KRISTINA'S WEEKLY EMAIL OF THOUGHT-PROVOKING ESSAYS & VIDEOS TO KEEP YOU CONNECTED TO YOURSELF ON THIS JOURNEY CALLED LIFE
|
Greetings!
Oh so many things to talk about this week! The burning of Notre Dame, Holy Week/Passover, the release of the Mueller Report or Beyonce's film, all of which I could have addressed with the PGGs:
The Roof is on Fire
,
The Passion of Passover
or perhaps
State of Our Union
. But with so much going on around us, it's easy to get swirled up in the daily grind, external distractions and crisis du jour that
you might lose touch with or take for granted the people in your life, or perhaps are letting non-worthy folks take up tooo much of your precious time that you could use to cultivate a better relationship with yourself
. Because I operate by listening to myself and then do my best to give me what I need, (hence:
The Smoothie Principle
),
for a while now I had been missing two of my special friends, Fiona, who is almost 13, and Zach, who just turned 10. Even though I have a lot going on, I made use of their week off from school to spend some quality time together sans parents, and it turned out to be exactly what the doctor ordered! Our "date" on Wednesday was planned for a while, but who knew that our
dose of silliness would be the antidote to such seriousness and insanity going on at the moment
! I hadn't seen them since early November and was increasingly feeling it, and then realized that was why, along with the overdue hugs and bonus Instagram tutorial (if you
follow me there
you might have noticed my first "story" and saw the highlights of our time together). So this week, who do you need to re-connect with and experience the gift of presence, silly or sublime? You can also check out my
PGG Video of the week
where I
remind you of the importance of having fun
, and an
Instagram post
to remind you
to be grateful for the people in your life
. As always, please feel free to
let me know
y
our feedback about any and all that I'm doing :) Big hug <3 Kristina
|
"
I love your PGG newsletters - one of the only ones I actually read in its entirety. They are excellently written, and spot on. Thanks for being so inspirational and reflective!" ~ Tom D
.
|
|
People Who Need People
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to surviva
l
. ~ C.S. Lewis
Despite what
Simon & Garfunkel once sang
,
we are neither rocks, nor islands, as many of us (especially those drawn to live in the metropolis that is New York!) might want to be. The irony of course is that the very nature of being human means we are part of a greater whole and must interact with other human beings on many levels. Yet a sense of connection and belonging doesn’t always come from the family, tribe or culture we are born into so
we must create that connection authentically, first within ourselves and then with others
.
Relationships are one of the most difficult areas for us homo sapiens to navigate, and they are the biggest source of our pleasure as well as our pain. The past several years we have had an advanced course in them; I for one can say as difficult as it’s been, have learned some new and deeper versions of lessons I know will serve me well in the future, all of which culminated in a super-summer intensive, with this harvest season reaping the wisdom culled from that journey.
Some of those nuggets include: finding the balance between losing ourselves/being co-dependent versus isolating and becoming a monk (or a psychopath); having boundaries and not taking on/feeling responsible for another's emotional or other type of well-being; nurturing yourself, no one can know exactly what you need but you; seeing people and relationships as they really are, not how you’d like them to be. And regarding those close/intimate relationships that are more difficult or challenging,
keep in mind that that person – whether parent, boss, spouse, sibling, lover, friend, child – is just the actor playing a role in a scenario you have created in order to heal and grow
.
Lastly, the people you choose to allow into your life – friends/boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/partner- should meet certain criteria. The word ‘friend’ especially has been so diluted and watered down with the use of Facebook and social media you need to be able to
separate the wheat from the chaff and discern the
Apples and Oranges.
The foundation of a relationship with anyone deserving of your time and energy must include understanding, appreciation and respect. You should be able to check off at least two of these to be considered a friend, and
if you are fortunate to have someone in your life who truly understands, appreciates and respects you, then you are very, very lucky
and should treasure and honor that relationship for the special gem that it is.
The bottom line is
,
You Gotta Have Friends,
and
making time for friendships and your most important relationships is not a luxury but a necessity
. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to -day busyness of life, but we need to discipline ourselves to create space for connecting with the people who love and accept us, who know and understand us, with whom we share interests and history, and have grown together, not apart.
Remember, you can always see PGGs from any month or year going back to 2010 on my website at
www.kristinaleonardi.com
and visit my social media pages for more inspiration throughout the week! Want to share my PGG? Use my
Medium
page for friendliest posting version.
|
|
WORK WITH KRISTINA
Next Public Talk: May 8th 6pm
Staying Motivated Throughout the Job Search Process
Buy Kristina's Books:
Read Kristina's Career & Personal Growth Articles:
"Since I last spoke with you, I've had some pretty dramatic changes - New Job, a Big Move, Healthy Dating Relationship. It's been pretty awesome. Emotionally, I've done a 180, and my life is certainly a reflection of that.
My last session with you spurred a lot of wonderful life changes.
"
~ Palanda B.
"I can honestly say that speaking to you was one of the most important events in my life.
It is almost unbelievable how a 2-hour conversation can have that effect."
~
Bozhanka V.
|
|
PGG VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK
|
|
Looking for more PGG inspiration and tips?
Stay tuned for a
PGG TV
video series coming soon!
|
|
|
kristina leonardi - Medium
Looking for more good reads? Check out and follow me on Medium, where you can easily like and share the PGG's that really click. Share the love <3
Read more
medium.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you're receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in and have signed up directly for or agreed to be added to this list for mailings and updates related to the work of Kristina Leonardi, PGG/Personal Growth Gab and/or TWM/The Women's Mosaic. Your privacy is paramount, and your email will only be used for communicating with you about topics, essays, events and announcements related to these entities. Please note you can change your profile preferences or simply unsubscribe at anytime using the "
Update Profile
" or "SafeUnsubscribe" links at the bottom of every email. Thanks for being part of this community and feel free to contact
kleonardi@mindspring.com
should you have any questions, comments or concerns.
You may
unsubscribe
if you no longer wish to receive our emails.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
