This freaking amazing, kid-directed camp where she can play soccer and learn how to knit and play video games and make HD movies, all on her own time, all in the same day.

This camp that’s all day, five days a week, all summer.

And then she starts kindergarden.

Facing this transition from a mom who was mostly-homeschooling, almost 24-7 with a kid for 5 years, to a mom with a kid in school sharing joint custody … I’ve been in this bizarrely calm, zen like state.

For the first moment in over five years, I have time.

For the foreseeable future, I have time.

Time to do my insanely long to do list, the huge brainstorm of projects I would like to create, all the admin stuff I’ve been putting off in my business and life, all the stories and ideas I have not yet written or videoed about. The new cities I want to explore. Aerial dance classes. Rock climbing & backpacking again. New food to eat and drinks to indulge in, hot yoga classes to try. Beaches to walk on. All of the everythings I’ve been setting aside on that huge list of “until.”

And … time for something else. Something I have been neglecting for years.

I have time to think.

Think about my business & my tribe. What people need, where the mission of living your truth is going, where I want to be in few months, where it is all going decades from now, how the little things I do now are infecting people, what we can do together to spread that change throughout our corner of the world.

Think about my life. What I really want, what I really need, about what are my opinions and beliefs about the world and how I fit into it, where I want to live, how much stuff I really need, who I want to spend time with, where I fit into their lives, what I need in my day to day life for me to be happy.

Think about nothing. Go for long walks. Sit and stare at the water. Close my eyes and listen to traffic or the white noise of people chatting in airports or museums or the Starbucks a half-block from my apartment.

This post is a signpost.

This post marks a beginning.

Of what … well, I have no freaking idea.

Yum.

The best adventures are born when you don’t know what the frak is going to happen.

When you open yourself up to the possibility, get really clear about who you are and the mission you are bringing to the world, create a space of time and quiet and peace, pack a bag, and take massive action when the most scary inspiration that resonates with your soul hits you in the face.

Or whispers dark seductions in your ear.

So stay in tune for what happens on this next year of living my truth.

I have no particulars about the deliciousness that I will be blogging to you.

All I know is that the ecstasy and the insanity all start today.

Related posts:

1. My Life is Impossible.
2. A Day in My Life.
3. In My Life

My first grown-up private space where I make all the decisions, full of white walls and serenity and only those things with which I have fallen in love.

But that is not the only place where my soul is at peace.

Where I explore my passions and push my boundaries. Where I leave pieces of my heart.

Chicago Midway is one such place.

I’m here now, sitting in the bar, writing and watching and nursing a beer.

The white noise, the energy moving through this place, is meditative and exciting and inspirational.

Everyone is a walking story.

With new babies and on honeymoons, traveling to their grandmother’s funeral or to the birthday party of their best friend from college, going on the Hawaii vacation they’ve been saving for for five years or to the first meeting with the long distance lover they found online, on their way to close the big business deal or to make that one last desperate pitch so they can meet their commission quota for the month.

I love exploring to hunt down the secret empty seats, the desperate search for electric plugs as my iPhone hits 10%, questing for the one place that might actually serve something vegetarian besides a plastic bowl of iceberg gopped with ranch dressing.

Feeling absolutely alone yet pulled into the rhythm of boarding, the herd exiting planes and flowing towards baggage claim, people moving in and out of the seats at the bar as their time comes.

Always on my way to or from my adventure.

Connecting with the closest friends I have ever had. Spreading the world about Live Your Truth. Sliding down ziplines or dancing in clubs until 4 in the morning or driving 3 hours to get a tattoo.

Long walks flowing with the walk signs, randomly exploring a city. Toes sinking into the sand along the ocean while avoiding the cold waves as they chase us, the tide coming in. Endless conversations over endless martinis, wondering if we’ll be thrown out for laughing too hard. Finding the nearest Starbucks at 7:30 am and at 11:00 pm, gossiping about the laptop screens we’re reading over shoulders. Sitting silently in an empty bistro patio, smoking and listening to the trains shake their way through the city. Walking the entire length of the Las Vegas strip in search of a Walgreens.

I can write in these places. Think. Be inspired.

Hear the truth that lies dormant when I’m moving through my ordinary life.

I need my home to be nowhere, I need my home to be everywhere, for me to feel how to be all of myself.

Where do you love to be, besides your home?

Where is your office away from the office?

Where do you go to think, to write, to feel at peace, to be yourself?

