The Jar of Side Quests
Choosing feeling alive over autopilot—one Wednesday at a time.
There’s a blue mason jar on my desk, filled with pastel slips of paper—mint green, blush pink, soft blue.
Each one holds a quiet invitation.
A small rebellion.
A reason to step outside the loop of “work, errands, survive, repeat” and back into my life.
They’re not tasks.
They’re not productivity hacks.
They’re side quests—tiny adventures and soft nudges meant to pull me closer to joy, curiosity, and the kind of life I’m trying to build on purpose.
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Why I Made a Jar of Side Quests
Because even now—even in my untaming—I still forget how to play.
I forget to break rhythm, to disrupt the cycle, to choose presence instead of pushing through.
I didn’t want this year to be another blur of over-functioning and under-living.
I didn’t want to wake up one day and realize I’d organized my entire life but forgot to actually live it.
So I made a jar. Not to fix anything. Not to track anything.
But to offer myself small, consistent invitations to experience my life differently—more fully.
More me.
What’s Inside the Jar?
Most are simple, gentle, soulful things:
Visit a new café and journal for an hour
Take a different route on your daily walk
Go to a thrift store and buy something playful
Write a letter to future-you and leave it somewhere to find later
Pack a picnic and eat it somewhere with trees
These are the Wednesday side quests—small midweek rituals that ask me to interrupt the scroll, the grind, the background hum of burnout.
But there are also main quests folded inside— Big main character quests made for weekends, for adventure, for memory-making:
Main Quests: Michigan Overnight Adventures
🗺️ Stay Overnight on Mackinac Island - Go car-free, wander through history, explore the trails, and soak in the peace of island life.
🗺️ Take a Solo Retreat to Traverse City - Bookstores, wine, lake views, and a side trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes for grounding hikes.
🗺️ Book a Cozy Cabin in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) - Unplug and stargaze. Waterfalls, deep forest silence, and room to just be.
🗺️ Overnight in Grand Rapids + Day Trip to Saugatuck - A weekend split between art, food, and coastal creative energy.
🗺️ Do a Silent or Restorative Retreat at a Wellness Center - Somewhere in Northern Michigan where I can journal, breathe, and not speak unless I want to.
These aren’t vacations. They’re sacred returns.
Moments where I trade noise for stillness, structure for spaciousness, and remind myself that this life is mine to explore.
Why Wednesdays?
Because Wednesday is the day I see my therapist.
It’s already the day I pause. The day I say the truth out loud.
The day I remember I’m allowed to grow, slowly and imperfectly.
Now, it’s also the day I choose something that brings me back to life.
Every Wednesday, I’ll pull a side quest from the jar—not to impress anyone, not to hustle toward a better version of myself. But because she’s holding me accountable to choose joy, softness, and adventure—even in the middle of a workweek.
And when I feel called, I’ll plan a main quest too.
Because untaming my life doesn’t require a radical transformation.
It starts here.
With one folded slip of paper.
With saying yes to this week.
With letting my life hold more light.
Your Untamed Invitation
Maybe you need a jar of your own.
Or maybe you just need this reminder:
You are allowed to disrupt the routine.
You are allowed to choose joy that doesn’t make sense on a calendar.
You are allowed to live a life that feels good now—not someday.
Pull one side quest.
Plan one weekend adventure.
Let your life feel like yours again.
Because your story doesn’t have to be linear.
It can be a series of quests.
A mosaic of moments.
A collection of side adventures that add up to a deeply meaningful, wildly honest, beautifully untamed life.