I have been thinking a lot about expectations lately. What I expect of myself, yes, but even more what I perceive others expect of me. How should I move forward and in which direction? How do I choose which way to go? And then Labor Day came along and so did the answers to my not-so-existential questions. It was a single answer actually. Follow my gut. It is at once relieving and wildly dissatisfying (terrifying even?), to realize that the only one with the answers to your burning life questions, is you. Oh, your friends and family can, and — if they are good at their respective supporting roles in your life — will offer their opinions, but, in the end, it’s on you. I hate this truth. I still want someone to hand me life’s manual. The roadmap. The key! Alas. That key is me. So I followed my gut right into this easy breezy dress from Forever 21. I’m starting small people, and it’s Labor Day after all. But tomorrow I’ll take the next step on my journey of a thousand miles and then the next and the next. Each step of the way checking in with this here gut. And I have great expectations for what’s to come.

With love,

Amanda