Related posts:

1. Is it weird for me to work at home while I send Gracie to preschool?
2. Top 7 Myths About Work At Home Moms
3. Leaving Baby at Home with Daddy

Sitting still is a rarity for me. Even when writing, I’m usually still for about 5 minutes between entrepreneurial distractions, kidstractions, and other demands.

Today, though, I was in the middle of some planned reading.

@chipconley‘s “Peak” has been in my hands for about 4 weeks – and it’s due back to the library soon, so I figured I’d better jump in and get my learning in for the week.

“It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life.”

This is an excerpt from the quote that opens chapter six. It’s Jim Collins’ quote from “Good to Great”, and it gave me pause.

Pause, for me, is like heavy trauma.

Instantly (during the pause), I considered dozens of implications, not the least of which was writing this post for EPW.

That was at the forefront of my mind.

Because living my truth has become an adventure in living a meaningful life.

I remember the moment I first started living my truth.

As a child, I stood up to a relative that was behaving inappropriately (to say the least) – and was promptly quashed by my own Mother, who told me it was my fault he was behaving that way.

In that moment, I stopped living my truth – for a time.

I remember the next moment I started living my truth.

In college (the first time), I discovered the Internet, quit school, moved to the other side of the country, built a business, gave birth – and was promptly quashed by the man in my life when he decided to invite another woman (and her child) to share our home (and his bed), and essentially boot me to the curb.

Ah, my ‘young and stupid’ days.

Returning home to Michigan, I stopped living my truth – for a few years – as I tried on various truths: single mom, touring “rock star” (I recorded 2 full length albums), college graduate, financial advisor, and a host of other ideas that didn’t quite fit.

This pattern of starting and stopping, starting and stopping, left me clinging to fragments of the person I thought I “should” be or “could” be – not really knowing what truth was for myself.

And then came the accident.

The moment I accidentally started living my truth – kind of fell into it, I guess you could say.

As a child, God blessed me with the annoying habit of asking “Why?” all the time. Mom hated it. Dad hated it. My teachers hated it.

I wasn’t satisfied with ‘good enough’ and that adage makes me want to puke. To me, good enough rarely is. It forced me to find “a better way” to grow my direct sales business. And by accident, I wrote a book, launched a coaching company, and have helped thousands of clients all over the world to find “a better way” in their own business.

And then the second accident.

Realizing that asking “why” was the key to most of my success all along. It forced the launch my new business, because I wanted to help mompreneurs find a better way to live life and build a business without making excuses or apologies.

EPW and I have some history. We’ve charted parallel (and divergent) territories in the past year. It’s challenging to sum up all the learning, condense it into a single post that will rock your socks off.

But here it is: Do you believe you deserve to live your truth?

The answer to that question is important, but the answer to this question is even more important: Why?

Because whether you believe you do or don’t, the reason why is the catalyst that keeps you stuck, moves you forward, or burns your bridges.

Late last year, I realized that the clients I worked closest with, the ones that saw the best results, were the ones working on their values, their beliefs, and the “stuff” that really mattered to them – regardless of their industry. People kept asking me how I was accomplishing so much, how I was able to keep a level head – even when my family was dealt devastating blow after blow for the past 2 years.

The short answer was that I had to have some meaning in my life. Despite the chaotic cacophony around me, there was a respite, a sanctuary in asking “Why” all the time.

My mantra is “You are the most important product your company has to offer”, and I don’t pay it lip service. My goal continues to be to fully LIVE a great life. That’s a life fraught with meaning, thank you very much.

A meaningful life, to me, is rarely flaccid, boring, or unremarkable. It has ebb and flow, it has ups and downs – sometimes manic ups and downs.

Living my truth is finding that meaning in every moment - from the bedside teleclass when my oldest son was in the hospital, to the nightly bedtime prayer and singalong with my four year old, to the on-again, off-again, struggles with my hubby about housework, dollars per hour, and finances.

These are all pieces of what make me who I am. They are what give me (and my life) meaning. If I don’t like it, I’m the only one that can change it. Because meaning is personal.

I’ve discerned over the last year or so (with the help of EPW) that living my truth means helping people find the value (and meaning) in who they are and what they bring to the world – as a human AND a business owner. As entrepreneurs (and as a mompreneur myself), our businesses are an extention of who we are – an extention of our personal meaning.

And in truth, when we believe we deserve to live our truth (and understand why), the rest of our goals and ambitions becomes almost too easy.

