https://allisonnazarian.com/blog/The blog of author Allison Nazarian.en-us https://allisonnazarian.com/is-your-story-too-honest/https://allisonnazarian.com/is-your-story-too-honest/Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:07:11 +0000“This book is amazing. I have never read anything so open and honest before.” Really? I’m flattered. But never? That’s troubling. To answer the question, no. No, your story is not too honest. Neither is mine. It’s scary to put it all out there. Even in a time of TMI (Too Much Information) from…https://allisonnazarian.com/this-is-45/https://allisonnazarian.com/this-is-45/Tue, 07 Jun 2016 12:45:19 +0000Here I am, equidistant from 15 and 75. Equal parts wonder and “meh.” At 45, I’m now parentless. At 45, I miss my mom more than ever. At 45, I’m preparing for one of my birdies to leave the nest, the other in just two years. At 45, I am loved and supported beyond whathttps://allisonnazarian.com/bookends/https://allisonnazarian.com/bookends/Sun, 29 May 2016 17:46:26 +0000My son, my first child, was born at the end of 1997. Four months later, nearly to the day, my mom died. That same son, now 18, graduated from high school last Saturday. Two days later, my dad died. Bookends: “occur or be positioned at the end or on either side of something” On thathttps://allisonnazarian.com/it-is-time/https://allisonnazarian.com/it-is-time/Wed, 13 Apr 2016 15:56:01 +0000This post was originally written ca. 2011. This morning I tried to weasel out of my writing committment to myself. But my honey called me on it. Well, he didn’t have to. I called myself on it. The conversation went something like this: Me: Let’s go out to breakfast, wouldn’t that be fun!? Him: Sure.https://allisonnazarian.com/bubbysbooks/https://allisonnazarian.com/bubbysbooks/Sat, 09 Apr 2016 16:00:33 +0000This post originally appeared here on September 28, 2010. I lost my grandmother in 2007. Bubby, as I and everyone else called her, was the greatest force and brightest light of my life. Bubby was a reader. Just one of the many ways in which I am so much like her. Put her (or me)https://allisonnazarian.com/slow/https://allisonnazarian.com/slow/Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:25:02 +0000I like to get things done fast. Like quickly. And efficiently. Without delay. I read fast. I eat fast. I talk fast. I think fast (too fast, sometimes). I understand fast and I explain fast. My way doesn’t embrace the impatient among us. I’m not good at savoring or lolling about or stretching things…https://allisonnazarian.com/someday/https://allisonnazarian.com/someday/Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:14:56 +0000As the saying goes, “There are seven days of the week but Someday isn’t one of them.” What are you someday-ing in your life? We will definitely travel there someday. I will forgive her someday. You have to tell me that story someday! I’ll make up with him someday. I will write about that someday.https://allisonnazarian.com/taking-a-new-path/https://allisonnazarian.com/taking-a-new-path/Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:37:25 +0000Lately I have been going out of my way to go out of my way. Going straight when I usually turn right. Saying “yes” to something I may have said “no” to the past eight times in a row. Eating meat for breakfast (that’s a whole other story…). Deciding to laugh instead of be annoyedhttps://allisonnazarian.com/a-word-about-the-past/https://allisonnazarian.com/a-word-about-the-past/Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:52:49 +0000I try to live in the moment. Connect with my breath. Come back to now. Leave the past behind, let the future unfold on its own. Sometimes I am able to do all of this. I feel peaceful and serene because I’m doing things “right.” And sometimes, I am utterly unable to do any ofhttps://allisonnazarian.com/your-miracle/https://allisonnazarian.com/your-miracle/Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:42:03 +0000Your miracle. It’s coming. Even when you don’t see it or a hint of its light. It’s on its way. And there isn’t much you have to do to make sure it finds its way to you. That’s part of the miracle, like it knows. It’s hard to remember, when things seem shitty or off-coursehttps://allisonnazarian.com/one-little-thing/https://allisonnazarian.com/one-little-thing/Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:41:45 +0000You cannot do everything today. Period. You cannot finish it all. You cannot be everything to everyone. And despite what you expect from yourself, you cannot go at a super-human pace without taking a breath. Not today, and probably not tomorrow, either. But you can do one thing today. And then one…https://allisonnazarian.com/lettinggo/https://allisonnazarian.com/lettinggo/Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:50:36 +0000“By letting it go it all gets done” ~ Lao-Tzu There is letting go. And then there is LETTING GO. The kind that frees you to your soul. The kind that came about from baby steps but feels like the most massive, unimaginable progress. The kind that came about from forgiving, most of all ofhttps://allisonnazarian.com/healing/https://allisonnazarian.com/healing/Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:57:02 +0000You have healed… When it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. When you don’t care like you once did. When a day goes by without it stabbing you in the heart or poking you in the brain.https://allisonnazarian.com/i-have-a-beautiful-smile/https://allisonnazarian.com/i-have-a-beautiful-smile/Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:47:24 +0000Yes, that is the truth. I have a really nice smile. Beautiful, in fact. People I don’t know tell me this fairly regularly. In fact, I am told this in the majority of instances in which I am connecting with someone face-to-face, and smiling. I don’t do a ton of each, and I would imaginehttps://allisonnazarian.com/share-your-story-stephanie-gunning/https://allisonnazarian.com/share-your-story-stephanie-gunning/Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:05:55 +0000In this series, guests write their answer to the question “What’s Your Story?” Their story can be about a moment in time, an entire life — or anything in-between. If you are interested in contributing YOUR story, let me know. I was so small. But I had an idea that motivated me to action: Freshlyhttps://allisonnazarian.com/when-you-dont-know/https://allisonnazarian.com/when-you-dont-know/Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:19:16 +0000You may not have all the answers. You may have no answers. Many questions, though. But no answers. You may not know what you thought should have been known by now. You may look around you and feel like everyone else knows. (They so don’t.) You may wonder when it will be your turn tohttps://allisonnazarian.com/free/https://allisonnazarian.com/free/Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:23:21 +0000I am totally free. Utterly and completely. And you know what? You are, too. Make money however you choose. Complain about the current way you make money, knowing full well you can change that way. You can complain. Period. You can decide to stop listening to others complain. Name your kids whatever…https://allisonnazarian.com/the-truth-about-balance/https://allisonnazarian.com/the-truth-about-balance/Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:33:03 +0000This piece originally appeared on The Life Change Network Balance: We want it. We strive for it. We read articles on how to get it. We follow people who seem to know more about it than we do. And yet….it isn’t a realistic goal. Even the happiest among us wouldn’t use the word ‘balance”