Curated, Monday's Warm Cocoa, 10.5.2026

“Good afternoon! Will you please let your wife know a gift has been delivered to her front door.” – Hannah Carlson

Curated

He looked down at the text message on his phone. “Good afternoon! Will you please let your wife know a gift has been delivered to her front door?” 

The message there was a complete surprise. Yet, he didn’t hesitate to call his ailing wife to see if she was strong enough to walk to their front door. Since he wasn’t home with her. She did have the strength and as she walked, the two stayed on the phone together.

That telephone connection tied the two together as she opened their front door. When the front door swung open, to reveal the now gift-occupied porch, she let out an audible gasp. It was a breath of surprised-gratitude at the sight of the beautifully displayed gift basket resting on the porch.

She reverently picked the gift basket up and carried it into the house, before asking her husband, “can you please connect us using FaceTime so I can share this with you?”

Her husband touched his phone screen and the two were instantly connected visually.

“This is so amazing! Hannah curated this gift with such care,” she said as tears welled-up, causing her eyes to glisten as if they were filled with sparkling diamonds.

The two explored each handpicked item in the basket together with building emotion. After-all, they had been battling the wife’s illness together for many months.

“This is so unexpected,” the husband said to his wife in a whisper. “It’s easy for others to forget, to move forward with their own lives, as long-term illness continues to claim its victims. We have not been forgotten!”

Each selection in the basket testified that the givers had done more than simply remember their struggling friends. Each piece demonstrated their understanding of the physical and emotional toll affecting their friends. It reflected their deep commitment to aid, comfort and stand by their loved friends. The offering was an exhibition of the word curated.

One most often thinks of curation as being limited to a specific type of public showing. The showing of historical artifacts in a museum, a collection of an artist’s displayed paintings, or formally presented photographic collections. But, this week Hannah, Ryan and Emory Carlson amplified and personalized the understanding of curation. 

They established curation to be equally narrated as a personalized expression of human love.

Hannah articulated this reality perfectly as she responded, to the recipient-husband’s message of gratitude, by saying, “We love her and you.”

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QSH7-aW2Cvsr6S7v_4hVFBWjxnvvLr-f/view?usp=sharing

Convinced, Monday's Warm Cocoa 9.28.2026

“I haven’t convinced myself that I know what I know.” – Sandy Jackson

Convinced

Sandy lingered toward the back of the conference room. Whenever she does that it’s a clear sign. It’s a sign that she wants to talk on a more personal basis. After the changes we had been talking about during the meeting I wasn’t surprised at all. The feeling in the room was unmistakable. We were all quite overwhelmed by the changes introduced to us.

“How are you doing,” I asked Sandy, as soon as I caught her eye.

“I’m doing alright,” she popped back.

The rapidity of her reply implied that the opposite was true. Sandy is always affable, yet she usually doesn’t make her personal life a spectacle.

I waited. And, sure enough there was more to come.

“All of these changes are overwhelming,” she continued.

“I agree,” I said in earnest. I wanted her to know everyone in the room was feeling the same and that confirmation allowed her shoulders to relax in relief.

“I’ll be alright,” she said. “I haven’t convinced myself that I know what I know.”

I have to admit that when I heard those words I took a momentary pause as my mind said, “Huh! I’ve never heard that one before!” She had my attention, even more than she did when we began our conversation.

“It’s just that all these changes remind me of when I moved here,” She explained. “I was an interior designed in Dallas before I moved. The move was so overwhelming to me that I retreated into myself, just so I could get grounded again. I was just starting to feel grounded when all of this began.”

She used her right arm to gesture a sweeping movement covering the entire room. It was an indication that everything discussed in the meeting was causing her to feel the same type of instability again. Perhaps the right description here is not instability, but insecurity. But, that was not the look in her eye!

When I looked in Sandy’s eyes I didn’t see insecurity. I saw determination.

“I’ll be just fine,” She continued in a soft, yet confident manner. “I’ve faced changes like this before. The specific changes are new, but the way I process remains the same. I simply need to give myself some time to convince myself that I know how to deal with change. I’ve done it before and I can do it again!”

