Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
Some days, I wake up and my life doesn’t feel real.
I go to work on I Heart Costa Mesa and can’t even believe this is what I get to do with my day.
So honored. So humbled. So blessed.
Our team shows up to a neighborhood place for an interview – or welcomes a guest into our podcast studio at The Music Factory – and it feels too good to be true. How is this real?
I don’t take the trust of Costa Mesans lightly.
That sort of trust is hard won and easily lost. It requires care and thoughtfulness.
When a business owner lets us into their establishment, their story, their world – we feel a certain reverance to have been invited to walk that journey with them.
They are so excited – and sometimes nervous – to see us come through the door in our heart-shaped sunnies. We are so excited, and sometimes nervous, to be there. The energy is amazing every time!
We don’t rush our interviews, we take our time. We try to connect on a deep and meaningful level with each interviewee. Try to be as present as possible.
What I Heart Costa Mesa does is just a small gesture in the scheme of a dynamic, thriving city like Costa Mesa – where so much is happening all of the time.
But it feels important, too.
I’m always trying to dream up ways to notice more, connect more, engage more. It doesn’t always work out the way I’ve planned – but I smile trying.
Thank you for reading, sharing, listening, watching and otherwise participating in this thing called “Costa Mesa” with us.
I’m filled with gratitude for every day that you are here, even as I still can’t really believe it. ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
