Fearless Summer!

Hello hello, welcome to Season Three and Episode 55 of Life on the Brink!

How have you been? Busy, I imagine.
May was a crazy, exciting, and very busy month for me, and brought with it so many beautiful moments. I also embraced a new attitude since my birthday at the end of April that I am LOVING.

26 is my year of FEARLESSNESS, so welcome to our FEARLESS SUMMER!
Today I’m going to share a few key experiences from this past month that have really encouraged me to let go and really enjoy this summer season.

In this episode we'll talk about:
 -self consciousness
-how to enjoy the moment
-letting go of self-perception
-recognizing and celebrating growth
-the freedom to BE YOURSELF and enjoy this gorgeous summer season.

Plus, my first Little Joy of the season is a simple yet indulgent and delicious summer breakfast, and I have the perfect album to kick off your carefree summer vibes.

For the complete show notes, click here!
For full transcript, click here!

Site: lifeonthebrink.live
Social: @anna_on_the_keys

Transcript

0:07

Welcome to Life on the brink, a lovely little place filled with inspiration and creativity that is dedicated to enjoying life one day at a time. I'm Ana, and together, we're exploring the beautiful things in this world that fascinate us. And often discovering something new. Hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to season three and to Episode 55 of life on the brink. How are you? I imagine that you've been busy. It's been a while since the last episode came out Season Two ended at the end of April. And May is just such a crazy month. I know for me, it was packed with a bunch of stuff. I'm very excited to get back into the podcast for these weekly episodes all through the summer. And first, I want to catch you up before we jump into today's episode. This is some of the stuff that happened as a little update. So Josh, my husband, he graduated finally with his master's degree. Huge, huge achievement. Very, very proud. That was a whole thing. Also, my little sister, if you guys recall, she was on the Summer Movie Night podcast last year, she just graduated from high school. And as a result, my mom has sort of retired from homeschooling after 16 years. Wow. So that like a big trip was an order. We hadn't gone traveling as a family in several years, for obvious reasons. And it was a big year. So we went to Disney World at the end of May. And it was fantastic. I'll talk more about it, I'm sure. But what else happened. So I put on my first official chorus concert as like a choral director at the school that I work at, which was terrifying, but went very, very well. I also conducted the chorus at the school's graduation in full academic regalia. And I just bring up this as an update because it for me, I never felt so empowered, or so grown up as conducting an ensemble in like a long robe. With like, my alma mater is colors with like the hood, I it was awesome. Um, I also my sister got for my birthday, she got us tickets to see Ali and AJ in concert. If you remember them, then you understand why when they were in town, we just had to see them in real life. And it was my first like real concert experience like that since COVID. And I'm also going to talk about that a little bit in, in today's episode. And also, I got bangs. I mean, is this a it was such a transitional month for me, I now have bangs curly bangs. And I love them. I'm also going to talk about that in today's episode, because it was a transformative experience. So my last episode was about the my birthday party, Tea Party picnic. And I had just turned 26. And this year, this year of 26, for me, is going to be a year of fearlessness. Not fearing being without fear, whatever you want to call it. So welcome to Life on the brink in our fearless summer. That's what I'm calling it. Because if there's ever a time of year to just sort of let go of inhibitions, it's got to be the summer. I realized being in Florida a couple weeks ago that I am a hot weather girl, somehow being outside for hours at a time and just sweating was not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. And I was I was not really bothered by the heat at any point. And I definitely would have been bothered by the cold if it hadn't been very cold. So I'm just really fully embracing summer I feel like I get this boost of creativity. I'm like up earlier in the morning. And yeah, this year. It's a fearless summer. And in the spirit of that for this first episode to kick off season three, I'm going to be sharing a few key experiences mostly from you know, the weeks and a couple months leading up to this episode that have really encouraged me to just let go and enjoy this summer season so that hopefully, you can shed a little bit of emotional weight and feel little bit lighter ready to embrace summer because this is, you know, technically it like the end of spring. And while I am usually Yes, we like to soak up as much as we can of each season, but June, it's really it's got that summer vibe to it and I am just this year. I'm all about summer. So, let us dive into it. If you're new here, welcome. I'm Ana. And I'm gonna invite you as I do every episode to sort of pause and make yourself a cup of tea. You can literally pause the podcast, or you can just sort of take me with you and make yourself a cup of tea. I have a new tea to me, I bought it in Disney World, my souvenirs were pretty much exclusively Tea, tea biscuits and a mug for tea. That's literally what I brought home with me. So I'm drinking today the Disney Wonderland tea line. This is the Queen's garden blend. So it's just a bunch of different blends and flavored teas in an Alice in Wonderland motif. And this is a cute little tin that I bought had 12 little sachets I have seen people selling it on Amazon and I'm going to leave a link if you're interested. But