; being shown how to properly apply makeup; a peck on the cheek; a fierce hug; an unexpected gift...Love has so many manifestations. When we think about love, a lot of time we're trapped into the image of what can exist between two people. For those that are bit more imaginative, between people and animals, plants, and the land...but what about love for oneself? By far, the greatest gift that Alonso has given me to date is demonstrating what it looks like to love oneself and allowing me the space, permission, and encourageme...