If you had a whole day to yourself—with nowhere you had to be and nothing you had to get done—what would you do?

I think we all have that something. That thing we'd happily lose hours doing if life gave us the time.

For me, it's painting.

I remember sitting in the art room in high school, lost in a painting and never wanting to leave. Then the bell would ring, and just like that, it was time to put the paintbrush down.

And then life happened.

I raised my three boys, built businesses and spent years doing work that gave me the chance to help others, and support causes I cared about. There was a lot of purpose in that for me, and I loved the life I had built.

Until the life I knew changed.

Life has a way of changing course when you least expect it. Mine did. For a while, I felt lost and wasn’t quite sure where to go from there.

What now?

Somewhere in figuring that out, I found myself thinking about that question:

If I had a whole day to myself—with nowhere I had to be and nothing
I had to get done—what would I do?

I already knew.

Painting gave me a place to start. And little by little, as I got stronger, I started finding my way forward again.

I've learned a lot along the way—some of it the easy way and some of it definitely not. But I wouldn't change where it's brought me. The good and the bad have both shaped who I am, and today, more than anything, I feel grateful.

I still have work I care deeply about. I still want to help people and hopefully make a difference. I have a family I adore, people who have believed in me and supported me, and plenty of things I'm still excited to see where they go.

I picked up the paintbrush.

And I get to paint.

Life brought me back to something I loved years ago.

The paintbrush still feels familiar.
The person holding it is different—still me, only stronger, more grateful, and somehow more myself than I was before.