We are in the thick of the holiday season. Last minute gifts are being picked up.Plans have been made.Turkeys and sugar plums are at the ready. Take a deep breath.I think it’s time for a holiday pause. Take a second deep breath.In and out.Slowly. Imagine the family arriving for the festivities and instead of, Read More
I have been reading a lot of posts online about how people are spending more money this year than last Christmas. They are stressed about spending too much , gifts not being appreciated, cutting off all gift giving and going in debt. Everyone was piling on.I feel curdled just reading it all. I am, Read More
I went Christmas shopping with a friend last night. Our gift giving styles are very different.Compared to my family, she was buying a lot of presents. And let’s just say that she feels a lot more pressure to “get it right” when it comes to gift selection. That must suck the fun out of, Read More
I read a beautiful, lyrical passage by Robin Wall Kimmerer, from Braiding Sweetgrass: indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and The Teachings of Plants. “What would it be like, I wondered, to live with heightened sensitivity to the lives given for ours? To consider the trees in the Kleenex, the algae in the toothpaste, the oaks in, Read More
There are times when you need to slow down and rest.Times when a pause is healing to your soul. But when you are trying to attain a goal or reach out toward something you desire, err on the side of action. Even when it’s not pretty. Try something and fail.Then try something else. We, Read More
Try something you haven’t done before. Something you haven’t done because you think you are going to suck at it. Or feel uncomfortable. Make it a stretch. But before you do, make an agreement with yourself that you aren’t going to beat yourself up for it. It can be big… ask for a raise. It, Read More
Freedom.I love the feeling. Yes, I have become used to freedom here in the US. We don’t appreciate it quite as intensely until we don’t have it.Or it is threatened. But recently I have been using the feeling of freedom as a steering mechanism. As a compass. What feels like freedom?That’s what I steer, Read More
Things are easy right now.There is an ease to almost everything I do. And it’s getting boring. So I am thinking of biting off a BIG new project. And that seems like it’s going to take a lot of effort. The kind of effort that eventually slows me down to a slow trudge uphill, Read More
I know you feel for the people who are not as fortunate as you. You feel guilty charging for your services or asking for a raise since they are struggling. But taking less money for yourself usually doesn’t even things out.Denying yourself pleasure doesn’t create a just world. Please do give if you can, Read More
You have critiqued yourself up and down. You need more willpower.More patience.More time for yourself.More money. Whatever it is, you are trying to be more than you are now. And you are your own most ardent critic. Isn’t that exhausting?I know it exhausts me. Give your inner critic the day off. You are wonderful, Read More