Rachel Kawate

😵 Hey, burnt out friends, I AM WITH YOU! One month into 2021, and I think I need a vacation. This week was one of those weeks I dreaded starting because I knew I had a ton to do and there were fires to put out. Just one more big presentation tomorrow then I’m done! Go, go, go! For anyone who needs to hear this: You are competent. You are resilient. You are beautiful. You are strong. You are enough.

🌹 How are you celebrating Valentine's Day? I'm happy it's during the weekend this year! Since our usual ‘eat out at a nice restaurant’ option isn’t safe right now, I've been thinking of what my husband and I could do. I gathered a list of activities I think could be fun! ❤️ Weekend Getaway or Staycation - I know many of us aren't leaving the house much these days, so go somewhere fun for the weekend or opt for a romantic staycation close by! ❤️ Get Take Out + Movie Night - Don't feel like going out? Get some yummy takeout and have an awesome movie night! ❤️ Outdoor Activity - Go on a socially distanced date like hiking or ice skating! ❤️ Relax - Plan for an ultimate R&R weekend. Have breakfast in bed, relax, and even give each other massages! ❤️ Take an Online Class (cooking, mixology, etc) - Choose something you'd both want to learn and have fun with it! ❤️ Cook Heart-Shaped Food - I'm cheesy so I think this will be cute and fun haha. Let me know what you have planned!

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🔊Turn your sound on & wait for it!! Did you hear that?? #throwback to one of the coolest moments of my life! We were actually much closer than it appears in this video. We constantly heard elk calls while we were in Yellowstone last fall. There were so many elk close to people at the Mammoth Hot Springs, when we first drove up, I didn’t believe they were real and said “Wow, those elk look so real” .... and they were real! Lol. 👉🏽 Have you seen elk up close??

💜 HEALING CONVERSATIONS 💜 It was so great to see a positive change in our government today. As our nation heals, it's important to have thoughtful and intentional conversations with those around us. My company has been hosting healing spaces where people are able to safely share their experiences. Before starting, the hosts always preface the conversation with agreed expectations for all parties involved. I think agreed expectations are so great to keep in mind as we have difficult and vulnerable conversations, so I wanted to share some with you as I think they will also be helpful for you: 💜 Respectful Questioning - Sometimes a question is more powerful than an answer, and how we ask the question can matter too. I find that many times when people share (myself included), they're not actually looking for a concrete answer from the listener. Listen and respectfully question to understand, don't listen just to respond. 💜 Think of people as experts of their own experience - We all are unique. Everyone has knowledge on their personal experiences. Allow space for individuals to speak their truth. Also, remember even people of the same ethnic backgrounds have unique lived experiences based on intersecting identities and unique lens of the world. This one was especially key for me. There is nothing I hate more than when I'm sharing a difficult experience I had and the listener tells me I shouldn't feel a certain way or I interpreted the situation incorrectly when they weren't even there to fully experience it themselves. It always makes me feel like they are minimizing the very real feelings I had. 💜 Be open to changing or having your mind changed but know your own values/principles - You don’t always have to be right. You can say you don’t know or admit that you might be wrong. 💜 Value the process (even more so than the outcome, sometimes) - Know when to interrupt the discussion to talk about what’s going on. Pay attention to the process because it might give you as much information as the outcome itself. 💜 Reach out by showing care and concern - Be real and authentic. Respond and engage from a place of empathy and compassion. Seek to understand.

HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE, Y'ALL! How are your NY resolutions coming along? I'm working through mine and promising myself I need to prove it to myself that I can be the person I want to be! The only person stopping me would be me, so I gotta do it! Here are some of my resolutions: 1️⃣Exercise regularly 🏃🏻‍♀️ My go-to workout routine right now is @chloe_t’s workout program. 2️⃣Improve my skin care routine. I've always been pretty lazy about this, so I need to step it up. My skin is so dull & dry! Let me know your skin care favorites! 3️⃣Meal plan. This will make my life easier and healthier.🍲🥘🥙🍜🌮 4️⃣Read more 📚 I'm a little embarrassed when people ask me what my favorite books are because I honestly am very bad at finishing books. I'll pick something up, lose patience because I want to get to the main points and could care less for side stories or examples, and lose motivation to actually finish. I want to change that because I know the power of stories! 5️⃣Meditate 🧘🏻‍♀️ I used to regularly meditate, but for some reason stopped during the pandemic. I know how good this is for me, so I promise to start again. 6️⃣Donate to charity. Something is always tugging at my heart to give back, so I'm planning to regularly donate. If you know of any great charities, please comment below! 7️⃣Be a better friend 👯‍♀️ I am loyal and will always be there when they need me, but I am so bad at keeping up with people. I plan to write cards/letters, cook/bake for them, etc 💕 8️⃣We are moving AGAIN! Our goal is to have that figured out by end of Feb. 9️⃣Limit screen time. You won't see me on here much on the weekends. I set a daily 1 hr limit on Instagram, and I don't post on Fridays and Saturdays. I love connecting with you all, but balance is extremely important to me. I get really annoyed when something feels off balance. ⚖️ 🔟Have a better idea on what the heck I want to do with my life. I don't want to just go through the motions and live for the weekends. I want something more and will push myself to get there 💪🏽

