Brooke’s Babbles: The Cracked Coffee Cup

This babble was inspired by a coffee mug my sister gave me on her wedding day as a thank-you for being her maid of honor. Nearly four years later, that mug sits beside me as I record—cracked but cherished. That little crack, likely from carelessly tossing a hand-wash-only mug into the dishwasher, hasn’t stopped me from loving or using it.

Why talk about a cracked coffee cup? Because sometimes the smallest, most ordinary things hold the most meaning. This blog isn’t just about big life moments—it’s about finding magic in the everyday.

Let me paint a picture: It’s Monday morning. You're tired, you reach for your favorite mug… and it’s gone. You’re a little thrown off. You start thinking about why you love that mug—who gave it to you, how it feels in your hand, the way it holds just the right amount of coffee. Suddenly, something seemingly small carries weight.

You're not alone. A friend recently told me about the mug he’s used since his teenage years, a gift from his dad. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s been with him through the seasons of fatherhood. He dreads the day it breaks. That stuck with me—not because it’s just about a mug, but because it’s about what it represents: comfort, memories, identity.

Here’s where the analogy kicks in: we are all like coffee mugs. If your favorite mug gets chipped or cracked, do you throw it away? Of course not. You might even treat it more gently, love it more deeply. So why don’t we treat ourselves—and each other—the same way?

We all have “cracks.” We’re tired, imperfect, worn at the edges. But those flaws don’t erase our worth. In fact, they can make us even more lovable. So here’s the real question: What if we viewed ourselves and others with the same tenderness we give to our favorite things? What if we accepted our cracks and loved each other more because of them?

The Spark

The spark I want to leave you with today is this: you are worthy of being someone’s favorite. Even if you feel too “cracked,” too tired, or too broken—there’s someone out there (even if it’s just you) who can look at you and see something irreplaceable.

That might be a romantic partner, a best friend, your child, or your own reflection in the mirror. You don’t need to be flawless to be treasured. You just need to be seen—and to believe you’re worth seeing.

So hold your cracks gently. Cherish the cracks in others. And remember: we don’t have to lose something to remember how valuable it is. Let's choose to love with our whole hearts, flaws and all.

Intro

• The blog that this episode is based off of was written in my notes app on my phone the other day while I was making protein waffles and my dog Lulu was staring up at me hoping for me to drop one, and this was a reminder once again that as a mom I do things differently and when I can, even if it’s not while sitting at a desk

• My saying is, “if you want something done ask a mom to do it” because we have so many things that we’re constantly juggling, yes, but that’s actually our strength because we’re the ones that will find a way to get it all done. Someway, somehow.

Babble

• So let’s get into it. This blog is titled Space for Grace, originally it was going to be called Room for Grace and even though it sounded like it would be the name of a 90s sitcom or a trendy Denver bar I was going to go with it until I decided I liked a rhyme better. Anyway, the other night I was spending time with friends and now I couldn’t even tell you exactly what it was that I said but after the hangout I was beating myself up for saying something in an imperfect way, and honestly now I couldn’t even tell you exactly what I said (that’s how insignificant it was) and this quickly took me down a spiral of worrying about what they thought and being hard on myself for not thinking through every little thing I said.

• As I battled my inner critic, a little voice in my heart challenged me to see things differently. Now, I want to add a note here that we often think of storytelling in the sense of stories others have told us or that we have shared with others, but let me remind you that we are constantly telling ourselves stories about who we are, what others think, maybe even anxious made up stories about the future that really we don’t even know if they will or will not happen. Anyway, instead of fixating on what I said wrong and catastrophizing how my friends must have judged me, I flipped the story from one based in fear and criticism to one of compassion and opportunity. What if I gave myself some grace? What if this time where I was “imperfect” is a chance to grow in love and understanding? When we say things incorrectly, or words fly out of our mouth quicker than we can catch them, or our actions don’t align with our values, this is the Space for Grace. The place where we can forgive ourselves, remember that our intentions are pure, and the next time someone says or does something that hurts us, we can come back to this space for grace because our own mistakes remind us to see the humanity in others when they make mistakes.

• As a psychology nerd I also want to add in a reminder about a concept called The Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE), which is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overemphasize internal factors (character, personality) and underestimate external factors (circumstances) when explaining the behavior of others. In essence, it's the tendency to attribute someone's actions to their inherent disposition rather than considering situational influences. So, the next time you say or do something that you’re not proud of, of course be accountable for it, but also take this concept into account. The same goes for others, the next time someone cuts you off in traffic remember that maybe it has less to do with them being a jerk and perhaps maybe they have an emergency, their wife is in labor, or maybe they really need to use the restroom.

Spark/Takeaway

• The spark that I want to leave with you all today is to practice compassion, gentleness, and forgiveness both for yourself and for others, because when you can offer it to yourself it becomes easier to offer it to others

Paradox of perfection: it expects us to achieve everything with a gold metal yet it prevents us from even starting. It paralyzes us. Brooke is diving in on tips for overcoming perfection.