inspiration this week (january 2026)

Hey hey sweet friends! I am coming up for air after a particularly introspective and challenging couple of weeks. They were made far less hard and painful than they could have been by so many love notes and wise words from you, both online and in priceless phone calls and texts. So thank you. Thank you from both of us, from deep in our hearts. We are more than okay.

How about pausing all of that to see what’s inspiring us lately? I’ll share, and I hope you will too.

BOOKS:

Morning devotionals lately have been daily pages from both Dietrich Bonhoffer and C.S. Lewis. It’s fascinating to read the perspectives of two men from a similar time in history, but objectively different situations.

I am also nearing the end of a non fiction book by restaurateur Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality. Oh man, you guys, it is so inspiring! I started reading it back in November but put it down during the busy holiday season. I tried picking it up again over New Year’s week, but that was painful becuase so much of what the author shares relates to management, and of course that reminds me of Handsome and his career mission.

I am now reading it again for my own reasons, and the messages are tunneling straight to my heart. The notion of hospitality in general first caught my attention, but this book covers far more than table settings and food. It’s rich with insight to human behavior and motivation. Everyone has myriad ways to impact the world and give people more than they expect. If you’ve read it and have thougths, hit me up! I am always ready for a great book chat.

Bonus trivia: Guidara contributed to the tv show The Bear, so if you grooved that, you might get a big kick out of at least parts of this.

PODCAST:

Andrew Huberman recently shared his interview with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, and I loved it. Clear’s weekly newsletter has been as useful to me as his book was years ago, so I tend to grab anything with his name on it. Plus, January is a great time to revisit some of his principles on habit formation. Specifically, if you have ever struggled with or frowned skeptically at various cognitive reframing techniques, like if you ever say to people, “Sure, Pollyanna!” when they are only trying to look at the bright side, then you might like this approach better:

Clear suggests, when you are faced with whether to see a situation or a period of time as either wholly positive or tragically negative, to make two lists, but make sure everything you write on both lists is truthful. Go ahead of list out the things that hurt or piss you off (my words, not his) but make sure they are all true, not imagnied or exaggerated by heated emotions. Then write a corresponding list, naming all the positive aspects of the same situation or time period, still making sure they are true. Review both lists and decide for yourself: Which is more empowering, more inspiring, more hopeful, more useful, more energizing, etc? You get to decide, as always, how you tell your story. You get to decide how to put a moment in your life down in your own history. I like this because it encourages open eyed observation of the facts before pushing you into “toxic positivity” or surrenduring you to repeat a painful loop. Trust me, I know a thing or two about both tendencies.

AUDIOBOOK:

This morning I ran around our local reservoir and listened to an audio novella. The Levee is by William Kent Kreuger, the same author who gave us This Tender Land, among other modern treasures. Have you ever tried his books? They are as gorgeous to read with your eyes as they are to hear with your ears. The prose and the storylines are just true works of art.

Lots more swimming in my world, in the arenas of music and home decor, but I’ll save those for an upcoming post. January and February will hopefully be filled with some creative endeavors not related to gardening, ha! What is inspiritng you this week?

“If you wish to be a warrior, prepare to be broken.
If you wish to be an explorer, prepare to get lost.
If you wish to be a lover, prepare to be both”
~Daniel Saint
XOXO