“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in.
That’s what the storm is all about.” —Haruki Murakami

People are exhausted by life right now. As I feel the heaviness pulling on my spirit, I am becoming more resolute about what I want, and even more so about what I don’t want.

I am beginning to deeply grasp the grave reality that life is short, which urges me to make the days of my life filled with meaning, joy, and happiness. If you feel the same way I do, we have to figure out what to incorporate into our daily living to feel alive and joyful. More importantly, and perhaps the first step, is to decipher what we need to eliminate from our daily living (or mindset) to lift the load?

While we may not all be mothers, we all have a mother, even if she is no longer living or not in the picture because of reasons or circumstances. Some moms are wonderful, though “wonderful” is defined through each individual’s eyes. Some think it’s wonderful their mom’s known as the “cool” mom, while others can literally smell the homemade chocolate chip cookies their mom always has ready with a tuned-in, compassionate ear when life gets tough.

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as who you become by achieving your goals.”  — Zig Ziglar

20 years! It’s hard to believe 20 years has passed since I hesitantly turned in my two-weeks notice at the last corporate job I ever held to start my own company—Millen Publishing Group, LLC. Pink was born at my home in Hilton Head Plantation in a small room beside the kitchen that I converted into an office. I had no idea what to expect, and I really had no solid game plan on how to get the idea out of my head, onto paper, and into the hearts of women across Beaufort County. I believe the thing I had going most for me is I didn’t overthink it. I just did it, in no particular order, and nonetheless, the first issue of Pink Magazine came out on April 1, 2004. It was exciting, and before I knew it, its momentum was rolling, and we were on our way.

 The A’s have it when it comes to the two most overused words in America—amazing and awesome. It’s interesting that both are positive words used to describe things that are outstanding and incredible. Before I rant, let me confess to being one of the over users.

I say awesome more than amazing, probably because I am a child of the ‘80s, and awesome began being overused in the early ’80s, when Spicoli, the always high, cool surfer dude from Fast Times at Ridgemont High used the word to describe nearly everything. Instead of identifying that Spicoli was so high his brain couldn’t conjure up more than one word, teens viewed him as superbly cool and began to emulate his stunted vocabulary to describe anything and everything.

It’s funny, too, that people overuse this term to praise both good and
bad things.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
—Albert Einstein—

Although I spent a great deal of time outdoors playing when I was growing up, I never considered myself outdoorsy. In fact, if I had a choice to either clean the house or do yard work, I always chose housework. The yard was not my thing. I was terrified of lizards and despised bugs. Plus, growing up in the inferno of the South, Columbia (SC), I had no desire to pick up pinecones in the summer heat, even if I was getting paid a penny a piece.

When I hear about women who adore nature and the great outdoors, I usually think of hikers, campers, climbers, kayakers, naturalists, master gardeners—and a vast amount of khaki. Perhaps, I confuse adventurous with outdoorsy. Nonetheless, I have learned we are all nature girls, which includes even the most frou-frou among us, (no khaki required) because we are all at the mercy of the sun and moon to give us life.