I am amazed at my sister Shelley. She has three awesome boys, a husband in seminary, and an artistic bent I deeply admire and resonate with. She recently relocated from Seattle to Oregon and is living in the land of transition right now. Please welcome her here. She has a design blog, Bohemian Hellhole, that I frequent.

(By the way, if you’re wondering, Shelley and I share the same father. We weren’t raised together and are a decade apart. She’s bohemian, smart, and deeply dedicated to her family. I love her!) So, here’s Shelley!

What would it look like for you to live uncaged in 2012?

In my mind, it would mean doing all the things I dream of doing, and in a way that makes people happy and appreciated along the way.

What has prevented you from living a truly free and unencumbered life in the past?

I feel like it is most likely a lack of confidence, in myself, in what gifts God has given me, and in relationships around me.

Give my readers advice. What’s one practical thing they can do this year to live uncaged? (This can be silly like dancing in the rain or serious like eat more chocolate.)

Be supported! Be known! Find someone who you can confide in- someone that will be encouraging and challenging, someone whose perspective you trust.

Who in your life is an excellent example of living uncaged? Why?

I think kids are a great example of living uncaged, for the most part. They tend to know what they want, love wholeheartedly, dream big and take chances.

If you could design a Live Uncaged sweatshirt, what would it look like?

It would be a charcoal hoodie with a skeleton key on it with the words “Living Uncaged” beneath it.