Joanna Gaines: 'I Want to Live More Freely'

THE FIXER UPPER STAR GETS PERSONAL ABOUT FINDING NEW PERSPECTIVE AND LEARNING TO

- EMILY STROHM

Joanna Gaines doesn't usually spend her mornings lying facedown on the driveway, but on a recent Tuesday she was nose to the pavement at the request of her 4-year-old son Crew. "I had just gotten ready for work, and he said, 'Mom, I need you to get on your stomach, on the ground, and look at what these ants are carrying,"" says Joanna, breaking into a laugh. "I was like, 'Baby, I can see them from up here!"" But she thought again and decided to go for it. "I'm flat on my belly, and the whole time I'm thinking, I'm too old for this,"" she says. "Then Chip pulls up with the kids and starts honking like, 'Are you okay!?' They all thought I fell-because Mom doesn't normally do that." As someone who has spent the better part of her life avoiding spontaneity, the mom of five now happily welcomes it. "As simple and silly as it is, I was lying there thinking, 'I'm so thankful to be watching this with Crew,"" she says. "I've realized a lot of joy comes from unplanned moments. I'm glad I didn't miss that one." Finding that perspective hasn't come easy. Earlier this year the home-design star began to feel burned-out for the first time. After years of running at high capacity, she felt the pressure of her own expectations weighing on her.