August 12, 2026 | Vol. 3
I haven’t always been a fan of baseball, but I fell in love with the game when my son was growing up.
He loved to play, and I used to tell him allll the time, “I absolutely love to watch you play.”
I am not athletic at all, but I found my own ways to become part of the experience with him. I learned to keep score, volunteered for the board, and eventually ran the snack shack. An obvious choice for someone who ran a movie theatre. 😉
This past weekend, the Mariners celebrated 50 years of baseball in Seattle with a ceremony honoring the history of the team. I wasn’t there in person, but I was watching from home when, all of a sudden, my son appeared on the screen!
He was eleven years old when he attended Félix Hernández’s perfect game on August 15, 2012, the 23rd perfect game in MLB history and the first in Mariners franchise history. In the anniversary footage, there he was in his bright orange shirt, jumping up and down, completely overcome with excitement about what he had just witnessed.
Of course, I recorded the clip and sent it to him. 💜 It won't allow me to include the video but here's the pic:
Later, as the Mariners honored their top 50 players, I found myself incredibly emotional. Watching these men stand on the field while the crowd cheered, celebrated, and honored them was truly magical. You could see them taking it all in.
One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is watching people do what they love. 💓
Maybe that is part of why I have noticed such a difference in the Mariners this season. Earlier in the year, there was a spark. They were playful. They were having fun. You could feel how much they loved playing together.
After nearly making it to the World Series last year, expectations for this season were high. There have been injuries, difficult stretches, and plenty of disappointed fans. Somewhere along the way, the energy seemed to shift. The playfulness became harder to find.
As I watched them this weekend, one question kept coming to me:
What if they fell in love with the game again?
And then I wondered how often this happens to the rest of us.
We begin something because it lights us up. We love the experience of creating, learning, building, playing, or becoming. Then expectations enter the picture. We become focused on the outcome, how well we are performing, what other people think, or whether we are where we thought we would be by now.
Without realizing it, something we once loved can begin to feel heavy.
Maybe the answer is not always to push harder. Maybe sometimes it is to reconnect with the part of us that loved it before the pressure took over.
What are you doing right now that once brought you joy but has started to feel like an obligation? What might change if you allowed curiosity, play, or love of the experience to lead you again?
This Week on the Podcast
A Community Conversation Too Good Not to Share
This week’s episode is a little different. Every Friday, I go live inside the Pure Possibilities Podcast Community, where we continue the conversation from that week’s episode, explore the weekly practice, answer questions, and sometimes simply follow wherever the conversation wants to take us.
Last Friday’s live was one of those conversations that felt too meaningful to keep inside the community, so I decided to share the replay on the podcast.
If you joined us live, don’t automatically skip this episode. Hearing something again after you have had a few days to notice how it shows up in your own life can allow you to hear something entirely different.
And the card I pulled at the end could not have been more perfect if I had chosen it myself. 😂
Click here to listen to the Pure Possibilities Podcast
New episodes drop every Tuesday at 12:00 a.m. Pacific.
What If Weekly...
What if I allow curiosity to lead my day?
It is so easy to move through our days on autopilot. We wake up expecting today to look a lot like yesterday, following familiar routines, thoughts, and patterns without even realizing it.
Sometimes that familiarity is supportive. Other times, our default idea of how the day will unfold keeps us connected to patterns that do not support the life we are choosing to create.
What if you entered today without assuming you already know how it is going to go?
What if, instead of immediately returning to a familiar reaction or expectation, you became curious about what is happening, what it might be showing you, and what else could be possible?
You do not have to completely change your plans. Simply leave a little room for life to surprise you.
What’s Unfolding...
The doors to the Pure Possibilities Collective are opening soon.
The Collective is for the person who already knows a lot, but is ready for support turning that knowing into how they naturally live. Through live coaching, meaningful conversation, community support, and real-life practice, we will close the gap between knowing what to do and actually living it.
Founding Members will receive their monthly membership at the Founding Member rate for as long as they remain active, along with one private 60-minute coaching session with me as an August Founding Member bonus. The link has been updated since the last newsletter.
Learn More About The Pure Possibilities Collective
Where in your life might you be ready to fall in love with the experience again?
Hit reply and share with me. I’d truly love to hear. 💜
Until next week, pause, notice, reconnect... and leave a little room for curiosity.
Much love,
Shannon💜