But living your truth consistently, well, that’s the hard part.

Because it’s easy to step back and be quashed. It’s easier (for a time) to give up and let someone else dictate your truth.

It’s easier, that is, until it becomes hard. So hard that you can’t help but live it or die trying.

And that’s the truth of Lisa Robbin Young – to live with meaning, or die trying.

About Lisa Robbin Young: Tired of having to apologize to her family for loving her business, and apologizing to her clients for being a mom, Lisa created The Renaissance Mom, LLC, a company focused on helping mompreneurs bring life and family into balance without apologies. Sometimes her sink is full of dishes, but her kids always know what she looks like and business has never been better. Lisa believes that understanding the value of who you are and what you bring to the world is the “secret” to striking that balance. Her annual event, The Renaissance Mom Experience is focused on inspiring, connecting and helping mompreneurs to do exactly that. Connect with Lisa and learn more at TheRenaissanceMom.com.

Related posts:

1. I don’t deserve this english muffin.
2. Are You Coming to the Live Your Truth Twitterchat? #lytchat
3. How to Live Your Truth

Writing a blog post.

I thought tonight’s post would be one of my to-be-written angst filled manifestos about all the reasons I suck, or the monetization bubble, or my theories on why standard relationships may not work for me …

… but that’s not what is coming out of me tonight.

The thing is, I’m happy.

Sitting here in my empty apartment in San Francisco, listening to music on the tinny speaker of my iPhone, smelling the heaters that have been turned on the first time in months, my feet tingly after a long evening of randomly walking around soma (south of market) … I’m happy.

Happy in an insane, giddy, drunk with freedom way.

(yes, this is the change talking, not the wine…)

I love that this apartment is empty.

White walls. Echoy floor. Empty cabinets and closets and cubbies.

I love that this apartment is in the city.

I can hear the cars going by on the street 4 stories below.

I can feel the energy of the people, locals buying groceries at the shop below, recent transplants looking for the nearest walgreens, couples comfortably holding hands as they look for the restaurant, tourists snapping at each other in a foreign language as they hold up a map & point at buildings, taxis honking as they almost run over a jaywalker …

… I’m connected to that chaos.

But only by a tendril.

For the moment, I’m safe, secluded, sheltered from the chaos outside.

In my expanse of space. Of potential.

I don’t know how long I’ll live in this apartment.

Or this city. Or how long I can tolerate being connected to the chaos.

I don’t know if San Francisco is just another stop on my journey, or if it will become a long-term home base for my adventures.

But, for tonight, I’m in love with San Francisco.

I’m in love with my apartment. I’m in love with the chaos and the shelter, the crowds and the empty, exploring the expanses and resting curled up on my air mattress.

I’m home.

Related posts:

1. First Tour of My New San Francisco Apartment!
2. Why I’m Leaving San Francisco
3. My Many Affairs, Far From Home

It’s a challenge. It feels uncomfortable.

Living your truth is not an absolute.

I can’t teach you what your truth is … that is your own personal exploration. It’s a dialogue, a conversation with yourself. With your clients. With everyone who cares about you.

And the only way to live in your truth is to have support.

A community. Other amazing friends to go on this adventure with you.

In that spirit, I’m starting a Live Your Truth Twitter Chat on Sundays at 6 pm Pacific (Los Angeles time) / 9 pm EST (New York time), where each week we will be discussing specific ideas, challenges, experiences, and topics relevant to living our truth in our businesses and lives.

The first chat starts THIS SUNDAY February 21st!

The #lytchat is open to everyone who wants to join the conversation!

Of course, a bunch of the members of the 6 Weeks to Live Your Truth program will be there, adding to the discussion.

What is a Twitter Chat?

Think of a twitter chat as like a bunch of us sitting around a table discussing a topic.

Except we are all sitting at our separate computers in different parts of the world.

And instead of discussing it with our voices, we are typing our questions, answers, and opinions into twitter. In 140 characters at a time.

The way twitter chats are organized is by using a hashtag, so the entire conversation can be gathered together into one place, searched, and followed … best practice is to follow these chats using a site made just for this – I like to use tweetchat.com

If you have any questions/feedback/ideas about #lytchat or topics you’d like for us to dicsuss, please comment below!

Related posts:

1. What Does It Mean to “Live Your Truth?”
2. As if hospice was coming tomorrow …
3. Do You Deserve to Live your Truth?