Life Letters™

Sometimes it feels like it's never going to end, doesn't it? In today's episode, Emma hands us another little dose of hope for these uncertain times.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: I know you’re tired. I know you are so tired of all of this. Of the not knowing. Of the waiting for it to end. Of the not knowing how long it’s actually going to last. I know you are tired of feeling like things are spinning. And you’re not in control. I know you’re tired of grasping for something solid to hold onto— for anything that tells you you’re not in this all alone. I know you want your routine back. I know you want your normal back— your regular old life. The everyday days that seem like such a distant memory now. I know you’re tired of worrying. And thinking. And overthinking. And planning. I know you’re tired of trying to predict what tomorrow is going to throw you, and whether you’ll be ready for it when it does. I know you’re tired of buying too much. And storing too much. And not being able to hug your family. I know you are tired of not being able to see your friends, and not being able to go places, and having to cancel all of the things on your calendar you’ve been looking forward to for so long. I know you’re tired, love. From all of it. From trying. And doing. And feeling like you’re failing. But mostly, from trying to keep yourself and everyone around you safe by giving up. By giving up so very much. For something so small. And so invisible. And so terrifying. I know it feels like this is never going to end. But it will. And trust me when I say that you are not the only one feeling the way you are. Like you just can’t keep it together. Like what the world is asking for you to carry keeps getting heavier and heavier. We will get through this. We will. But until we do, let me just reassure you. You are not alone. And we are all in this together. So just keep focusing on doing the best you can, with the worst you get. Hang on, love. Hang on.Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Do you always wonder when it will be your turn? In today's episode, Emma reminds us that nothing that is meant for us will ever get lost on its way there. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: I think it’s brave. I do. How you never stop believing in other people. In their ability to change— to be better— to love you more than they do. I think it’s brave that you never seem to run out of space in your heart to fit in new love stories. To keep hoping. To keep— going. I think it’s brave. I think that YOU are brave. I do. But— I also want you to eventually realize that not everyone and everything that dances into your life deserves a permanent place to stay. Not everyone deserves— you. And you know that you only have two hands. And you can’t hold on to everything. You just can’t. And you know this— I know you do. But when you choose to hold on to the things that are trying their hardest to pull away from you, it makes it THAT much harder to hold on to the gentler things in this life. The delicate things. The beautiful things. When you are always fighting, your hands are always full of tension and your eyes are always distracted— your hands are trying like hell to hang on to things that maybe were never meant to be yours. And your eyes? They are ever-focused on what is leaving you. And not on what has stayed. So— loosen your grasp. Just a little. Nothing that is meant for you will get lost on it’s way there, love. Nothing.Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Do you constantly ask yourself why you're going through the things you are? In today's episode, Emma hands us a little dose of hope for the uncertain times.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: I wrote Untangling during one of the more tumultuous times in my life— last summer. For those of you currently reading it, just make sure you don’t miss the acknowledgments section. Just don’t. It tells a little more of the story. And you won’t want to miss it. Untangling is a book first about loss— and then, and most importantly, about growth. And for all of you, I am going to let you in on a little secret. Two weeks after I finished writing this book— after I finished navigating all the chapters of loss and growth and healing— I ran headfirst into the person that made the entire journey to get there worth it. Now, that’s a story for another book— but I do want to remind all of you who are out there searching— that life has its plans. It does. Life has a purpose for what it puts us through, and how long it takes for us to get there. Life has a purpose for every no. For every not yet. For every goodbye. And I can’t tell you how long you are going to need to wait, or where (or from whom) your growth will ultimately come from. All I can promise you (just like the story I tell in Untangling) is that this life puts things in your path to steer you in the direction you need to go. There IS a reason for what you’re walking through. There is always a reason, love. So if you’re walking through the darkness right now— through the chaos, the confusion— just hang on. Hang on because your ‘one day’ is coming. It is. And it’s incredible. Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Does it feel like it's just never going to happen? In today's episode, Emma reminds us how time works when it comes to the things that are ultimately right for our hearts. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: One day, things aren’t going to be quite so heavy. They aren’t going to seem so confusing. So chaotic. So – seemingly out of control. One day, all of the you’re-not-the-ones and the I-don’t-feel-that-ways and the goodbyes are actually going to have a place. And they are going to make sense. And even more than just making sense— one day, things are going to be right. They are going to be good. And you are going to be happy. Happy. Because one day, love, someone is going to walk into your life and get it absolutely right where everybody else got it completely wrong. They are going to say the things to you that you have always longed to hear. They are going to hold your hand and brush the hair from your face without you even asking. They are going to know what to say. And when to say it. And they will just know when a hug will fix all of the things that words cannot. One day, your person is going to walk into your life. And change everything. So the trick is, sweet soul, while you are working through all your almosts, just don’t let them make you lose hope. In what you’re looking for. In what you’re waiting for. Just because it’s taking longer than you’d hoped doesn’t mean it isn’t coming. It is. So don’t leave before you finally see what this life has been pushing you towards. It is going to be worth it. I promise.Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Are you caught in the middle? Between a life you've outgrown and one that isn't quite ready for you? In today's episode, Emma reminds us how most big change works.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: Most change isn’t the big, cataclysmic, shift-everything-in-your-whole-life kind of change. But that is often what we think, isn’t it? Because those are often the worries that infiltrate our hearts and minds. The worst case scenarios— the what-ifs. But as we walk the roads of our lives— what we find is actually quite the opposite, isn’t it? Most change happens so very slowly that we can’t even see it happening until it has already happened. And I’ll tell you how it works. One day, we simply make a decision. Maybe it’s a conscious choice— maybe it’s not. But we make this single choice to do something differently than we did the day before. And then we do it the next day. And the next. And all of a sudden, we have a new routine. And when that routine lasts for long enough, it tilts the direction of entire lives. And that choice— that routine— can be good or bad. It can tilt us in amazing ways— or hurtful ways. But no matter what circumstances surround our decisions everyday, one thing is always very, very true. It is impossible to move away from one thing without moving in the direction of something else. Look, I know it’s hard when you’re caught in the middle. In the place where you’re trying so hard to step out of a life that isn’t right for you. And into one that is. I know it is so hard to keep going when you’re tired. And you’re trying. But all around you, you just can’t see things changing. They are. Trust me. Think of how a flower grows. You can’t ever see it, but it happens just that same. We notice when the sprout emerges from the ground. We notice the flower when it emerges. But we don’t see— we can’t see— all the things that happen in-between. That’s where you are. Don’t stop growing when you are going towards something so amazing. Have faith in the process that is shaping you. Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

