Dear Mocktail Monday

Life

Jul 26

Date

07.26.23

time

09:00 am

Place

Dining Room

A Love Letter…

Knowing when to move on from something and being willing to evolve is a skill that often goes unpracticed in the online space. We’re taught, through things like algorithms and formulas, to stick with what is working. But, despite my presence in this online community, I’ve always been proud of the way I am willing to pivot and shift during various seasons of life. During this next season, I’m saying au revoir to a series that has been so good to me: Mocktail Monday.

Mocktail Monday was a series that was born during COVID times. I was craving an outlet for my creativity, I had a lot of background knowledge on non-alcoholic spirits, and I wanted to share what I knew with my community. Having a fun beverage has always elevated experiences for me, and I wanted to encourage all of you to experiment with NA options and get creative. And so, we began Mocktail Monday. Through this series, we’ve created and shared seventy unique mocktails, and I’ve truly had a blast. Mocktail Monday has allowed me to feature brands I love, share ideas for well-fashioned bar necessities, and communicate with you all in such a unique way.

As time has gone on, though, I’ve found that the production effort required to share Mocktail Monday has become quite the feat. I started to feel obligated to create an episode rather than actually enjoying the experience. I don’t want to buy into the myth that I need to keep a series going forever, when it was really just intended for a season. These feelings around what was once a special project are really just a couple of notes in the greater symphony that is consuming my headspace lately. The through-line of this symphony has led me to one major conclusion: I am breaking up with hustle culture. In the coming weeks, you’ll read more about my feelings around the word “influencer,” and how I feel it has become synonymous with the words “link click.” We have all bought the lie that our work is our identity. And let me be clear, this comes with no shade to people who are pursuing this as a career! Many of my close friends are in this space, and are very successful at what they do. Rather, I think it’s important for us all to do a heart check on why we’re doing this. And for me, this heart check led me to realize that I don’t want to create out of a sense of obligation. I want to create from a place of authenticity and vulnerability, and encourage you to live a well-fashioned life by doing the same.

So, Mocktail Monday, cheers to you. Thank you for the beautiful memories and the fun you provided this community during uncertain times. Thank you for allowing me to flex my creativity muscle in new ways. Thank you for providing the opportunity to highlight brands that are really out here changing the nonalcoholic spirits game. You have been a delicious and bubbly highlight of the last few years for me!

And to you, sweet reader, never fear. I will still be your mocktail maven, and will absolutely still share resources and recipes on occasion.I’m so excited for everything else I’ll be able to share with you with this new margin I’m building into my time and space. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for more thoughts on the paradigm shift I’m currently walking through.

P.S. One last episode going live this upcoming Monday! Episode 70. Whew. 70 drinks. That’s incredible!