My mom used to love to tell the story of how I learned to walk. I was late to walk, and then one day, simply got up and marched across the room because I wanted a hug from my oldest friend. So, I just…walked. Because hug.
I am entirely heart-based. I don’t know any other way to be. And god help me, there were certainly years where I tried to be less that. Someone I deeply cared about made me feel terrible for caring so much, which was just me being…me. (And that’s a story I will only tell over tequila.) And ouch. Because the funny thing about being heart-led is that you get hurt deeply, when things go sideways.
But I always return to center. I don’t have an insincere bone in my body. I joked the other day that I spent so much time trying to keep my heart from hurtling out of my mouth, and it’s true. I’m not the type to play it cool or hard to get or whatever. Fuck that. (I'm really not hard to read if I care, sorry not sorry.)
I love people as much as they let me, and I adore the moment where I realize I can do just that. The times where I understand that not only is it okay, but welcome. It makes me happy, to be let in. To be there. To help. I spend my time on those who matter to me, and that’s always deliberate.
I have always followed my heart, wherever it leads. And I realized the other day that I am still that little girl who walked across the room just to get a hug. But now I know how to drive, get on a train, or hop on a plane.
And I think that, more than anything else, that's a good thing.