it's actually an herbal tea that contains let's see. Strawberries, hints of maple flower petals. I see Apple rose hip orange, sunflower petals. Yeah, so you get it. It's really fruity and refreshing. But that little bit of like maple note really makes it interesting, a little bit more grounded in a way. And I'll put a picture in the show notes because I'm drinking it out of my new mug, which on one side, well the whole thing is yellow, like a really pretty butter yellow. And on one side it says London is the best adventure. UK, England and then a little drawing of a bit of London skyline. And it's a Winnie the Pooh thing. So on the inside it says today is my favorite day, which just like really touched my heart. And there's a little drawing on the other side of Winnie the Pooh as one of the castle guards in a really cute animation style. And there's a little bumblebee on the handle. And it's just darling. So I was embracing my inner child. And I'm now drinking Disney tea out of a Disney mug. And it's the right size mug to feel like a lot of Disney and like Starbucks and a lot of commercial mugs are huge. And this one isn't. So that's what I like about it so good shape. So now that I've talked at length about my tea, I hope that you have been able to make one by now. Okay, so fearless summer. Yes, I've got three different takeaways slash stories that I would like to share just sort of realizations about myself that I am trying to hold on to, because I just want to give a disclaimer that I definitely like I am not a fully actualized person, obviously, and I have low days just as you do. But we grow and I'm growing. And I feel like this year in this summer, I'm growing particularly in being comfortable with myself and letting go of fear. So this is simply to illuminate and hopefully make you think or question yourself and your thoughts and hopefully to encourage not in any way to make you feel bad. Please no, no, not at all. I'm simply inviting you into this trend that I feel myself going on. Let's hop on this train and here we go. Number one, I'm calling it I'm not afraid anymore. But Allah Macaulay Culkin in home alone so you hear me I'm not afraid anymore. I always loved his acting there. So this thought occurred to me at the aforementioned Ali and AJ concert in which like I said it was the first time I was really in like a crowd of people there for the music specifically. And the funny thing is I I knew like I know like for Ali and AJ song was probably from way back in the day. And they actually have like a large discography and like have a full like they've been on tour consistently and have written album upon album that is actually really cool music that I've since gone back into Listen to, but I really didn't know what I was in for. I didn't know who their opener was at all. But I was just into it, there's something about the energy you get of people that are just there to hear music. And it's loud. And I was just dancing to every song. And you can feel the bass in your feet, the sound guy was really he was on that night. And it was a true like, rock concert, sort of more of like an indie rock. And in my experience, rock and pop concerts can like very quickly just sort of transport you. It's not as cerebral as like classical or jazz, because I love going to those too. But you can just sort of let it wash over you. And nothing really matters. And I was completely sober for this, by the way. But I was just so enjoying it. And I realized that, that I was letting myself enjoy it. I think in the past in years past, I would have been concerned more with how I looked, or whether those around me were also dancing, or were they as into the music was I standing out. And I like sometimes, you know, depending on the setting to just sit in the back and listen. But that wasn't what this kind of concert was. But this time, I also didn't think about that. I was just really enjoying the sound and the feel of the music and the environment. And it was the sort of a realization that I had about myself that some things I simply don't fear. Some things that I used to that some things that would scare me, just don't scare me. Like, do I look stupid right now. And maybe it's, I've grown a little bit because I perform at like, maybe as a performer, I've been on the other side. And I love it when someone is into it. Wherever whatever performance setting that might be. So I didn't feel out of place, even though not everyone around me was as into it as I was. But I wasn't concerned with who's looking at me. You know, does this person What do I look like right now? Not at all, it felt so nice. Like, I wish I could have had this same energy as a single lady. Does that make sense? Where I am not concerned at all, If anyone finds me attractive right now. Um, but anyway, that's beside the point. And I was just there with my sister, we had a fun time, I was able to completely enjoy a concert without even thinking about myself. And that might not sound like much as I'm saying it. But to me, it was a very freeing experience. So number one, I'm not afraid thing is I don't I was not aware of that progression. It's just I realized and was able to sort of celebrate by myself. Oh, that doesn't scare me anymore. Awesome. Okay, moving on. Number two, I'm calling it. It's not that big of a deal. And in the best way. So at the beginning of May, I did something that at one time in my life, I might have seen as reckless. I got bangs, as I mentioned before, so I have curly hair. And I haven't had bangs since I was like, seven. And at that time, I didn't even know my hair was curly. So it was a travesty. We didn't know what you were doing. So when I started thinking about getting my hair cut and maybe getting bangs, I was so torn and freaked out. I started thinking about it probably like, March, I think it was at least early March. And