So glad you’re here
Hi, I’m Tonianne
I want to share all the things with you – every single connection-inspiring thing in my heart and mind.
That’s a lot of things!
Some of the things (you’re gonna hear that word a LOT!) I’ll be sharing are things that inspire or challenge me, things I find beautiful or funny or significant, things I’m writing, making, building, sewing, or cooking, things I’m struggling with, things I’m loving; and lots of things other people are doing and making and sharing.
My idea is that by sharing everything you may find that one single thing that speaks to your heart and allows us to connect with each other. I could not hope for anything better than that! So, about my things... there are just so many! Let’s start with 10 that are closest to my heart right now and we’ll see how it goes!
And...
I want to learn all about your things, too. Really. And, if you’re feeling it, send me your 10 things!
#1
I constantly have ideas but this one in particular – that connection is everything – would not leave me! It began as a random comment in a conversation several years ago and I have not stopped thinking about it since. As a life-long artist I’ve learned to open myself to ideas when they present themselves and get ready to be surprised when I let them emerge through me. It’s been a heck of a ride already and I’m barely to the top of the rollercoaster!
2: Sharing is magic!
I noticed that every time I had a chance to share connection with others, by using my unique perspective and skills to serve them in a moment of need, I came alive! Sharing took a moment of two people fully being themselves from ordinary to profound. I have to talk about how incredible this feels by sharing it with you and doubling the magic!
Number
Three
I’m a recovering perfectionist and a formally trained graphic designer, which is a recipe for needing to see the big picture, wrangle all the moving parts, have everything all figured out and all the questions answered before anyone sees anything, *deep breath* I don’t have this all figured out.
I’m gonna say that again because I really need to own it: I. don’t. have. this. all. figured. out. But I’m soooooo curious about all of it and I’m dying to see all the connections and share them with you. So my challenge to myself is to just put it all out there. Messy. Out of order. As things occur to me. Check back often. This thing is gonna grow and change. I’m sure of that.
# 4
I love, love, LOVE true personal stories! Yes, my podcasts are jammed with The Moth. Hearing or reading someone’s story is like a shot straight to my heart. I’m so honored to receive something so intimate, so human. It feels like a gift, the gift of understanding and empathy and identification. Stories make us feel like part of something bigger than ourselves. And this feels like my time to contribute to the collective.
Five!
Perspective is reality. Another comment made in a conversation years ago that has stayed with me. Maybe it was perception is reality. Either way, it’s so obvious yet so subtle that what we each perceive as real, what we each are able to see from our point of view or perspective, literally forms a reality that can be dramatically different from the reality perceived by someone standing right next to us. On a simple, useful level it’s a reminder that what we experience is not absolue truth and that if we’re creating a life with other people (and that’s basically ALL of us!) we need to try to understand what life looks like from their point of view.
Perspective is reality. I’m listing this again because this may be the heart of why I believe you can have the same extraordinary relationship with life that I have.
How we view things is a choice and it’s something we can shift over time. I did not always see life from this perspective but my curiosity and openess to new ideas allowed me to experience a profound shift. And the shift is still happening. Perspective can be fluid.
Six!
# 7
You teach what you most need to learn.
When I first heard this I wondered “What the heck does that mean?” but very quickly I found myself drawn to creating projects and lessons about the exact content I was most interested in and most in need of to further my spiritual growth.
Which brings me to this project, otherwise known as everything. Apparently, I have a LOT to learn.
NUMBER EIGHT Saying out loud what’s in my head (or the online version of that) gives me almost instant clarity on what I’m really trying to express. So, kinda back to teaching what I need to learn, I suppose saying also gets me to the same place.
I’m gonna say it, paint it, type it, write it, draw it, sew it, interact with it, guide it, cook it and practice patience while it, this project of mine, forms itself.
# 9
I’m an acorn (and so are you!). Like an acorn, I came into the world containing my full unique potential, and within optimal conditions I could grow into the oak tree I’m meant to become. No one has to tell the acorn how to be an oak tree; there’s no other thing it could possibly be. Like the acorn I can not be anything other than myself, my fullest, most loving, alive and connected self.
ten!
I am Lori’s wife, my parents’s daughter, devoted friend and auntie, artist, writer, maker, foodie, yogi, resident of New England (and briefly Colorado!), art school graduate, entreprenuer, a woman mid-way through life who cares about the environment, loves fluffy dogs, and enjoys the outdoors, snow and a wood fire more than almost anything. But... Beyond all of those roles the truest truth I know about myself is simply that I am, just like that acorn.
That means that while I live into the roles I’ve committed to as a fellow human being my greatest commitment is to honor this one unique and temporary life I have been given and live into that as fully as I can.
That, to me, is the ultimate connection.