This just may be one of the hardest, but most powerful, things you ever do for love. In today's episode, Emma shares a secret about the hard times in our love stories.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Your "one day" is coming. It is. In today's episode, Emma reminds us that time knows exactly what it's doing. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: One day soon, all of your whys are going to be answered. You are going to stop rushing. And waiting. And wondering. You are going to stop wishing. And you are going to launch— launch— into the life that has been being shaped and curated for just you. Through all of these trials and goodbyes and ‘wait for it’s’ that you’ve been forced to navigate— your incredible life has been being created. Piece by piece. Day by day. Experience by experience. And one day, you’re just going to step into it. And it’s going to make sense. And when it does, your heart will be happy. And whole. And content. Do you know what content feels like? It’s when you know tomorrow might be hard, but you also know you can handle it. It’s when you know things may come and go, but you’re confident enough in who you are and what you’ve lived through that you *know* you can handle it. And mostly— it’s when you don’t let worry and uncertainty and regret into the drivers seat, because you know the past has only one purpose. To prepare you for YOUR future. It hurts, yes. But hurt is what strengthens us. Gets us ready. So, if you’re in the part that is shaping you but not showing you yet? Hang on. Your day is still coming. I promise. Just make sure you don’t leave before it shows you the insanely beautiful life it’s been working so hard to create for you.Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Are you happy? Like, really happy? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about what it really takes to be happy.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: I heard this morning that changes come from choice. And also that— changes are much more important than circumstances. Let those sink in. I think most of us *get* how all this works. We know what we’re supposed to do— what we are supposed to focus on. We know what we should feel and the choices we’re supposed to make. It’s just that— when we get right down to it, it is really hard to change a life, isn’t it? It is hard to change a routine. A pattern. A lifetime of doing something a certain way. Someone reminded me of that last night. “You give this advice to other people,” she had said. “Don’t you believe it for yourself?” Yikes. She called me on it. “Of course I believe it,” I said. “It’s just that— well, it’s just that it’s much harder to apply to life than it is to know it’s the right thing to apply to life.” She smiled at me. Guys— I get that we are all carrying a bunch of heavy stuff. I get that we are all working to overcome and let go and be better and have more. And I get that most of us are tired. Tired of hearing all the things we need to do that we aren’t doing. But you know, if you sift through the billions of advice-givers (myself included) out there, there are really only TWO THINGS that matter. That have EVER mattered. One— that you are living a life you will be (and are) proud of. And two— that you are happy. HAPPY. And I am telling you—every SINGLE choice you make should be tilting you in those two directions. Make a mistake? Great— make it right. And then you can be proud. And then being proud of what you did, even if it was hard— will make you happier. Not finding the one? Ok. Work on yourself. And as you do, you just may find that you attract what you create. Yes, it’s complicated. For me too. But you know, time is ticking by for all of us. And we’re spending it on things and people and worries that just don’t matter. That— won’t— matter. So here’s the message for you, love. The sign from the sea of “listen to me” messages you have to sort through out there. Be happy, love. It’s time. It has *been* time. Main music by Monplaisir. Song "Helice." From the Free Music Archive. Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Podcast intro also by Monplaisir. Song "Z Z." Licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Are you letting people and things from your past hold you from your future? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about how progress works. And how we must change for things to change. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: Trying to change is a hard thing. Perhaps— its the absolute hardest thing we ever do. And while we’re getting up early and staying up late and bleeding and sweating and sacrificing for the things we want or need in this life— we often get one more thing added to our plates, don’t we? Something that always tends to make the load heavier and the way less straight. Other. People’s. Opinions. Other people’s— push-back. You know what it looks like. It’s the “oh, wow, you’ve really changed,” and the “I just don’t understand you anymore.” It’s the family and friends and people we’ve loved sitting us down and asking if we’re alright. If we “know” what we’re doing. If we’re thinking about the big picture. If we’re— sure. And they talk and argue and push. A lot. But, if f you have already thought through what you’re doing, and you are working TOWARDS something that means SOMETHING to you— then you need to ignore those voices. You do. Completely. And— don’t be rude. Listen. Think. But it is totally up to you whether you let someone else chart the course of your life for you. Everybody means well when they give advice. They do. But advice is just them weaving their experiences and their regrets into a nice little bundle of something they want you to carry. But if you carry everything that other people hand you, your life is the thing that gets heavy. That gets hard. Your life is the thing that gets— heavy. So be selective with what you decide to make a part of you. Be selective. Be selective.

