A through-line of 2025 and beyond.

We're exploring how thoughtful prep can make a moment richer and more meaningful, not less.

This lesson was inspired by a tagline brainstorm for Holidays On Her Terms—a field guide designed to help my clients (and me) create holiday experiences we actually look forward to, enjoy in real time, and love to look back on.

To me for a long time, prep felt sterile, boring, and overly controlling.

I believed that as an info artist (my mental label for what I do), I needed to protect spontaneity.

There does need to be room for spontaneity, of course. But I’ve come to see that it's often a *byproduct* of preparation, not its opposite.

Muscle memory creates space for real presence.

We don't have open loops or mental energy wondering what's about to pop out from behind the corner.

Less anxiety, more presence. Less distraction, more playfulness.

When I’m prepared, I can actually be where my feet are.

Acting, dance, firefighting, medicine, performance of all kinds (even improv has its own guidance!) - prep is useful and important. We know it!

But it's easy to resist it so strongly in personal lives - creative work, finances, even social connections.

Instead of thinking of it as rigidity, I'm thinking of it as care in advance.

It’s how we create the conditions to show up more embodied, calm, and available vs. troubleshooting chaos in real time.

(Which is probably why I love behind-the-scenes documentaries so much. Hello, Eras Tour. The magic isn’t accidental.)

More prep, more presence.

Try it on and let me know how it fits.

📮 Thoughts? Qs? Requests? Share with me here in the comment box >> onherterms.com/convo

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