I treated myself to some new lotion recently from that store called Lush in downtown San Francisco. It’s called karma and it smells like Patchouli and citrus… just the right mix of hippie + cool + sexy yum.

Anyway, I got into bed the other night after putting it on my arms and legs, and I thought, “Dang! I smell sooooo good!”

But Nico crinkled his nose as he got under the covers. “What is that smell?” He asked a little bit alarmed.
“My new lotion,” I responded.
He was emphatic: “You don’t smell like my mommy. And I don’t like it.”

First, I love how honest our little people can be. They are so clear! Second, it never occurred to me that I had a mommy smell… uniquely mine, that this little animal creature in my bed feels resonance with and connected to. Of course, right? But that moment was so powerful.

It also made me think of all the ways we try to be better versions of ourselves – all the things we do to be prettier or more appealing to the world, when really, our true nature (our authentic selves) is what our favorite people really want from us.

I’m telling you all of this because I think we do this in all sorts of ways:

• We pretend to be cheerful with our friend on the phone because we don’t want to burden them with our problems.
• We pretend to be shiny, happy and successful online so that people will follow us.
• We pretend we don’t need much in our relationship so as to not be too needy… afraid that if they saw our real selves they would run for this hills.

Maybe what I’m trying to say is this: Your true nature, how you actually are, is your gold.

And when we can embrace the how-we-actually-are (both in the micro and macro moments) I think we experience more ease, more joy and more flow. We’re moving with the river and not against it.

What do you think? Has there ever been a time when you leaned into your true nature + found ease on the other side?