In this episode of Mindfulness in the Middle, I explore how mindfulness reshaped my relationship with desire—food, comfort, beauty, longing, pleasure, and the parts of wanting that were once considered off-limits. Growing up, desire wasn’t named; it was managed, judged, or tucked into silence. But noticing desire through a mindful lens changed everything.

This week’s reflection looks at why the things we’re told not to want become more magnetic, how the science of anticipation shapes our cravings, and how desire can be a guide toward nourishment—or a warning toward depletion. I talk about the difference between chasing sparks and listening for alignment, and how pausing to ask “Will this feed me or empty me?” has become part of my inner compass.

This episode invites you to consider your own relationship with wanting:

Which desires have you honored without apology?

And which ones are still waiting for your attention?

Next week’s card is Say Yes—an exploration of what we agree to, why, and whether our yeses are truly aligned.

A written companion to this episode is available on Substack.

In this episode, I explore what happens when the labels we once wore like armor start to feel more like chains. This week’s mindfulness card challenged me to look at the identities I defended out of habit—daughter, church girl, overachiever—and ask myself which ones actually belonged to me, and which ones I kept out of fear.

I share how old beliefs about success, gender, politics, and “being right” shaped me for years, and how learning to let them go felt like molting—uncomfortable, vulnerable, and strangely freeing. Through reflection and mindfulness practice, I began to realize that not every battle deserves my energy, and not every identity is meant to travel with me into adulthood.

This episode is an invitation to question what you’re still holding on to:

Which labels no longer fit? Which beliefs are draining more than they serve? And what might become possible if you loosened your grip?

Mindfulness reminds us that identity is fluid, curiosity is a teacher, and release can be a form of self-protection.

In this episode, I sit with a card that asks me to notice the signs of aging—and it takes me somewhere deeper than wrinkles or birthdays. I explore what time has taught me about work, networks, class ceilings, and the uncomfortable truth that effort alone doesn’t always change the room you walk into.

I talk about the wisdom that only comes with age: slowing down before entering new spaces, reading the room, noticing how people move before deciding how I’ll move. And I name the other side of aging—the quiet, accumulating losses no one warns you about, the kind that only make sense when you look back across decades.

You’ll hear reflections across three generations: my mother in her 60s, my 19-year-old son stepping into adulthood, and me at 43, watching us all shift in real time. Even the objects in my life—my Cadillac, my old but faithful devices—carry their own stories about time, memory, and change.

Aging, in this conversation, becomes less about decline and more about perspective: knowing what matters, what to release, and what to protect.

I close with a preview of next week’s card, Defending and Defining, where I’ll explore the identities we inherit, the ones we outgrow, and the ones we choose.