Juli Schuster Art and Sanctuary

  The last picture we have of everyone in our family together. June 2015 Recently, I started reading The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker because, to be honest, hosting stresses me out. When I taught yoga in my home, it was a bit easier—everyone was there with a shared purpose. But I still worried about anyone not feeling at home and not having the experience they expected. Family and friend gatherings are a whole other ball of wax. I find myself overthinking everything and sometimes just decide not to do it at all. I didn’t inherit the “Super Hostess” gene from my mom (who is one of the best!). The only gatherings where I truly feel at ease are with close family, but mostly my kids and grandkids. I know them, they know me, and there’s no awkward tension to navigate. With all the changes in our family over the years, I’ve become hyper-aware of the dynamics in a room. When people other than our usual brood are included in the mix, my brain immediately jumps to worst-case (and oft...

 Well, this isn't the update on my No-Buy Month that I expected to make. First of all it's not really an update, as the end of the No-Buy Month has come and gone. I had an actual update post started on February 28th, but 2 days later my dad passed away, so it was never finished. Although my dad had been sick for a long time (and he always bounced back from the many near-death experiences he's had over the past 4 years), I'm still processing the fact that he is really gone.  As far as my No-Buy Month, it was going pretty well until the day after he died and I had a little Target therapy. I told myself as I walked through the door that this was 100% emotional shopping, but I really could not have cared less. I didn't overdo it, but what I bought (a sweater, a tunic top, and a pair of pajama pants) was definitely not a necessity. I'm thinking the fact that I was completely aware of what I was doing, makes it a learning experience, which is not such a bad thing.  I ...