Are you letting this world tell you what you deserve? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about the kind of love we accept. Rather than the kind of love we actually deserve.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: It’s easy to get lost in broken hearts, in the waiting, in the you’re-not-the-ones. It’s easy to get lost in the you’ll-never-find-that-kind-of-love and the you’re-too-fussy and the when-are-you-going-to-settle-down. They will talk about biological clocks. And time ticking by. They will talk about you being too old to start or too young to understand. They will talk to you about who you love and what you want and where you’re looking for it are completely wrong. They will tell you those things and a million others. And you can listen. You can certainly listen to all those voices in this world that keep telling you what you’re looking for isn’t out there. That it doesn’t exist. And maybe even— that you don’t deserve it. You can listen to those voices, or you can look those people straight in the eye and smile. Smile because you know that what you want will one day find you. Smile because they don’t really get it. How this world works. How— you work. They don’t see yet that when you want something badly enough and wait for it patiently enough— that eventually those things make their way beautifully into your life. Yes, even love. So the best thing you can ever do is hold on like hell to the dreams you have for your life. The best thing you can ever do is hold on like hell to the way you want to be loved. The way— you— want to love. Because in the end, it’s not just some people who get what they are looking for while others don’t. In the end, the people who get what they want in this life are quite simply, the ones who don’t ever give up. And when the world shouts louder and louder at them to go faster and lower their standards and settle for something else, they retreat into the peace and solace and sweet contentment of knowing what they know. That time always makes things right in the end. Always.