I let myself think about it for a couple months. And I feel like hair is one of the few things that everyone always downplays when it goes wrong. In terms of like its importance saying like, Oh, it's just hair, it'll grow back, which is true in most cases, of course. But it actually does make a big difference to your day to day. So I understand when someone's like, really upset over a bad haircut or, like you have a great hair day and it completely changes how you feel. Here is a big deal, I think. And so I deliberated. And I really I went back and forth. And I asked those that were close to me for their opinions. And surprisingly, everyone including Josh was like, oh, yeah, go for it. Like, try it. And I was just like, whoa, like this, perhaps you don't understand the gravity of the situation. Hey, I thought Josh of all people would be like, No, I like it how it is because it also got quite long. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen probably, at this point that it reached to about like, halfway between my shoulder and my elbow, longer than I'd had it since I was in high school. And so I was thinking of getting it significantly cut, and also bangs. And everyone was like, just go for it. And so I did. And yes, it will grow back if I needed to. And ultimately, it's not that big of a deal, as I made it in my head. But I wasn't going to know, unless I tried it. So I did it in the middle of a very busy week as well. But it took me a couple of weeks to sort of figure out how to curl them in the night was when I style the rest of my hair before I go to bed. So that I really, really super love them now. And I feel a bit I don't know, wild or free. Now that I have them, I just it's it's a different sort of era for Ana, and I'm loving it. It's new and fresh, and it feels just right for where I am right now. That's number two. I don't know how that will necessarily apply to you, I guess what I would say is if you're worried about making a change, and obviously there are changes that can be made that that have bigger potential consequences. But I would just say go for it. This is me telling you in your bank story or whatever, go for it. It's not as big a deal as you think it is. In the best way. Number three, I can be me slash you can be you. So during this recent trip to Orlando, I brought what was perhaps the best book to bring on vacation, which is of course, people we meet on vacation by Emily Henry. Everyone read this book last year, and it was all over the place. And now I finally got a hold of it, it looked very summery. So I wanted to wait until summer. And I got a hold of a copy from the library just in time. So as a side note, I loved it. I really, really loved this book, I thought that the characters were real. And anyway, I'm going to talk about that in a later episode, we're going to talk about books. But I wanted to share a quote that was right at the beginning that really stuck with me on this trip. So here's the quote, on vacation, you can be anyone you want, like a good book or an incredible outfit, being on vacation transports you into another version of yourself. So that's true. I love that feeling of freedom that comes with being in a faraway place with people who I will probably never see again. And I feel a bit more impulsive. Not in like a careless way, but in a carefree way less calculating, more willing to speak to people more willing to try new things. And it leads me to have really special interactions with other people and with the natural world because I'm again, less worried about how I am being perceived. I was more present with what was going on around me, then, like watching myself. Does that make sense? So in Disney World, it looked a bit like this, where I was around so many people, but I felt pretty comfortable with how I looked because I think when we when we see people, Disney influencers at at, you know, the parks, and they might look perfect, and that perfect Disney aesthetic. But being in a real place with real people really puts it into perspective. And I felt like wow, okay, I'm a human being amongst other human beings. And we're all here to have a nice time. And I was a bit more spontaneous as well. So I went to go buy a snack at one point and the woman's name tag who was the cashier? It said that she was from Bayamo in Puerto Rico. And I said to her in Spanish Oh, by among my grandmother's from twaddle, which is another part of Puerto Rico. And we had like a little dialogue in Spanish, which I don't normally do. Of course, most people don't usually have name tags with where they're from in normal life. But even when I didn't really know how to say something and respond to something, she was just very gracious and it was nice. Like I think she enjoyed that interaction to have being able to like meet someone and speak speak Spanish and I was also like up and dancing at every opportunity. There were there was a excellent musical troupe in Animal Kingdom with drummers and a guy was Dancing and he was like, everyone come on, we're gonna dance and I was front and center, giving it my all it was amazing. I mean, when it came time for the fireworks and shows I just like let myself cry when I wanted to cry because music and lights and just the the art of things coming together is just sometimes so beautiful to see. So I didn't even mind I was like, I'm just gonna cry, I need to cry. And I found myself like, open like feeling comfortable to compliment other people. Does that make sense? I don't know why sometimes in my life, it has felt so taxing to reach out to someone that I don't know, just to say, I like your outfit, or something like that, you know, but I wasn't. And this summer, I'm looking to infuse that same spirit and that same zest into my daily life. So well, that quote that I read is sort of about maybe turning yourself into, well, it