Someone recently introduced me to the Netflix series Anne with an E and I have been binge-watching it ever since. It’s based on the delightful novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

It’s about a little girl who was suddenly abandoned after the death of her parents. She struggles throughout her young life—everything from making friends to simply feeling accepted is a challenge. Most of all, she wants to figure out who she is at heart. Along her journey, she learns to love her own unique personality and realizes she is worthy of love. Anne is a powerful, plucky inspiration.

As most of you know, I love the heroine’s journey of a woman truly stepping into her muchness, her uniqueness, her everything-ness. So, watching Anne navigate her life ignited a great introspection into my own soul.

I started asking myself… How can I let more of the real Kim have opportunities to show herself? What parts of myself can I free even more? What brings me more smiles, laughter, and pleasure? What does 46 year-old Kim want to feel more of in her own life?

Anne defined herself and demanded that others respect her identity. She didn’t try to change herself so she could be accepted by others. Instead, she gave herself permission to simply let parts of her soul reveal themselves as she navigated life in a way that honored everything from her brilliant imagination to her quirky spirit.

She saw beauty and poetry in everything from the way she looked at the skies, to the way she talked to her horse, to the blossoming tree outside her bedroom window that she welcomed every morning.

I found a kindred spirit in Anne, in that when I’m running and see a beautiful flower, I greet it with a “Hello there beautiful. I see you.” 

I loved her playfulness and it reminded me that play is so important to my own soul. I want and need to incorporate more play in my life.

She also reminded me to dig a little deeper to be even more of who I really am outside of the false bravos and expectations of others. She brought me back to acknowledge that my weirdness, dramatics, silliness, playfulness, chattiness, free-spiritedness are all a part of who I am and how my soul wishes to show up in this life. 

And so, I decided I wanted WAY more adventures in my life. In fact, I wanted more solo-adventures. Time to go inward and figure out just a little bit more about who I am. On a recent Saturday when my husband headed out to our family farm, I got my little red wagon out and packed it with some of my favorite things. My hammock, a blanket, the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, two Russell Stover maple cream Easter eggs, and fixins for Moscow Mules.

Then, the dogs and I began a hike through our woods to a nearby creek where I proceed to lay in the hammock, drink my mules, eat my eggs, read my book, and just admire all of the beauty in nature around me for over three hours. 

I even tried my hand at Anne’s wonderful ability to describe beauty in vivid detail. I found myself saying, “Look at me laying in the hammock underneath the forest of willowy tree branches. And there’s the stoic pine trees reminding me of my strength. I hear the ripples of a thousand water trickles below me. Ain’t I lucky to truly see all of life’s abundances around me?”

I am determined to honor the wildly free-spirited woman that wants to free herself even more in the coming years. My wish is for you to take time to find more of your own uniqueness, brilliance, geekness, weirdness, artsy-ness, whatever it is that makes you, you!

Just because we are adults doesn’t mean we can’t do things that make us feel like a kid again. 

Just because you’re a mom doesn’t mean you can’t turn on AC/DC and dance like a crazy woman in your living room. 

Just because you’re a wife, doesn’t mean you can’t take days that are just for yourself. 

In fact, it’s these very things that will break open little hidden parts of yourself that have been buried for years and are wanting to be acknowledged and welcomed back into your life again.