There are seasons when life asks us to move differently than we'd planned. This year has been one of those seasons for me. A variety pack of health challenges has required me to slow down, pace myself, and accept that my capacity isn't what it used to be. While I haven't always welcomed those limitations, they've uncovered something I wasn't expecting — the stories I tell myself about productivity, self-worth, and what it means to make meaningful progress. The hardest part ha

In college, I worked at a school-to-farm program for high schoolers who needed a different kind of education than what public schools could offer them. I was working with one student in particular who loved photography. She also tended to see the world as black and white. If she perceived something as wrong, her mindset was fixed. If someone criticized her favorite singer, she would get defensive and fight back. Her fervor was so strong it was contagious, and for a brief mom

Recently, I’ve been reliving a traumatic experience. And I mean that quite literally. Something in my present is the exact problem I struggled with in my past, and my nervous system has been revisiting the old experience in real time. It has been disturbing. There’s no doubt about that. But it has also been incredibly healing. Not because the experience is easy. Not because I’ve figured out some magical way to bypass the discomfort. But because this time, I am resourced enoug

I’ve been thinking a lot about how easy it is to name what we want —but how hard it can be to recognize, name, and advocate for what we...

Usually, when I feel stressed out about making a decision it's because I feel pressure to decide quickly. And yet, that pressure is...

When I was younger, I used to set New Year's resolutions that never delivered on the intended change. In some instances, it was because...

I was recently on a call with a professional community builder whom I just met. As we were wrapping up she relayed to me, "my big lesson...

A few months ago I shared an experience where someone commented on a post I made with oppressive rhetoric in a Facebook group to a family...

Sometimes, when things feel so overwhelming it’s hard to know what to do next. Or to focus. Or to think straight. The best thing you can...

I enjoy looking out the window while sitting in the thinking chair in my office. In the summer time, the squirrels perch on the corner of...

Six years ago I set a goal to smile at everyone I encountered for 6 months. It was partly a social experiment, and partly an intention to...

Lately, my daughter has been enjoying the series Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. It's about an 8-year-old who keeps a book of rules to...

There's something almost mystical about the way our memories work. A sight, sound, smell or taste can bring back a swarm of recollections...

I hadn't even been at this networking event 20 minutes before I was triggered. It was a reunion with a peer group I belonged to a few...

One of the benefits of rebounding from a major illness is the self-knowledge that you can do it. That's a critical piece of your story...

I was a senior in high school when I found myself sicker than I ever had been before. Recently hospitalized for illness, my body and my...

Many of my clients only used their journals for taking notes during talks, while reading books, or participating in workshops before we...

Prefer to watch a video of this post? Scroll to the bottom I was driving back from a training where I tried something new, and I kept...

I was recently working with a coaching client who was reconnecting with lost parts of herself. Pieces she had stuffed down and alienated...

As a child, I loved watching inside the piano while my mother played. It was like witnessing magic. Each time she pressed down a key, a...