Then, she smiled warmly and walked out of the conference room.

When she passed through the door I was convinced too. “She knows what she knows!” 

And, she along with all of us, will be just fine during periods of rapid change as long as we remember, we know what we know.

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QSH7-aW2Cvsr6S7v_4hVFBWjxnvvLr-f/view?usp=sharing

"An Invitation," Monday's Warm Cocoa, 9.21.2026

“You never know what is going to happen on any day.” - Diz Petit

An Invitation

I received an unexpected invitation from Diz, “Hi Lynn, I’m making a presentation this Wednesday during 1 Million Cups. I hope you can come.”

That message was enough to give me a little extra incentive to attend a meeting I attend regularly. I wanted to listen to her presentation again, because I’ve been impressed with her and the cause she was championing.

Diz’s mission is to accelerate the world's transition to a circular economy. So, she created LiquiDonate to revolutionize inventory management, by leveraging her cutting-edge proprietary software to match goods from retailers, brands, and other sources with communities in need. She envisions a world with less waste by working with retailers, event planners, and brands to match their excess inventory with nonprofits, charities, and schools. Diz taught me something I didn’t know.

$288 billion worth of unsold inventory and retail returns gets sent to the landfill each year! LiquiDonate has successfully created a platform that’s good for the entire economy, by completing a profitable economic circle which connects manufacturers, retailers, consumers and currently wasted products, which are donated to people in need rather than being thrown in the trash. LiquiDonate truly proves that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

Yet, the word treasure means much more than physical goods or money. And, Diz was about to reveal the true depth of her humanity to me as we took a personal moment, after her exquisite presentation.

“I almost didn’t come here to participate in this business accelerator,” she said. “But, my mother told me I needed to come. She wanted me to come,” She continued. “It was important to her for me to come!”

So, Diz came, leaving her mother’s side, when she wanted to be with her mom, lending her strength and providing her with loving care during her illness. Because Diz is closing another important circle; life’s sacred circle!

Life’s sacred circle is competed as we return the love offered to us by those who gave us life and everything needed during our most vulnerable years. Completing this circle is so important to Diz that she did exactly what her ailing mother asked, even though it was the hardest thing she could do.

I knew it was monumentally hard, because I saw the lubrication of love well up in her eyes and then gently flow down each side of her face. Those tears are a testament and an invitation for you and me to individually complete our own sacred circles in life.

Because, “You never know what is going to happen on any day,” Diz said, when I asked her what the most important thing she’s learned from this life experience was.

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QSH7-aW2Cvsr6S7v_4hVFBWjxnvvLr-f/view?usp=sharing

"Costumes," Monday's Warm Cocoa 9.14.2026

A family dressed in community-based clothing.

Costumes

I was sitting near Gate 11 in a regional airport when I spotted one particular group of people. They were waiting for a flight at an adjacent gate, which was soon to depart for Detroit. It wasn’t their waiting that caught my eye. It was their distinct clothing. The clothing they wore delivered a definite message. It identified their community.

“Community-based clothing,” I whispered to myself, while thoughts stirred about its broader meaning. Their apparel was designed and produced to serve a specific group of people. The people they shared ties with. The people with whom they lived and shared a common identity. The clothing represented a subculture, their societal connection. They weren’t chasing mass-market trends. Their garments prioritized a localized identity, mutual benefit, and shared values. The clothes they wore were designed to make them stand apart.

“Stand apart,” I thought. The words quickly caused an eruption of dawning light to enliven my brain. It was an eruption turned into interruption. It changed my view entirely.

“They’re not really any different than everyone else here,” I mumbled as my evaluation process ramped up. I looked around at the people sitting near us. I began to intently notice the people deplaning and walking past.

“We’re all wearing costumes!”

With that, I thought about the costume I was then wearing and what it said about my own community. What group was my costume designed to identify me with?

“Stand with!”

Perhaps our choice of clothing is more about standing with others rather than standing apart! Maybe it’s the same message, said in different words. At the same time, there is a subtle and important distinction.