Maybe it's about something that happened. Maybe it's about something that didn't. In today's episode, Emma reminds us that happiness is really just about letting go of what is heavy. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: I see you. I do. And you're probably walking or driving in your car, or just sitting there with headphones in. And you're thinking, aren't you? Thinking about all of those things that have happened to you. Today. This year. In the past few years. Hell, maybe throughout your whole entire life. And as you think, you are probably wondering— maybe worrying— about how all those things affect other things. Important things. Down the road. I get it. But what really sinks into your heart are all those things that— didn’t— happen, right? The things that didn’t happen the way you wanted them to, or with the person you wanted them to— or on the timeline you wanted them to. The things that haven’t happened— those are the really hard parts. Because—  those are the things that give us the constant wondering. The constant overthinking. The constant— worry. That you are behind. That life is not going to work out for you. That you don’t have a purpose. That you can’t heal, or grow, or change, from all those things that you went through. Or didn’t. And that is what I want to talk about. Those thoughts. Those worries. Because while what happened to you certainly shapes the eyes that you look at this world through— what happens does not change the footsteps that walk you forward. Who you’ve been never determines who you will be. What you’ve had, or haven’t had, does not determine what you will have. What you can get. And so the best advice I can give you is to let go of what happened to you before this. Notice I didn’t say forget. I didn’t say not to keep it a part of you. I just said let go. Stop carrying it with you, in your hands, where it is affecting the things you can hold in this life. The trick to happiness is just in finding ways to make what you carry lighter. And the best way to do that is to set down the things that are so heavy. The things you carry in your heart and call anxiety. Regret. And it’s ok. It’s ok to be confused and have no idea how this life is going to work out for you. It will work out for you. But for now, just do your best to let go of what happened. And start making peace with what has not.

Maybe this is just a chapter that another one will answer. In today's episode, Emma reminds us that some chapters of our lives give us questions that other chapters will answer.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: So maybe right now your journey isn’t about answers. That’s ok. Not all chapters can answer questions— and some of them are there only to create questions that other chapters will answer. Oh, I know that is hard to accept. Having whole portions of our lives that end in the middle of sentences isn’t something most of us can get used to. Let alone enjoy. But that doesn’t make those chapters any less important. Any less necessary. The hard times— in whatever form they come— are the most important building blocks we have. None of us want them. None of us are ready for them when they blind-side us. But no matter where or how they find us, the hard times push us towards things— and pull us away from things— that we do or don’t need in our lives. And the tragic beauty in that is we keep hanging on to what we knew when this life is doing everything it can to do to push us towards something better. And we all want better— we want it and yet because we are so near-sighted, we reject the first pieces of a new life because it comes disguised as an ending. And endings are hard. And we don’t know— we can’t fathom— how endings fit into a picture we haven’t seen yet. And that is where faith comes in. So here’s something to consider, love. What if— even more than just question chapters and answer chapters, we also get piece chapters? The chapters where we are being handed the building blocks that will later build us the life we’ve always longed for. Waited for. Worked for. Would that change how you saw things? Would it change how much patience you've had through these times when nothing makes sense? I’d like to think that it would. And so maybe that’s what it’s really all about. The growth that comes from those times it feels like everything is falling apart. Because there will be peace. Maybe not in this chapter—but it’s there. So the trick is, you keep writing your story until you find it. Or until it finds you. Whichever comes first.

