Kellē Sauer

We have Sunday plans. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ______ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #weekend #livemoremagic #theartofslowliving __ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I’m weekending in Sonoma with @wasserzapfen for a Big Wig Lawyer conference and I am acting like a grownup and making interesting connections and practicing talking about my consulting work, and… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The light is simply lovely. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ My favorite part of this whole thing is that I am up early to be in it all by myself for a bit, listening to the wind in the trees around our private “treehouse” cabin set on the side of a little cliff in the woods and remembering who I am and how beautiful I feel when everything around me is beautiful. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 10/10 recommend. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #storyofbeing #livemoremagic __

#everydayinmay has been revealing the strangest things to me about momentum. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Did you know momentum shows up *wherever* I let the light in? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Whenever I just take one step that is in front of me to take (and I’m talking about the little steps, like putting that word on a post-it note, getting a snack when I am hungry, or taking a break when I’m tired), I am engaging momentum. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And it’s happening in tandem with delight (“oh, more of that please!”), and flowing wherever I am inviting play to join the work (“how is this so fun?!”). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It shows up winsome with dirt on its face and hair in a tangle looking like it needs a mother who loves it, chattering nonstop about the next move I can make now that we’re here. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Momentum for me is all about getting present enough to notice how I am moving, even if I don’t fully know where I am going to end up yet. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #livemoremagic #momentum #storyofbeing __

This self-portrait would suggest I share an introduction, but today I need it to be a reclamation. ⁣ ⁣ I got sucked into someone’s sales vortex for half a day yesterday—the kind that makes you feel like you’re inevitably going to pay someone for what they’re selling or you’re going to fail at everything you care about.⁣ ⁣ At first I felt seen, and curious. ⁣ And then I felt challenged.⁣ ⁣ And then I found myself in full survival mode.⁣ ⁣ I was drowning in the “perfection” of the presentation, the pressure of the time-limited discounts, and the volume of data moving faster than my brain could handle.⁣ ⁣ I wasn’t even their target customer, but I couldn’t remember that as I was ushered through step after automated step to invest my energy fully into their thing.⁣ ⁣ It could have felt exhilarating (there was a version of me that really needed this energy).⁣ ⁣ Instead, I felt myself abandoning myself and what matters to *me* in real time.⁣ ⁣ This was a “good sale.” It was making the business so much money.⁣ ⁣ And it was selling by stripping me of my self.⁣ Calling out problems I know I don’t have.⁣ Prescribing solutions that disregard my values.⁣ ⁣ Identifying ME and my way of being as the main pain point.⁣ ⁣ It’s no wonder people are so angry lately.⁣ ⁣ We’re surrounded everywhere we used to love spending time by these “good sales” attempting to extract our very humanity.⁣ ⁣ I had to get mad to get out of it.⁣ ⁣ _____⁣ ⁣ ⁣ There’s a reason I call myself an “identity consultant” when I’m focused on branding (both personal and business).⁣ ⁣ Every layer of my work is focused on on the essence of YOU in every layer of your own work.⁣ ⁣ I focus on what YOU know, and how you are already resourced to share that with YOUR people. I learn YOUR language and help you connect YOUR HEART to your brand.⁣ ⁣ The most important work we do comes from the true, human parts of ourselves that must not be ignored—not for money, not for success, not for anything.⁣ ⁣ We are not pain points or revenue streams.⁣ ⁣ YOU are necessary.⁣ YOU are inevitable for the people who choose you.⁣ ⁣ And it’s days like yesterday that remind me how desperately we all need you being you, your way.⁣

I have a thing for “pretty piles.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They might look like clutter, or be part of something unfinished, or feel like unmade decisions, but… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They make so much sense to me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The colors, layers, and textures become their own thing, an invitation to curiosity, and to delight. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I think it’s the same way for my piles of creative ideas. My brain doesn’t bother with organizing them very often. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The trick is simply to see it all as beauty. As possibility. As invitation to play, and to open up new spaces in the world where creativity comes to rest. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photography @kellesauer Styling @lacygeary Silk/Shop @silkandwillow ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #identityconsultant #brandingisalovestory #storyofbeing __