That difference is, well, difference. It all depends on the way we choose to think about our personal relationship with other people. This thought changed the way I viewed the formerly peculiar people sitting at Gate 10. Rather than viewing them as different and apart from all of the other people in the terminal, I saw them as the same.

We were all people gathered in an airport traveling to a destination, while wearing our costume of choice.

“Now boarding for Detroit,” the announcement barked.

I watched the group of seven people-of-community stir. They stood and gathered their personal belongings. They walked to Gate 10 with all others going to Detroit. Every single person stood in an orderly line to board the same plane to Detroit.

They were all people going to the same place. They just weren’t wearing the same costumes.

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cyq612ohmd8YUwEa5WXZjA3IWJVDPzOe/view?usp=sharing

Fighting the River, Monday's Warm Cocoa 9.7.2026

“I believe we create our future by what we say and think now.” –Dave Zitting

Fighting the River

“My garden’s production has exploded this year, so I thought I’d make us classic BLT’s using what I’ve grown,” Dave said, just before dashing out the door to gather the ingredients. He soon reappeared with his hands filled with fresh produce, just collected. Then, he laid every ingredient out and began to craft sandwiches. I marveled at his focused attention to detail and craftsmanship. I shouldn’t have been surprised. We’ve been warmly associated for many years, so I’ve learned to trust his advice. And, it was apparent that Dave is also a sandwich artist who was about to give me more than a sandwich.

“You know, I’m a little concerned about the frequency of some particular words you’ve used in our conversations lately,” Dave said as he sliced, garnished and assembled.

His words prickled my ears because I was unaware of what he was referring to. Luckily, he pressed forward; my wellbeing at heart.

“I believe we create our future by what we say and think now,” He reminded me. “I’m afraid you’re subconsciously creating a future you don’t want.”

Then he cited examples of what he was referring to. And, his description of what I had been saying and the implications foretold were right on!

“Interestingly,” I meekly responded, “I’ve been learning a very important life lesson over the past few months.

I went on to tell him that I had held the belief that I could “power through challenges” over the course of my entire life. Now, life was teaching me something new. It was revealing itself as “river,” more powerful than personal will.

A river’s power generally flows in one direction; can give and take life. Yet, it can be navigated directionally by a skilled navigator who can harness its power while beneficially using it to their advantage! An experienced river-runner friend once exhibited this to me on a trip down a roaring river.

My experienced friend had acquired specialized equipment that allowed him to glide along the water with amazing agility and grace so he could enjoy the river’s beauty. I, on the other hand, was inexperienced and had a small blow-up boat, more suited for lounging on a swimming pool! By the end of one day on the river I was exhausted and spent. He was not! He is a river running artist, just as Dave is a skilled friend, coach and sandwich artist.

Dave and I enjoyed the magnificent sandwiches he crafted whilst he counseled me on how to stop fighting life’s river and navigate it more effectively. So, I can harness its power to create more beauty, abundance and joy.

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cyq612ohmd8YUwEa5WXZjA3IWJVDPzOe/view?usp=sharing

Healthy Gut, Monday's Warm Cocoa 8.31.2026

 

“It just doesn’t feel right to us.” -  Chad Robinson

Healthy Gut

“I know we’ve only lived in our house for a couple of years,” Chad said before he went on to explain the decision he and Heather had made.

They loved their house, neighborhood and neighbors. Those factors weren’t causing them to question what they wanted to do with their life in the near future. They had a feeling inside. It was a strong feeling. Something they could no longer ignore.

An outside observer, someone who didn’t know this couple, who always made important decisions together, would listen to the words about to flow out of Chad and come to one quick and artless decision! He and his wife had gone crazy! I knew differently.

I know Chad and Heather quite well. We’ve spent many hours together talking about their hopes and dreams in great detail. That together-time has confirmed their healthy gut! And, I’m not talking about their digestive system here. They are especially successful at “inside-listening.”

Inside-listening isn’t about verbal communication. It’s about communicating fully within yourself. I’m sure you’ve been told and understand that a lot of human communication is nonverbal.