Many of us often go on retreats for work or other groups we’re part of (obviously, not during the pandemic) to boost morale, have strategic brainstorming sessions, etc, but what about for ourselves? We go on vacation for fun, but vacation is different from retreats. Retreats are intentional and purposeful. My husband recently came back from a small work retreat, and I had the thought that if we could put that amount of time, energy, and creative thinking into ourselves and our goals/dreams, the results would be amazing! 🤩 So, with me being me, I'm planning a purposeful retreat specifically for us! 💪🏽

❤️ How are you doing? I’ve been taking time to rebalance things in my life. It’s been especially difficult and distracting for me with all that’s been going on. Not sure what the rest of 2021 holds, but I’m hopeful there’s a light at the end of the tunnel! Sending you all lots of love 💕

📺 Have you watched Soul on Disney+? If you haven't, I recommend it (it's 96% on Rotten Tomatoes 🍅) and you should STOP reading this because I'm about to talk about a really special scene. 🛑 [SPOILER ALERT] 🛑 The scene that really stood out to me was when 22 revealed Joe's life in various spotlights and it was full of aimless moments. As I was watching this, it made me question what my life would look like, what it was about, and how I spent my time if viewed through those lens. I thought about how much time I've wasted dedicating the best of myself to something I don't really care for, all the missed times I could've made an impact in someone's life, and how I've incorrectly prioritized things in my life. I've lost loved ones in the last few years, and time and time again, I'm reminded of how short life is. Watching this movie at the end of 2020 was timely as we start 2021. I’m doing much reflecting and hope to make some great intentional changes in the new year. 👉🏽 What do you want to live for? What do you want your life to be about?

🎉 Happy New Year 🎉 My word for 2021 is: Light 🌞 [noun] something that makes things visible or affords illumination [adj] having light or illumination; bright; well-lighted [verb] to make bright I wanted to pick a word that encompasses what I envision & hope for this new year and what better than a word that is a noun, adjective, and verb! It’s a simple word, but felt just right. 👉🏽 What’s your word for 2021?

Spending this week reflecting on 2020 and goal-setting for 2021 💫 I got the @roterunner Purpose Planner and am SO excited to dive in! The Roterunner Purpose Planner has so many unique features to help you create & maintain good habits, check in with yourself, define your roles, plan well, etc. This is not sponsored, I truly am psyched about it 🙌🏽 I’m also excited to get started on my vision board! 👉🏽 How’s your last week of 2020 going?

Fellow creators and marketers, this one's for you! I know we sometimes struggle with creative resources and tools for the next thing we have to produce. That's why I'm excited to partner with @shutterstock to share with you that you can access their FULL image library with a 30-day FREE trial and download 10 images! You can cancel anytime and still keep what you downloaded! Being able to easily search for content and create assets with the Editor in one platform allows for a seamless experience that I'm a huge fan of. I used Shutterstock and their Editor tool to create this New Year Resolutions story template and it was super easy! Check out my stories to see how I did it! 👉🏽 Click on the link in my bio to start your FREE trial with Shutterstock! #madewithshutterstock #ad @shutterstock

🎄Feeling merry & bright 🎄 This was a crazy year. I hope you all can get some well deserved R&R this holiday season. Better days are coming—I feel it!

❤️ My main love language is gifts so I am ALL for this season of giving and feeling all the extra love 🥰 Of course, you don’t necessarily have to gift a physical item. Give a gift that’ll make the receiver feel loved. For example, if their love language is quality time, you could get them an experience you two could do together like going to an outdoor exhibit like pictured here. Or, if their love language is acts of service, consider doing something for them that’ll help them out like taking the kids or doing all the chores for the day, etc. 👉🏽 What’s your love language, and what would be your perfect gift?

💃🏻I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman. — Vera Wang Twirling into Christmas + 2021 ✌🏽Peace out, 2020