By Hannah Sweet The weather is beginning to turn, and a chill hangs in the air; Halloween costumes line the shelves and children clamor to find that perfect new identity to slip into. As I look forward to all the pleasures of autumn, I find myself thinking heavily on the masks we wear on a daily basis. Perhaps your mask is that of the mom who has it all together; or perhaps your mask is that of one who finds fulfillment in the work that they do; or perhaps the mask you wear i

By Hannah Sweet If you are anything like me then you have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what you want to do with your life, and no, I don’t mean that thought limited to the scope of a career. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want from my family; what I want from my personal, and private life; what I want from a career; what I want from the relationships in my life. Let me tell you spending all that time thinking on these things used to stress m

By Hannah Sweet When I was a little girl, going to church was the one day a week that my mom insisted I wear nice clothes, or at our house our “Sunday Clothes” as they were known. In my childhood that often meant a dress, hat, gloves, tights, underwear with a ruffle on the bum, and the shiniest patent leather Mary Janes. I remember feeling so special when I would get dressed up for church, because those were clothes that I only got to wear once a week. They were special. Even

By Hannah Sweet I love Christmas. I always have. The lights, the music, the decorations, the behavior of everyone in the days leading up to Christmas. I just love it all. One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching that old classic, White Christmas. To me watching Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, and Danny Kaye sing, dance and fall in love during their countdown to Christmas is unparalleled. I know all the songs by heart and have no shame in singing along. Whe

By Hannah Sweet I am sure the word dancing conjures much imagery. For me the word dance is a special word. Not only does it pertain to my favorite verb, but dancing is my constant goal for life. Confused yet? Good. Let me explain. When I think of dancing I think of many things, but the two things I think of most are fluidity and gracefulness. It is these two things I strive to exude in every aspect of my life. It is in these ways that I want to dance my way through life. I ca

By Hannah Sweet Have you ever felt like you weren’t enough for anyone, or that everything that you thought or said was somehow wrong? I sure have. While the person who makes you feel that way isn’t always trying to put you down, but rather build themselves up it still makes you feel small and insignificant. You know in your heart that you are more and the things that you think and feel are worthwhile, but where do you go and who do you turn to, to find that validation you so

By Hannah Sweet What are you afraid of? Perhaps you're afraid of water, heights, clowns, or perhaps you're afraid of the dentist or babies. My father is afraid of water, so he doesn't swim and my mother of heights, so she avoids them. People are afraid of lots of things, but not me. I'm fearless. Growing up I was often in more trouble than out of it. I wasn't a bad child, I was just not afraid of anything, so I would often try things without working it out to the end because

By Hannah Sweet The world is standing on the precipice of change. Together we must decide the course which we will go, but how do we know which is the right way to go? This is an especially difficult conundrum when there are a million voices crying out, each with their own opinion. I can’t make that decision, speak for the billions, but I can say this, we are all God’s children, regardless of any contributing factors, we were all created in his image. So with that in mind, I