Little acts of kindness are like little acts of magic. They lighten our moods, tone down our cynicism, reduce our pessimism, and make us feel less judgmental about others and ourselves. The tiniest things we do can make a hu…
We’re so consumed with just getting “it” done and moving on to the next thing that many of us have become completely disconnected from knowing what we like. We think that what we like isn’t important. But that couldn’t be fu…
Many of us think we’re not brave enough to make the changes we desire or want. Our overly dramatic, fear-based brains tell us we might possibly die if we do that. So we remain in jobs, relationships, geographies or lifestyle…
A decision to live intentionally is a choice you can make at any time that will affect the quality and richness of your life. Too often we forget how much agency we have in our own lives. In our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, we…
Contrast makes our lives feel more energetic, more vibrant, more alive. Knowing that can point us in some useful directions. I discuss four of them here. DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE If you’re not leading the life you want, you can …
I learned something so easy and profound last weekend when I attended a creativity retreat taught by Rob Bell and Elizabeth Gilbert at Omega Institute that I simply had to share it with you. Pretty much everyone I know has a…
This episode is about what we make rejection mean and how we can deal with it more usefully when it surfaces. Rejection can result from our misdiagnosis of an experience or situation. Or it can actually be real, in the sense…
Last weekend, a gardening group in Prince Edward County where I live generously opened their homes and gardens for us to experience. I walked away from the tour with a different result than I’d expected – not so much a list …
Today I share a healing practice I use when I’m stressed about what might happen in the future or about something that’s already happened. The focus of this practice is savouring. Savouring happens when you experience someth…
You might have noticed that when you’re feeling angry, judgemental, hurt, resentful or annoyed, quite often another person is involved. You blame your feeling on something that person has said or done you don’t like, or on s…
Today we talk about why taking action is so important. We need to take action to not be in a conversation of one. If we want to satisfy our yearning to have an impact, we need to invite at least one other person into that co…
You’ll find this episode useful if you’ve been feeling stuck or disappointed or like something’s not working out. In nature, there’s no such thing as a straight river. Rivers meander, find the easiest way forward, get wider …
Today we consider why professional development might feel like a burden or a chore and how it can be transformed into something that feels nourishing and useful to you. I was motivated to create this episode when I read Dr. …
We all criticize ourselves. We believe that if we judge ourselves harshly, that will spur us on to take the actions we need to take or protect us from disappointment. Our negative judgments don’t accomplish either result. At…
My art teacher, Ian Roberts, shared a thought with us this week that made the hair on my arms stand up. Because of the truth of it. He said, “The quality of attention produces the music.” In this episode I share my thoughts …
Our quest to feel more alive comes down to one thing. We desire to live life in a way that feels more “us”. In this episode I explore how to become more of who you really are by pretending in one of 3 specific ways. Explore …
When we keep expanding our calendars to accommodate all the things we want to do or think we need to do, life can start to feel frantic and unmanageable. Worse, we often find that we still don’t have enough time to do the th…
There’s a moment when you realize you're seeing things in a way that feels brand new and exhilarating. It's like, “Ooh, I never saw it this way before. But now that I do see it this way, I feel completely differently about i…
Join me for this mind-shifting conversation with my friend and peer coach, Sarah Hurrle. Sarah takes us on her journey from being a fundraiser for non-profit organizations, to refocusing on her own health as she navigated he…
Legendary music producer, Rick Rubin, advises that in order to create at the highest level, your audience must come last. This is true (maybe even especially) if you care about how the audience experiences your work. Instead…
Your life isn’t a left brain problem to solve. You can try to plan. You can say, “I’ll do A, add B, then I’ll add C, D, E and F, and I'm going to get G. But of you're like most of us, the chances of it happening that way are…
This is a story about creativity, freedom, exploration and self-expression. These are what Alex discovered when her bout with breast cancer triggered in her a burning urge to create. It turned out to be an urge she couldn’t …
We make false assumptions that limit the choices we believe are available to us, what we think we’re capable of accomplishing, how we show up, what we’re willing to try and what we need to be happy. Each one of these assumpt…
People aren’t shy to offer us their advice. It sometimes feels like everyone has a point of view about what we should do. In this episode, we talk about how to distinguish between advice that serves you and advice that doesn…
