Hi Reader!
I hope everything is wonderful in your world. Is spring beginning to show where you live?
Let's dive into this week's email 🤿
Adventures
Surprise! I’ve officially registered for a half marathon! 🏃🏻♀️🎉
I saw two women back-to-back on my Instagram feed share that they had signed up for this race, so I took it as a sign from the universe that I should sign up too. I waffled back and forth for a few hours before biting the bullet and purchasing my ticket. 🤭
Training kicked off just a few days ago, and I’m planning on following a 12-week plan I found here (minus the first week since race day is coming up quick on June 7th). I’ve never signed up for a race before or locked myself into any type of running goal, so I’m already feeling the mix of excitement and nerves that comes with committing to a challenge.
Running in Los Angeles is an adventure of its own, with so many scenic spots to lace up and hit the pavement. The main difficulty I face with running in the city is finding places that a) aren't super far, and b) allow for running without lots of stoplights.
If you’re looking for similar places to run in LA, here are a few of my favorites:
- Silver Lake Reservoir: A quick 2.2-mile loop with beautiful water views, perfect for steady laps. It’s a popular spot, so you’ll never feel alone out there. Bonus: you'll get to run past the dog park and get a mood boost from all the furry friends!
- Hollywood Reservoir: My personal favorite for days that I want an unobstructed path for intervals, this hidden gem offers a (nearly) flat, 3.3-mile trail with a peaceful vibe and iconic views of the Hollywood sign.
- Echo Park Lake: A short but sweet 1-mile loop, surrounded by swan boats and greenery. Ideal for a quick run or adding variety to your training. Just watch out for the goose droppings. 🪿
- Griffith Park Trails: For those craving elevation, Griffith Park’s mix of dirt trails and paved paths offers plenty of challenge. The views from up high are worth every uphill step.
- Pan Pacific Park: An unlikely running location, but one I've started to really enjoy for days when I want to work on hills. It's a small loop with a little up and down throughout to keep your run varied.
I’d love to hear where you enjoy running or how you stay motivated during training -- drop me a message!
& S'more
I finished reading Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter a couple weeks ago, and it has been coming back into my mind again and again. The book dives into how the human brain is wired to seek, chase, and accumulate, often to our own detriment. Our minds are experts at convincing us we need “just a little more.”
One of my biggest takeaways was the power of being intentional with our thoughts. Easter writes about how our mindset shapes the way we approach everything in life, and it’s a reminder to pause and ask ourselves: Do I really need this? Whether it’s buying that shiny new outdoor gadget or endlessly scrolling for “inspiration,” this simple question can help us break free from the scarcity trap.
This ties back to something I shared in my last newsletter about the arrival fallacy -- this idea that we’ll finally be happy when we achieve the next goal or acquire the next thing. Scarcity Brain shows how this mindset fuels that endless hamster wheel and how practicing gratitude and mindfulness can help us step off.
Here are a few areas of my life in which I’m working on shifting my own thinking:
- Content Creation: As a small creator, it's easy to feel like every niche is saturated and it's impossible to grow now. Instead of stressing over follower counts or likes, I’m focusing on enjoying the process of creating, knowing there are more than enough people out there with whom to connect. Many people are actually hungry for more quality content!
- Possessions: When I feel the urge to buy something new, I’m reminding myself to appreciate what I already have. This is something I've talked about working on this year and it's been hugely successful. Instead of spending time online shopping or consuming content that makes me feel like I need to buy things, I'm finding joy in rediscovering items I already own.
- Comparison: In the age of social media, it seems like everybody is living a life filled with friends, luxuries, vacations, and fancy meals. These highlight reels can make us feel like our regular lives are dull and lonely in comparison, when really we're probably all more alike than we realize. I’m filtering and strictly limiting my social media consumption, putting the phone down when I notice that comparison mindset creeping in.
This book was a great reminder that abundance isn’t about having more; it’s about feeling fulfilled with what’s already in front of us. What’s one area in your life where you could trade scarcity for a mindset of enough? 😌
Thank you so much for being here! I'm grateful for you 🫶🏻
Happy adventuring,
💚A
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