On Friday, I snagged this sticker as a cash register impulse grab at Leanna Lin's Wonderland in Eagle Rock. The cheetah made me think of Glennon Doyle's book, Untamed (one of my faves), and I've been drawn to pink & red together lately. Add to that my opera background and flair for the dramatic, and it was an automatic "hell yes." This little sticker has given me a lot to think about, though. I was doing a writing exercise about money for Studio Elite, and something clicked.

This whole Human Experience thing is fascinating. I don't know about you, but I identify as a recovering perfectionist. I have been writing this missive for more than a week. Like, editing every single day trying to refine my original idea. And just this morning I realized that this was how I started practicing singing in college, except that I wasn't starting with a sound foundation. I started college with a history of vocal strain and fatigue, and I developed the start of a

When we experience a life-changing event -- well, that's exactly what happens: life changes. There's a space between who you were and who you're becoming -- and it can feel disorienting. Sometimes it's quiet, a gentle pull at a thread you can neither identify nor ignore. Sometimes it's as if a giant wave caught you off guard and knocked the wind out of you. I've experienced both kinds -- the devastating loss of loved ones that turned me inside out and my world upside down, an