Don’t overthink it...sharing messy middles is a beautiful thing.

I truly believe we encourage each other the most when we are authentically ourselves and simply show up. Nothing more, nothing less. 

I just finished Jamie Ivey’s new book, If You Only Knew and I loved it! It is a must read with SO many nuggets but one of my favorites that shot straight to my heart was this, “When we hide the mess, we hide the redemption.” Boy is this true. And I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to small-talk so I was asking myself this question: What mess do I hide the most? And why would I want to hide a redemption story? So this may sound silly, but I think I tend to not share messes because I don’t want to appear pessimistic or negative. I want to encourage others. However, I’m realizing that being able to simply show up and let others see me, even in the weeds, can be encouraging. Not in a, ‘I’m glad you’re struggling, but in a I see you struggle and you’re not alone’ way.

It’s in the little in-betweens I’m seeing the most delicate, beautiful moments happen. And these moments should be celebrated. In the middle of a journey. In the middle of a struggle or a victory. We need to come alongside someone and let them know, ‘I see you. I hear you. You’re doing great. Stay the course. You’ve got this.’ Let’s show up for each other; for us.  

And for a beautiful middle, this simple roasted artichoke is so very easy and tasty! Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a sharp chef’s knife, split the artichoke in half. Then cut out the little ‘fuzzy’ hairs in the middle. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on each half. Melt about a Tbsp of ghee or coconut oil in a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle with a little course sea salt. Place each half cut side down in the pan in that yummy ghee or oil. Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove the foil, flip the artichokes over and sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy the deliciousness!