Being along is not the same as being lonely. In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about how we look at loneliness. And why it is, actually, something to use. Not to fear. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: Feeling lonely is something that plagues our world in absolute silence. And it’s everywhere. We sit behind this interconnected web of phones and tablets and apps and computers— and we feel disconnected. We feel alone. Misunderstood. And that’s where it finds us, isn't it— the loneliness. It settles in for a season and convinces us, somehow, that it plans to stay forever. Look— loneliness is not something to fear. Loneliness is just that place after something has ended and before something else has begun. It’s a space of healing. Growing. Becoming. And maybe if you looked at it like that— it wouldn’t be something you carried with you like some terrible secret. It’s not. Time will help you through this one, too. I promise it will. Just like everything else— you will make it. You will make it. When you feel it around you— pushing you down— I want you to do what it absolutely hates. Give it noise. Life. Chaos. Loneliness thrives on silence— and that is where it wants to keep you when it’s there. So get up, put on a brave face, and walk out into the world. Even when you feel like every step hurts. Even when nothing makes sense. Even when you aren’t ready. You keep moving. You keep moving forward. And that’s the trick to beating it. You keep moving— keep living— but you never run from it. Running from loneliness just makes it stay with you longer. The trick is— you let loneliness catch you. You let in it. And then let it go.

This is a little reminder about love. In today's episode, Emma talks us through some of those simple love truths we all know. But tend to forget. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: Oh, trust me. I know it’s hard. We don’t get any real assurances in this life— and we’re lucky if we ever even know we’re headed in the right direction. Let alone GET the directions. It’s a whole bunch of “trust me” and “learn as you go.” I know. But this one? This one is a little less complicated. So I’m just going to say it. If someone needs space— give it to them. If someone ghosts you— don’t look back. If someone doesn’t know how they feel— then I'm sorry, but for now, the answer is no. Someone who doesn’t answer your calls or call you back is telling you one thing. You can sugar-coat it all you want— you can make excuses all you want— but love, you are not their priority. If you’ve been dating for awhile and you’ve never met their friends— or their family— or been to their place? One of two things is true. Either, they’re not telling you something— or you’re not their one. I get that it’s hard to face rejection. It is totally awful. We all think we should be immune to it. We all think it’s never going to happen to us. We all personalize it— thinking it’s something we did or didn’t do. It’s not. Rejection is a normal part of trying out two puzzle pieces to see if they fit. Most of the time, the answer is going to be no. And that’s ok. What you need to focus on in this life is being true to yourself. And that is all. And you do that even if it means you have to wait a little longer than you ever thought you’d have to. To get what you want. Oh, and one more thing. If you want what stays— then you have GOT to stop chasing what runs.

Do you always think that "one day" you'll find the one? Or "one day" you will have what you're looking for? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about how we progress and perspective really work. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: It took me a long time to understand that magic lines don’t really exist the way we think they do. All of us draw them. We think— when *this* finally happens or *that* finally falls into place— that we’ll be happy. Financially secure. In shape. So many things. And we do it with trivial things and huge, life-altering things. We buy clothes we don’t need and imagine some crazy scenario down the road we’ll need them. We imagine our perfect little lives when we have a family. When we meet the one. When we have enough money to buy all of what we need and maybe most of what we want. I mean, we literally think we are going to cross some imaginary magic lines in time and enter this brand new world of “everything is good now.” We plan for overnight successes and definitely not the inches of progress and change that this life really gives us. We think— when only we’re 18, life will be so much better because... and then we insert all of those reasons. When we get to 18, we just want to be 21, because that’s even better than 18. At 21, we want be 25. At 25 we want to be 30. And it just keeps going. On and on and on... until one day, we run out of time and realize all we’ve ever done is wished we were somewhere else. If I could go back to the beginning, when I was learning how life worked, I would want someone to tell me what I am going to tell you. You ready? You NEVER get to a place where you know everything you want to know. Where you have all the answers you want. You get it? You can apply that to whatever you want. Your relationship. Your job. Your lost love. Your family. People. Experiences. The past. Whatever you'd like. And because you will never get to that place where you know it all— you have GOT to teach yourself what it means to be comfortable with not knowing. Because that is where peace really comes from, love. Not yoga. Not meditation. Not mindfulness. Not a bunch of apps that claim to have the secret. Sure, those things might help— but that’s not where peace lives. Those are just ways to quiet the noise enough to know that you weren't listening. To your own heart. The same one telling you it will always walk beside you— even if neither of you know exactly how to get there.

