Yesterday

Settling In

I had one of those days yesterday where, by the time I crawled into bed, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Nothing extraordinary happened, and I think that’s exactly why it felt so good.

I started the morning with an espresso before my husband left for work. I taught yoga here in Cody, then Orca and I headed out for a four-mile hike before finding a place where she could swim. We came home, I answered a few emails, made another espresso, put together a new playlist, and somehow that turned into a dance party in my living room. I spent some time sitting under my tree, ate a good meal, drank plenty of water, saddled up my horse for an afternoon ride, came home, took a shower, folded some laundry, straightened up the house, and then my husband and I made dinner together.

It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that I understood why the day had felt so different.

I was talking with my mother-in-law, and she asked how my business was going.

I laughed and said, “Which business?”

Then I heard myself say something I hadn’t really put words to before.

“I’ve laid my business down for now. I’m focusing on myself. I’m focusing on working with my husband. I’m focusing on enjoying my life.”

After we got off the phone, I kept thinking about that conversation.

Between July of 2024 and July of 2025, we moved three times after living in the same home for more than ten years. During that same stretch, I walked away from a career I’d spent more than twenty-five years building because I wanted to create work that felt more meaningful. I wanted to teach. I wanted to write. I wanted to spend more time with people in my community.

Instead of giving myself time to settle into that new chapter, I jumped straight into trying to build a business. I gave myself timelines. I convinced myself I needed to learn marketing, social media, branding, algorithms, offers, and everything else that seemed to come with running an online business. Before long, I was spending more time trying to figure out how to build a business than I was spending doing the work that had called me there in the first place.

Helping people has always come naturally to me. Trying to make every class, every post, and every idea carry the weight of paying the bills felt completely different.

After our conversation ended, I found myself thinking back over the day I’d just had. While I was hiking with Orca, business never crossed my mind. While I was riding my horse, I wasn’t thinking about marketing or what I should post next. Sitting under my tree, I wasn’t trying to figure out algorithms or write another offer. I was outside enjoying a life that, when I really stop and look at it, is pretty wonderful.

Then another thought quietly found me.

I don’t think I ever gave myself permission to settle after everything that happened.

We moved three times in one year. I left a career I’d spent twenty-five years building. I started over professionally. I learned a new town. I tried to build a business. I met new people. Through all of it, I just kept going.

Now, almost a year later, this place is starting to feel familiar. I know the roads without thinking about them. I know my favorite hiking trails. I know where Orca likes to swim. My horses have settled in. Our home is beginning to feel like ours.

Little by little, I’ve settled in too.

As I was sitting under my tree yesterday afternoon, I couldn’t help but smile.

For a long time I thought I needed to build a business before I could enjoy my life. Yesterday reminded me that my life has been here all along. I was simply moving too fast to notice that I’d already arrived.