This one is for the woman who is always writing herself out of her own story. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For the woman who feels like she’s “extra.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Who only invests in herself with “disposable” income. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The woman who says that what she wants “doesn’t matter anyway.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What if you let it matter? What if you are worth really investing in? What if everything you’ve been hoping to do or be or become is possible, probable, perfect for you? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What would you feel? What would you do? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What if you being possible is the way your people get loved best? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ *serious eyes* ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can live that. I’m pretty sure we all need you in that story. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What is one thing you can allow yourself to do or feel or choose today that you have written off because *you* wanted it? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ______ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #storyofbeing #identityconsultant #livemoremagic #everydayinmay __

Macro Monday. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s not a Thing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s just what I am posting on Monday as I am moving out of general home-focused puttering into more specific business puttering. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I do this zoom-in-zoom-out thing sometimes to take pressure off, let lightness into things I tend to take too seriously. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s the reason I surround myself with beauty. I want really good things to focus on when I get distracted. Things that send me back to where desire and curiosity had me in the first place. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What is your favorite move for taking pressure off and softening your focus? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #noticingtreasure #photographymetaphor #selfcare __ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Lately, I am remembering their baby days, and how I felt. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I was completely overwhelmed by them, not knowing how to express or manage how sacred it all was. I was just holding on, and letting myself see them, not realizing that I was learning to savor things I could barely comprehend. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They’re all teenagers now, and we’ve all grown up into the sacred. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I know how to be with them as myself. They are themselves with me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We hold each other. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I enjoy them so much. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They know me as their “Mom,” like my mom was my “Mom.” They’ll know me better later, as I have learned to know my mom. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We meet each other where we are. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ They’re wonderful. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I never really planned to be a mom. But it is lovely. They’ve made it so very lovely. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #livemoremagic #mothersday #personal __

It is rather a law that I pause for the roses. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In parking lots, on my tables, in my backyard, in the grocery stores, on the way to my doctors’ offices, wherever I find them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I have a couple of rose bushes myself, and if I don’t prune them before they have buds, I simply can’t bear to prune them until the buds have blown. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s led to some wonky-looking bushes, what with my unpredictable gardening habits, but the delight... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ That always makes sense. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And so I pause in all my doing for the roses, and I live a delighted life. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It’s lovely how easy it is. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #theartofslowliving #livemoremagic #delight __

Sometimes poetry makes the most sense. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ For the road to Santiago, don’t make new declarations about what to bring and what to leave behind. Bring what you have. You were always going that way anyway, you were always going there all along. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ [ David Whyte ] ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #theartofslowliving #identityconsultant #livemoremagic __

That feeling of knowing exactly who you are and what you want to do, and finding that you’re not quite able to explain it yet… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is what I am always working in with others. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Funny enough, that work with others doesn’t shortcut my own process connecting my heart with my work with my people and just saying clearly what I’m about. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m still human, it seems. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (What relief that is.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So I’m working slowly here. Steady. Looking for simplicity, choosing movement supported by my honest, available energy. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Nothing else feels sustainable. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And the clarity is coming. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Once there’s enough shape to cast a shadow, all it takes is a shift of the light, a different perspective (a view in a mirror, perhaps), and everything will come into view. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #theartofslowliving #identityconsultant #brandingisalovestory #everydayinmay __

Something from here today, though it’s probably nothing to write home about. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ These daily posts are fun. They challenge me to a less curated way of doing things, open a different window into my creativity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I need that just now. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Daily reminders that beauty is allowed, presence is allowed, I am allowed to be where I am and allowed to share it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One tends to forget these things sometimes when the body is weary and the responsibilities are unending. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But I usually remember when I am in my space, in that 20-60 minutes that are my own every morning before anyone is awake in my house when I scratch nonsense into a journal and tell myself the truth about what I feel and what I wish and what I want and what I don’t want and what I am grateful for in the moment. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I don’t feel complete anymore without this time, even if it’s not needed for processing anything huge. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I just need the feel of the pen on the page, the reminder that I am really here, and I am me, and I am solid, not just spinning out into a life that others are defining for me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Anyway. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Happy Wednesday. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _____ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bykellēsauer #everydayinmay #morningpages #theartofslowliving __