What’s the most meaningful compliment you’ve ever received?

As you know, we’re all about nurturing human connection. Yes, we sell wine, but we exist because we believe there’s a better way to live, and that’s building connections between people. While we love talking in person, we want to connect with folks that might not be able to make it into the Taproom.

So we’ll ask you a question on social media, we’ll share our answer in our blog, and we can’t wait to hear your answers in the comments of our socials! Best of all, use this question in real life and learn something new.

Q: What’s the most meaningful compliment you’ve ever received?

A: (Ayla) You’re a good Mom. Why? I’m about to get real vulnerable here…I’ve never been a cuddly person. I’ve been more of a thinker than a nurturer. When we first had kids, I was so disconnected from my intuition and so trained to look for answers from studies and books that I felt paralyzed with this being who needed me for everything except what I was good at.

And I struggled with my mental health and my own worth. If I was not good for my strength, what was I good for? After years of practice, work, reflection, mentors, and coaching, I am learning. Learning how to trust my intuition, listen with my heart as well as my head, and am embracing how taking care of myself is part of being a good Mom. If I have no emotional energy to give to our family, chaos ensues, fights break out, and it feels like the house is going to explode in a fiery rage of madness.

This week, we’ve been grieving the loss of our family dog, Lolly, aka the best dog ever. I’ve been watchful of how each of us processes grief differently, each needing different things to feel these big feelings and move through them. One of us needs to empathize with our other dog being lonely, another needs to cry mid-day with feelings of regret for not giving Lolly more attention, and another needs to carry around her collar and keep it by the bed.

I have not historically been good at understanding and processing my own big emotions, so this time I tried something new: I let myself feel it all, and cry those big alligator tears, and write about my feelings. And it hurt SO much. But then I felt better. Because as a parent, you’re in charge of your own emotions as well as helping everyone else process their emotions too. When I described our process to a dear friend, she told me I was a good Mom. And that felt SO.DAMN.GOOD. Because that’s what I was trying to do, be the best Mom I could be for my family.

Sometimes the simplest compliment can fill a hole in your heart that you didn’t know existed. Can you relate? Tell us about your meaningful compliment in comments on social media.