Dear Beautiful One,

I wish I could tell you that life is going to be easy. Easy like a beautiful magnolia on the cover of a Southern living magazine. I wish I could tell you that if you have the right fake greenery, a small cork accessory and the monthly mindful box arriving at your doorstep, it will be o.k. Societal messaging and social media can make it look easy. Celebrities of all kinds have always been propped up by the most talented people in the world. They have stylists for their hair, clothes, and makeup.  They have photographers and lighting specialists who make sure to capture them at just the right angle. They have people retrieving the ultra-skinny lattes, cleaning up messes, double applying the lip gloss, taking phone calls, watching their kids and the list goes on and on. This is the truth. This goes for A-list, B-list, and social media stars/influencers too. Nothing is real. Ladies, it’s not just fake greenery, its fake everything! Filters and voice-overs, AI assigning music and art and chat bots inter-facing with all of us. What is real? It’s never been more critical for you to decide. We all need to decide only one thing. Will we succumb to allowing outside messaging through images and fictional rhetoric define our lives or will we rip it all off like a rubbery face mask to reveal the true and the raw version of our dreams? This is a 5-alarm message! It’s imperative that you take inventory. Who are you? What are your unique talents and dreams ~ what do you want to do with this one and only life? After all, this is exactly how Mr. & Mrs. Gaines crafted their empire. It started out with casting a vision and then came the big chaotic hustle in the middle – a place that must be created by the visionary and it’s also the place where they had to get clear on their goals and find the ‘people’ who they could leverage for growth. I guarantee, there were crippling arguments, self-destructive behaviors, massive financial fails, and loss of self as individuals (and as a couple) before they pushed on through the dark night of transition. On the other side was a hedge of fake greenery and exhaustion. Don’t be fooled by the ones who make it look easy, they did the work, but the results were gotten of leverage and letting go. Success leaves clues. Start with your vision, define your goal, write it down and publish it. Calendar it and find the team you can leverage for support. You can’t do it all, be it all or have it all. So, who will you be, what will you do and what will you have? Oh, you can fake it for sure, but that’s not where joy lives. Bust open the fake cage, rip up the crappy feathers and thin wires! Your bliss lives in the REAL greenery; the result of you aiming your arrow-shaped heart to your real and personal goal.