How do you measure success? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about the timelines the world sets for us. And the pressure that comes with them. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: The world has all kinds of timelines for us. By 18, we should know what we want to do with our lives. By 22, we should be well on our way to getting it. By 27, we should have found the one. By 30, we should have 1.5 kids and Sunday morning pancakes. By 40, we should be figuring out how to balance family and career and the Pinterest-parenting lifestyle this world seems to expect from us. By 50, we should thinking about what we want to do in retirement. By 65, we should be doing it. But— what if we don’t follow those timelines? What if we figure out WHEN we’re 50 what we really want to do with our lives? What if, by 22, we have never gone to college and frankly, still don’t want to? What if at 40 we want to START thinking about babies and love stories? What if we choose to work until we’re 70? The world may shout that you're so behind and so late— that if you don’t catch up you might not get the chance. That’s what it does. Loudly. It likes to fit things into neat little boxes and perfect timelines. But that’s just not who we are, is it? It's not who people are. Especially now. Most people, they want both careers and love stories— and they don’t want to have to choose. They want creative lives over stuffy, consistent 9-to-5s. They want to travel and experience and drink in the air of something new— rather than settle down forever in one place and never know the difference. Look, if you’re feeling the pressure to keep up, it probably means you’re on your own road. Stay there. Go at your own pace. Figure out what works for YOU. The worst thing we can ever do to measure success in this life is draw a line in time and say— “I should be here by now.”

Are you trying too hard to control how you feel? Don't. Instead, spend your time controlling what you do with what you feel. In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about how we react to our emotions. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: You cannot control how you feel. But you can control what you do. This lesson is THE HARDEST THING we ever learn. Truly. And the reason is quite simple, really. It’s because how we feel is at the absolute core of almost everything that we do. It influences every single decision we make. In every way. At every time. It is the “gut feeling” that infiltrates our facts and our truths and our rational thought. It’s us— our inner monologue. The angel (or devil) that is forever on our shoulders. So, no— we can never control how we feel. And whether that feeling manifests as anger or frustration or fear or anxiety. Whether it shows up as sadness or longing or love or passion. We aren’t designed to feel a certain way. We just— do. We are. But I’ll tell you, love— in as “out of control” as we are over our emotions at times— we are ALWAYS responsible for what we do with them. Always. When they leave our hearts or heads or the deepest pits of our stomach— is is OUR JOB to make sure they don’t hurt someone else. And you can rationalize that all you want. You can make excuses for why some things just are the way they are. But— you’re not being fair. To other people. And you know that. You KNOW that. So take responsibility, love. Not for what you feel— but for what you ultimately do with what you feel.

Does it feel like you're always getting left behind by the people you love? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about how we approach love. And letting go. And growth.If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: Ok, so you’re alone again. And in the quiet, you look around you and start letting your mind do what it does. Say what it says. You let it— start to make up those stories. And as it writes them, you listen. To the ones that convince you there is something wrong with who you are. And that you’re not good at this. And that ‘this’ is what you’re ultimately destined for— to be alone. And as it tells you those stories, you look back and find all those people who have left you. And you fit those things in as evidence into the story you’ve just been told. And then, in one of the most damaging things you will ever do to yourself, you actually start to believe it. You start to believe that you are the one that always gets left. That messes things up. That says too much— or not enough. That is to quiet or too loud— too stressed or too spontaneous. The one who is not pretty enough or thin enough or enough enough. You let all those people who walked away become the ones who get to tell your story. And in doing that, you give them the power to have your future and your past. But— isn’t it possible you’ve actually been thinking about this entirely wrong? There are always other ways to tell this story. And if you tell it as “I’m the one who always gets left,” then you are letting yourself be a victim. And worse, you’re letting yourself be a victim that is also shouldering all the blame. Stop that. TELL. ANOTHER. STORY. Here’s a start for you: “I am NOT the one who always gets left. I am just the one who knows how to stay. And then one day, someone amazing is going to love that about me. Until then, everything else is just practice for the real thing."

