LIVE WELL

A note from the Founder

Live Well: You Don't Have to Be One Thing

This week, I spent a lot of time anxiously spinning. Trying to make the right move. Trying to make sure I wasn't missing a sign, a step, or an opportunity.

If I'm honest, I spent a lot of time afraid of taking direction.

That probably sounds familiar if you've been reading Live Well for a while. What feels different this time is that despite the fear, I made some big girl decisions anyway. I moved forward. I chose. I stopped waiting for certainty.

And maybe that's growth.

You may remember the event collaboration I was working on for New York Fashion Week. I spent weeks trying to secure it, working through details, imagining possibilities, and figuring out how all the pieces would fit together.

Well, it fell through.

The brand ultimately committed to a larger event.

A few years ago, that news would have crushed me. This time, it bruised my ego more than it broke my heart. And that surprised me.

Part of me was disappointed. Part of me was relieved.

I've learned to pay attention when relief shows up unexpectedly. Relief often tells the truth before our ambition is ready to hear it.

This is the second opportunity connected to New York Fashion Week that hasn't worked out. Naturally, I've wondered whether there's a message in that.

Not necessarily a message to quit. Not necessarily a message to push harder.

Maybe simply a message to look wider.

Lately, I've realized how many ideas I've been keeping on the sidelines because I've been trying so hard to stick to the plan.

The plan. The one path. The thing that was supposed to make everything make sense.

But right now, I can't tell if the plan is in a challenging season or preparing me for a pivot. Perhaps it doesn't matter. Perhaps both things can be true.

There's a quote we hear all the time: "Jack of all trades, master of none."

What most people don't realize is that's not the full quote.

The complete version is: "Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one."

That feels much closer to my philosophy.

Get everything out. The ideas. The stories. The curiosity. The random inclinations that show up at inconvenient times.

Why would I spend this one short life narrowing myself down when I could spend it discovering all the things I'm capable of becoming?

I picked up tennis in my mid-thirties. Who's to say I won't decide to become wildly ambitious about it in my forties?

Why not?

This week felt like an exercise in throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks. And perhaps that's not chaos.

Perhaps that's living.

I watched Avery perform at her violin recital and do exceptionally well, despite the fact that we've forgotten her violin at home more times than either of us would like to admit.

I watched her take the stage in her school's production of Wicked and absolutely shine. Stage presence: 100. Confidence: effortless.

I attended her art show and found myself genuinely impressed by her animations. Then I watched her learning tennis, embracing the awkwardness that comes with being new at something.

What struck me most wasn't how talented she is.

It was how naturally she allows herself to be many things.

A musician. An actress. An artist. An athlete.

Children rarely feel pressured to choose one identity. They simply explore.

Somewhere along the way, many of us learn that being multifaceted is a liability instead of a gift.

I'm trying very hard not to teach her that lesson.

I want her to know that she is allowed to explore it all—her style, her interests, her talents, her career, her joy.

And maybe we need that reminder too.

You do not have to be one thing.

You do not have to have one dream.

You do not have to choose one version of yourself and stay there forever.

Explore the hobby. Start the business. Take the class. Change your mind. Try again.

Let the no redirect you.

Because sometimes rejection doesn't arrive to stop you. Sometimes it arrives to widen your vision.

This week, I'm grateful that the disappointment didn't break me.

Maybe that's how I know I'm ready.

Not for rejection.

For redirection.

Until next week,

Live Well.

Editor's Note

This season has me thinking deeply about what it means to keep evolving.Not starting over. Not becoming someone new. Simply allowing ourselves to become more of who we already are.

Those thoughts have inspired a new writing project I'm building on Substack called The Drawing Room: Notes from the Middle Years.A place for conversations about life, style, ambition, reinvention, and everything we discover about ourselves along the way.

I'll share more soon, but for now, I'm excited to finally tell you it's coming.