There is no universal or scientifically proven percentage for how much of human communication is nonverbal. Communication experts agree that communicating with context matters. Words carry a heavy load in sharing factual data, instructions, or written information. Yet, there’s a lot of unsaid communication.

Nonverbal, non-factual communication cues such as facial expression, posture and vocal tone express emotion, feeling, attitude and social intent. I call these nonverbal cues contentment-communication or expressions of happiness. Everyone communicates with each other and themselves nonverbally. Chad and Heather are proficient in both.

Yet, inside-listening is often a continual struggle, even for those who are adept at it. Perhaps that’s why it is commonly described as a still, small voice and why Chad and Heather rely on a tried and true inside-listening process.

As soon as they feel a little urging inside they stop and acknowledge it. Next, they begin to wonder about it, which leads them to set aside distractions and time for reflective consideration. Chad likes to pull his mountain bike out and ride the trails around and through their town. It gives him a chance to clear his mind and let his inner wisdom speak purely and quietly.

Finally, Heather and Chad circle back together and talk about their internal discoveries. They never make a final decision until they’ve completed this process in its entirety. So, when Chad tells me “it just doesn’t feel right to us” it’s more than just a gut feeling.

He’s telling me he has a healthy gut!

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cyq612ohmd8YUwEa5WXZjA3IWJVDPzOe/view?usp=sharing

"Stand-in" Monday's Warm Cocoa 8.24.2026

“Where is your uniform?” -  Roger Helsleph

Stand-in

“I got a call from a friend. He was the father of another player. He gave me an address and the name of someone to pick up,” Roger said as we sat in comfortable circumstances, over breakfast.

He went on to say, “When I knocked on the worn door a coarse girl opened it. When I asked for Nick, she turned her head and shouted. Nick!”

Nick came to the door dressed in an old t-shirt, shorts and worn shoes. Roger was surprised. His own son was sitting in the car waiting, dressed in his basketball uniform and shoes. So, he asked Nick, “where is your uniform?

“I don’t have one,” Nick responded in a matter-of-fact voice.

Roger was apprehensive, so he called the friend who asked him to get the boy. When the friend answered the phone, he responded smoothly about a uniform.

“You don’t need to worry,” he said. “I have a new uniform and shoes for Nick. All you need to do is get him to the ball game.”

The two-hour drive to the basketball gym allowed Roger to find out other surprising information. Nick had never played basketball before! Yet, the consternation caused by that admission was short lived.

Right before the game, after Nick dressed in his new game clothes, the team began their normal warm-up routine. The players lined up and began their standard layup drill.

“Nick didn’t do a layup! He jumped to the ceiling and jammed the ball through the hoop! That’s what opened my eyes to the exceptional athletic ability of the kid. I knew he was something special right then,” Roger said excitedly.

The team won that first game because of Nick’s athletic skill. Then, they went on to win the league championship. And, that was just the beginning of special things to happen for this young man.

The father who invited Nick to play changed Nick’s circumstances by adopting him into his family not too long afterward. That opened the door for Nick to learn another game. Football.

Nick played football in college and became a star on the rise. He transferred his skill into pro football, where he played for a few seasons before coming back home to raise his own family.

“He was a stand-in, first-time basketball player. He became the son of a stand-in father when he needed one. So, he knows the importance of standing-in where and when he’s needed on and off the field. Today he is standing and starring off the field as a father and family business owner,” Roger said when ending his story.

Stand-in when the opportunity presents itself. It will change the trajectory of countless lives.

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I’m Lynn Butterfield, Real Estate & Lifestyle Expert and Television Host for American Dream TV. I’ve helped hundreds of Buyers and Sellers, as an Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker, to discover where and how they want to live and work; to achieve what I call Realesation™. That’s why I bring you American Dream TV, Monday’s Warm Cocoa and Home by Design Magazine to stir your heart and mind. Contact me so I can join you along your own unique path of discovery.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cyq612ohmd8YUwEa5WXZjA3IWJVDPzOe/view?usp=sharing