Are you looking for someone to make it all make sense? In today's episode, Emma reminds us that love is not what is going to fix us. And then, gently walks us through what will. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: When you find them, everything is going to finally make sense. I know. You’re going to have your— one. The person that will hold your hand and gently tuck your hair behind your ear. You will have that person to make Sunday morning pancakes with and plan holidays with and build a life with. You will have the person who will hold you and listen to you and want you. And then— because you do— life will finally be... better. Right? We have been told since our eyes could first see— just how powerful those love stories could be. We have been shaped by tales of one person saving the other— swooping in and filling in all those spaces they just couldn’t fill themselves. And maybe that is where we get it wrong. Where we— got— it wrong. Because we all go out there and look for someone to save us— but somehow never stumble upon a mirror to stare back into our very own eyes. And I get that we all want love. It’s the most essential and most desired glue there is in this life. But it is also not the answer. It’s not. Love is not going to save you. It’s not going to make those things you’ve been carrying lighter. It’s not going to fix your childhood or calm your demons or cure your emptiness. Love is— well, it’s just a bucket. With a big handle. And the reason that your life seems better when you have someone in it is because they are helping you carry whatever you have put inside. And maybe they have a choice— because you were transparent about what you were carrying. Or maybe they don’t— because you weren’t. But either way, one thing is very true. They will get tired, too, if what you’re carrying is too heavy. Does that make sense yet? So the real secret of making love last is in making love— lighter. And that is your job. Not theirs. So take all of those things in your bucket and decide which of them you really want to carry with you. And perhaps most importantly— which things you want to ask someone else to help you carry through this life. But keep in mind that they bring their own things, too. So just—leave some room in your bucket for them. And do it by being someone who has learned to make your own self happy. Because THAT is what will make them happy.

Are you outgrowing your life right now? In today's episode, Emma gets us thinking about change. And how to deal with the people who try to hold us back. If you could talk to you, this is what it would sound like. In under five-minute clips, the Life Letters™ explores the topics of growth, change, self-love, relationships, and happiness. Hosted by author Emma Grace of Instagram’s hugely popular 'Live in the Details,' the Life Letters™ will hand you a daily dose of the words you never knew you always needed to hear.Podcast Transcript: So, here’s the thing about change— you have to actually MEAN it. Sure, it’s all well and good to swear up one side and down the other that you are going to be different. That THINGS are going to be different. But that just gets you to the starting line. You can be committed— you can want it like crazy— but that will never be enough to produce a result. It just won’t. Change comes from work. Hard work. YOUR work. And I swear to you— it is always going to be hard. It is always going to hurt. It is always going to feel wrong. And you are ALWAYS going to question whether what you are doing is taking you in the right direction. Often that’s because of the push-back you’ll get from the people who are watching your transformation— but don’t understand it yet. It will come from the people you’re outgrowing or pulling away from or discovering you don’t need anymore. And those people are going to be your anchors. They are going to try to hold you in a life you don’t fit in anymore and it is always YOUR JOB to see that. And stop it. When it gets hard (and it will) I need you to KNOW that just means you need to work harder. If it’s a boundary, you have to hold it. If it’s a promise, you have to keep it. If it’s a habit you’re trying to make— you have to EMBRACE the pain of the early mornings and late nights and tiredness and discomfort. And love? If it’s a habit you are trying to kick— then you have got to understand it’s going to come with some “one step forward, two step back” kind of days. And that is NORMAL. All of it. Change is the ONLY thing you’re responsible for in this life. Stop thinking that just because you were something or wanted something that you have to be that or want that forever. When you start feeling that urge to change— just let it carry you. Let it carry you past the people and things that are going to try to stand in your way. Past the non-believers and the negativity and the “you’re not the same anymore.” And as things are coming together for you, just do me one favor. Hell, do yourself one favor. NEVER go back. Never feel the chaos and uncertainty and confusion and decide its easier to just stay where you are. Things will never change for you if you keep letting yourself be the one standing in your own way.