One of my favorite bloggers, Emily P. Freeman, has this practice of looking back on what we’ve learned over the past season before moving onto the next. It’s a way to slow down, reflect, and become more familiar with ourselves. I’ve decided to take up this practice for myself so here are 7 things I  have learned over this past Winter.

(If you want to see what Emily and others are sharing you can check it out and link up for yourself here.)

1. Dutch Braids

I’ve always loved looking up hair-dos on Pinterest and combining different elements into my up-dos. (check out my hair-do board here .) One thing I’ve been trying to master for awhile is the Dutch braid. They come out looking different than a french braid and for certain looks I wanted to try, I knew I needed to master them.

Now, I might just be braidedly challenged but I watched tutorials and looked at pictures and could NOT for the life of me, figure out this braid. Then my mom explained it so simply: “It’s exactly like a french braid except you put the strands under instead of over.” WHY DIDN’T ANYONE JUST SAY THAT???

Thanks to that explanation I have now mastered the dutch braid.

2. I Sleep More Deeply Without a Bed Frame

This is something I learned accidentally. I recently got rid of my old black iron bed frame because I didn’t like having my bed so high. (I’m only 4′ 10″ and I felt like I was climbing into my bed every night.) So I ditched the bed frame and have just been sleeping on a box spring and mattress. Since I did that I have been falling asleep quicker, dreaming every night, and waking up feeling more refreshed and rested.

3. Taking Public Transportation is Good for My Soul

I currently work about 30 minutes from where I live, or at least it SHOULD be 30 minutes. With traffic getting worse in Denver my commute over this last year has begun to gradually wear me down. However, since RTD finished the R Line Lightrail system this last month there is now a train that will go from my home straight to my work in 25 minutes.

The difference is amazing. I love that my commute time is consistent and I don’t have to leave so early. I love that I can read, text, email, or write on the train and don’t have to focus on driving. I love people watching. I also especially love the views of the mountains and the city that you get from the rail. THIS will probably be a life save for my sanity.

4. People’s Emotions Aren’t My Responsibility

I have always had an empathetic caring spirit but where I’ve gone wrong is in taking up responsibility for other people’s emotions. I say yes to things I don’t really want to do because I don’t think people can handle the disappointment or I am scared of making them angry or sad. Because if someone is angry or sad I also feel like I need to “fix” it. Make them feel better. Because if they are angry or sad I often feel angry or sad too.

I have learned that peoples feelings are their feelings and they are allowed to have them and work through them however they want. I can still be there and acknowledge their feelings but it isn’t my job to take up their emotions for myself and then try to make them go away. It is simply my job as a friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend to stand in the waves of their emotions with them. Along with this I learned from Brene Brown that being empathetic with someone means recognizing what they are feeling and drawing from my past experiences to remember how it felt and to say “me too”, it does not mean to sit with them and actually take up and feel what they are currently feeling.

Emotions are a tricky thing for me.

5. Eggplant Lasagna Tastes Basically as Good as Normal Lasagna

This one is courtesy of my roommate who is an amazing cook and also gluten and dairy free. She mentioned something about Eggplant Lasagna one night and I was interested so she taught me how to make it. I was literally SHOCKED by how good this tastes. I would probably try to cook the eggplant without the skin (texture weirds me out) but other than that it was literally just like lasagna.

6. How to Use a Bullet Journal

I’ve been hearing about the bullet journal for over a year now. I tried it in college but with working, school, and all my other activities I much preferred seeing my week laid out visually and blocked out in colors.

Now that I am working full time and am tackling some bigger goals this year I am in LOVE with the bullet journal. I am still experimenting and tweaking some stuff with how I use it but I have found that there was a lot of stuff I was tracking before in journals, planners, and calendars that I can now keep in one place.

7. Getting an Actual Wax Hurts Way Less Than the Strips

I am a pretty hairy person. It never really bothered me before but lately I have become more aware of it and have found that at least for my face, I feel so much more fresh and confident with a smooth face. I was attempting to wax my own face with strips for awhile and finally decided to just go to an actual waxing salon. I was scared that it was going to hurt way worse since its REAL wax but found that the real wax hurt way less than the strips I’ve been using.

Let me know some of the things you have learned over this Winter in the comments below. Let’s step into this new season confident and excited for all that we still have yet to learn.