Kimberly Figures it Out

Lately I have been getting into the garden one day a week to trim and work on the plants. The garden used to be one of my favorite places but over the past few years I wasn't getting out to garden very often and some of the plants became overgrown. My new routine is to put on a podcast and start working, before I know it several hours have passed.  I find that I feel close to myself when I am in the dirt or up a tree with clippers. As soon as I take that first smell of bitter dirt and sharp, sweet lemons in our garden I feel grounded.  Lately, I have been pruning our lemon trees that have become woefully overgrown. Trimming the lemons is like solving a puzzle with no answer and takes complete concentration, I trace back each branch to the main branches to see if I want to change the path or if it's growing solidly. I find this process very restorative and a direct analogy to my relationship with myself. I am paring down habits and ideas that aren't useful and making plans f...

I started this blog in my thoughts several years ago, brainstorming in the shower or walking around about things that I'd like to write that might be interesting to read for other people. I chickened out of publishing last year but now I've drawn the courage up to go for it and here I am. This year is my 39th and as I approach 40 I have been figuring out who I am and who I want to be in my next 39 years. These days my biggest identity is being a mama to my two middle schoolers. Currently 12 and 14, they have been keeping me busy and learning since they were born as they move into stage after stage of development and we navigate the world together as a family. 40 looms large doesn't it? I do not dream of being younger as I am far happier and healthier than I was in my 20s but there is a weight to 40. It's not insignificant. Case in point, I moved to San Francisco when I was 17. So, I have been living in the big city for 22 years. Twenty two! That's the kind of number...