says into another version of yourself. I'm looking at it too, as a sort of embracing my truest self, the truest version of myself, the one that we are often comfortable with, when we don't, when we feel we don't know people or there's not the same daily, quote, unquote, consequences. We're not concerned with image as much that person that version of myself, I really like. And so that's the one that I'm trying to seize. I'm ready to take opportunities and to be more spontaneous, and more kind and easygoing. So in summary, it's shaping up to be a fearless summer one where we can just be ourselves and realize the ways that we have grown for the better. This summer, the world truly feels normal again, in most respects, like, really, really, it feels like a normal life again, but I guess more heightened because we've missed it. And we can embrace all the things that maybe we didn't even know we missed. And it's a very exciting thing. So why not embrace it. As far as this podcast goes, you can also look forward to weekly episodes all throughout the summer, rather than every two weeks. There'll be episodes on travel, cooking, summer reading, as I mentioned, gardening, more tea, of course, and along with some very special interviews. So my goal is to soak up everything this season will offer and to share that inspiration each week with you. So thank you so much for joining the community joining me for embracing this summer and for joining us on this third season of life on the brink. Very excited. Welcome, welcome. Welcome. I'll be right back with the first little joy of the season. So this week's little joy if you're new, I am feeling like this is a new season I just want to introduce in case anyone is new. I share a little joy, something that is small and has brightened up my everyday life something that was either an occurrence or a memory or a physical thing, as is the case in this little joy and just sharing that little that little piece of inspiration. So this little joy is a bag of peaches. So on my latest grocery trip from Trader Joe's I just got back from Disney and I saw peaches and I thought okay, it seems a little early for them to be in season. I forgot to read where they were sourced from but they smelled so sweet and they had the right amount of squishiness so I took a chance got peaches and I'm so glad that I did because all week I was able to enjoy my favorite summer breakfast. Are you ready? This is my little joy favorite breakfast. You take a peach perfectly right? You slice it in half. And then I put a nice like blob of plain Greek yogurt on top of that. A little drizzle of honey and then I'm top it with my homemade vanilla almond granola. The recipe for which by the way I will be sharing on the blog in the weeks to come in case you would like to make it yourself and of course a cup of tea. This is the best breakfast because the juiciness from the peach really runs all through the yogurt and then the granola is yummy and crunchy. And it's perfect. It's it's my favorite summer breakfast. And it's it kind of feels like an indulgence as well. It's amazing to start your day With so be on the lookout for fresh peaches. And I'll let I'll post and let you know for sure whenever the granola recipe is posted. In fact, if you'd like to know, when all the blog posts and podcasts are released, the best way to get a hold of that is to sign up for the free newsletter, which you can do so at the website. And that's at life on the brink dot live. And that's my little joy. I love it so much. And finally, before we wrap up, I've got to give you an album to listen to, to set your summer mood fearless summer mood. And so there's a point in every summer for me, when I end up listening to just reggae like nothing else. And this year, that point has come very early. So early, in fact that it's not yet summer. But it's it's been my soundtrack as of late. I fell in love back in love, I should say with Hawaiian reggae last year when Josh and I were in Hawaii, and I've really been missing Hawaii, like who doesn't. And this music helps to transport me a little bit. Fortunately, I do live on the east coast, like very close to the beach. And so I will be taking advantage of all the beach time I'm trying to be in the beach. And this album just pairs so perfectly with it. So even if it's to accompany you to your pool day, if you're not near beach, or for any of your summer activities. I really enjoyed this album. It's called the circle and the group is natural vibrations. So it's very laid back. It's very summery exactly what you think I would just start at track one and just let them go. It's a really solid reggae album. And yeah, it's my soundtrack right now. And that's about it. I already said the stuff about the newsletter before I talked about the album. So you have all your resources, I wish you the very best as we approach the actual season of summer. Congrats to any other grads out there. Very proud. You've done a great job. And let us all embrace a summer of fearlessness of completely loving and embracing our lives because what's the point of making a life that you love if you're too afraid to enjoy it. That being said, You are lovely. Have a wonderful week, have a great start to the season. And I'll be back next week. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Life on the brink. If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to leave a star rating or even better leave a review on Apple podcasts to help spread the word. For podcast show notes and extra inspirational posts throughout the week. Head to the blog at life on the brink dot live. And if you'd like a little extra dose of inspiration in your life, sign up for the monthly newsletter, which lights up your inbox the first Friday of each month. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, friends you have a lovely week. Bye