Friday Favorites >>

GOOD READS // Do you ever read something and go, "Hey! It's like this guy has been in my head! I could have written this book."? I do. Something about being a little part of a huge community of creatives in the online world has changed me though. I still read books and find familiar thoughts but rather than begrudging the author for the royalties I somehow feel I should be partaking in, I sense I've been affirmed in my brilliance by a kindred spirit and I want to pat them on the back and applaud them for actually writing the book I never would have taken the time to. Three such authors of three such books include: "You're Made for a God-sized Dream" by Holley Gerth, "A Million Little Ways" by Emily Freeman, and "Start." by Jon Acuff.

"We need each other to raise us up and round us out." Writing, photographing, drawing, singing, branding, designing, doing social media like a boss and championing non-profits or fair-trade organizations with our platforms better than everyone else in the world isn't what we really want, is it? Nah. That's lonely. Experimenting with an adventurous + encouraging audience, dabbling in big dreams as freely as your kiddos who are painting masterpieces today and saving the world from bad guys tomorrow, and being brave enough to keep growing in your area of passion and expertise everyday beside a bunch of others doing the same. That sounds so much better!

JOIN the community // pass along a compliment, no strings attached! For months and months I have been curating a board on Pinterest, collecting hundreds of images and graphics and thoughts over time. I thought it was brilliantly original work. Then one day I came across Megan Gilger's blog "The Fresh Exchange" and realized that almost every one of those carefully selected pins from all over the web that I'd collected, originated with her brilliantly original blog. You'll love her stuff.

Per usual, Casey Wiegand is one of my favorite vulnerable creatives in the blogging world. She is consistently brave with her heart + inspiring with her eye for the whimsical in ordinary moments. I love how she loves her man and her littles. HopeSpoken is coming up in the end of March and the anticipation for that big, beautiful experiment of a conference is building -- especially on Instagram! Will I see you there?

Guys, wildly talented and stunningly lovely people sometimes come out of the woodwork, are quickly recognized and take off like wildfire. Even if they're only 17 years old. My darling friend Hannah (who designed this little corner of the worldwide web that I call "mine") is one such individual. Her voice is sweet + brave, it both woos and convicts. She's brave enough to ask the question "Is it that I, or we, don't remember how to even exist without constantly reviewing the never-ending stream of forever updating information? As I write this, I have about twenty tabs open." And that's why I love her. Get a little taste of her fierce sincerity here: blog.imhannahnicole.com

LISTEN // Over on my Spotify a handful of tunes getting played a lot are: "Friday Night" by Eric Paslay, "I Lived" by One Republic and "Tangerine" by Led Zeppelin. My musical tastes are expanding so the selection is pretty varied! What are you listening to lately?