Girl On A Hill

We’re continuing our Chasing Whimsy series with an invitation to WONDER again.Because let’s be honest - the world hasn’t gotten less amazing. We’ve just gotten really good at walking right past it.Wonder isn’t about finding the most spectacular thing in the world. It’s about being willing to stop and really see what’s already in front of us. But that can be harder than it sounds when we’re tired, when everything needs to be useful, when we’re too familiar with what we’re seeing, or when we’re better at noticing what’s wrong than what’s beautiful.So what do we miss when we stop looking? Why does wonder matter in the first place? And what happens when we become people who are willing to pay attention, engage with the world around us, and let ourselves be amazed by it? Because wonder doesn’t just change what we see. It changes how we experience being alive.

What if the best part of your day is the thing you didn’t plan for? In this episode of Chasing Whimsy, we’re taking an honest look at spontaneity. Spontaneity isn't about blowing off your responsibilities and booking a last-minute flight to Disneyland, but becoming willing to say, “Sure. Why not?” when life gives you an unexpected detour. (Because it will!)We’ll talk about why we’ve become so uncomfortable with the unknown, how our love of control and carefully planned schedules keep us from noticing opportunities, and why we can be so quick to shut down anything that wasn’t part of the original plan. We’re getting real about what’s driving that knee-jerk reaction, from  fiercely guarding our evening "finish line" to using introversion as a shield against the unexpected.We've eliminated all of the surprise from our daily lives,forgetting that a perfect plan doesn’t leave room for anything better to come along. Today we’re exploring how practicing spontaneity builds real adaptability, deepens connection, and helps us stop viewing the unknown as a threat, and start seeing it as a possibility. Let’s make a little room for the unexpected and see what happens.

What if your life doesn’t need to change… but the way you experience it could?In this episode of Chasing Whimsy series, we’re talking about Enchantment -: the art of making ordinary experiences feel a little more magical, memorable, and enjoyable. We’re not turning every Tuesday into a walk through a theme park - but instead becoming willing to go just a little beyond what’s necessary and refusing to settle for simply the most functional version of our lives. Because when we’re stressed, stretched thin, and trying to get through everything on our lists, it’s easy to dismiss the little things that make life feel good. A great soundtrack while you make dinner. Taking the scenic route. Leaning into a season. Making an ordinary evening feel like an occasion. And these are the things that can turn our ordinary days into days we’ll actually remember - and enjoy. Today, we’ll talk about why we’ve become so focused on efficiency and practicality that we sometimes forget to enjoy the experience itself, and why “it’s just Tuesday” might not be a good enough reason to keep making our lives feel ordinary.Your life is happening on the ordinary days. So let’s make some of them a little more enchanting.

Today we are chasing whimsy, where we’ll explore something I think most of us have forgotten how to do: enjoy our lives. Chasing Whimsy is about making room for joy, wonder, curiosity, play, and the things we enjoy simply because we enjoy them. And today we start with something we’ve done before: living like a kid. In this episode, we’re unpacking why adulthood turned down the volume on our enthusiasm, how we learned to filter out the joy that’s right in front of us, and what adulthood actually required us to give up versus what we gave up because we thought we were supposed to. We’ll also talk about why reclaiming that joy can feel surprisingly awkward at first—and how to stop letting five seconds of cringe call the shots in our lives. Because maybe we didn’t outgrow joy. Maybe we just learned to filter it out.

Today we wrap up our Summer at the Movies series by hopping aboard a riverboat for our take on Jungle Cruise. What started as a beloved Disneyland attraction became a big-screen adventure filled with wild animals, terrible puns, hidden treasure, and two very determined adventurers. But beneath the action and the never-ending dad jokes is a story about courage and what happens when we dare to step outside the roles other people have chosen for us. We're sharing fun movie and Disneyland facts, talking through our favorite moments, and unpacking some of the bigger ideas this adventure leaves us with, like knowing when to stand on our own and when to accept help, paying attention to motivation, finding wonder in the world around us, and daring to be a little out of place. And to help us continue to build connections, we've got some conversation starters and summer challenges designed to get you outside, into the water, laughing at terrible jokes, and lingering in those warm summer evenings just a little longer. So grab your favorite summer drink, turn on some old-timey jazz, and climb aboard. The Jungle Cruise is about to begin.