The month of December, even though often hectic, is one of my favorite months of the year. It’s my birthday month, filled with Christmas festivities and other religious traditions of celebrating light that shines through darkness, cozy home additions abound, and on a good year, there’s snow, my absolute favorite. December also comes with feelings
I have always been an incredibly spiritual person. I think it’s one of the many perks of being wired as highly sensitive. I experience the world in greater detail, sensing what others cannot. When I allow myself to follow that sensing with curiosity and action, it is eventually validated as true. Raised Lutheran, it was
I just finished a two month series with a client. It inspired me to share a bit of that final session here. I always feel mixed emotions when our time comes to a close. I have intense pride for them and all the shifts they’ve made in our time together, they usually even look lighter.
As a self-described searcher and seeker I am always looking for opportunities to learn and grow. I have an insatiable curiosity that often is evidenced in my saved articles to read later and podcasts in queue. One such podcast, The Diary of a CEO, taught me a new term in a recent episode: metacognition. Metacognition
What do you do when life throws you an opportunity that is amazing but definitely wasn’t in the master plan? Do you gather information and move forward one step at a time to see if it could be right, or do you see it as something to fear? I am reminded of the saying that
If you remember my April column, I nudged each of you to get curious with yourselves and your “why” behind your actions or inactions. This month I’m taking that to a level deeper and putting a new spin on procrastination with the hope of helping us all shift out of it and into action. Many
When you’re upset, hurt, or processing big emotions, how do you communicate, if you communicate at all? As a highly-sensitive person, I can feel what’s left unsaid. It’s almost as if I can see the energy ripple between people. Ironic, most of my life my people-pleaser persona won. I often chose to remain silent rather
My email subscribers received this same question a few weeks ago: How self aware are you? When I tuned in and intuitively asked what would best serve any of you amazing readers, I heard loud and clear to deliver a similar message here. This topic is so important because it is often our inner blindspots
Today you’ll find me curious about pretty much anything: my inner dialog, my procrastination, my dog’s behavior, my habits, my intuitive nudges and physical feelings, my judgments, any human I encounter and much more. I wasn’t always this way. I tended to be a bit of a know-it-all. It was a persona I needed to
I recently read an email in which the head of a company that I really admire talked about her struggles with addiction. It caught my eye because I was surprised to hear this from someone so successful and from such a healthy habits focused family. That is my judgment and the judgment of the world
Before I dive into this month’s column, I have a confession: It’s inspired by a commercial aired during a recent football game. I generally hate commercials and usually ignore them, but a reminder of one of the laws of thermodynamics caught my ears and kept me thinking. This law states that energy cannot be created
As you read this article you’re likely in as much disbelief as I am that it’s 2024. The end of 2019 feels like yesterday, yet the pandemic feels decades away and yet still very much here. Einstein had a hunch that time was not linear. Life has a funny way of proving him right. The
A few weeks ago I jotted down the intuitive nudge I received on this month’s column. Today, as I sit down to write and edit, I’m realizing the irony of this December headline. December for many is a season of gift giving, and I’m being guided to show how embracing discomfort is indeed a wonderful
As I was walking my dog this morning I was struck by how beautiful the fallen leaves were, as if each was placed by hand. These ones were various shades of purple. Trees seem to innately know that when we let go of what no longer serves us others can enjoy the beauty. They also
I was blessed to live my early years without a lot of technology. We ran amok in the neighborhood without cell phones, an antenna brought local stations to our television, the library was the best Google machine, and we were always surprised to find out who was on the other line when we answered the
Have you ever had the awareness that a way you’ve always been may not actually get you to where you want to go next in life? Yes, that way got you here, but if you continue to cling to that you’ll likely always be stuck and not get to your next desired destination. Sometimes you
A few days ago my boyfriend, his mom and I dove into the adventure of laying hexagon tile sheets in his fixer-upper house’s gutted kitchen. Before adhering them to the floor, it was critical to ensure we all felt good with the placement. His house is circa 1920s and most things were either built unevenly
Clichés are often clichés for a reason. They ring so true they are stated over and over again. What you appreciate, recognize the full worth of and be grateful for, appreciates, rises in value. I grew up in a home that was appreciation-less. There was no expressed or shown appreciation, just expectation, competition, nit-picking on
Working from home and being a solopreneur has many advantages, snuggling with my dog and connecting with my boyfriend on his way home from work are just two of the many freedoms I enjoy. This life I’ve chosen also has many disadvantages. I miss collaborating with my cubicle mates when I’m stuck on an idea
Recently I had a powerful conversation with my boyfriend that inspired this month’s article. He’s the type of man that goes all in. If a project at work needs finishing, he will work 15-hour days until he’s satisfied it’s complete. He also makes time for me, my doggo, and the kitchen reno he’s knee deep
In last month’s column, I talked about the power of trusting in the magic of winter. But what happens after you practice diligent faith, allow stillness, and do all the hard work needed to get through winter? Yes, being still is hard, especially in a society wired to go go go. What if your spring
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what earth does in the winter. If all goes to plan, it makes us amazing snow to frolic in, but it often seems to drag on. This period of stillness has so much going on under the surface. How do I know this? Trees bud, tulips pop, and
How many of you have ever felt stuck in life or a certain area of it? It’s a horrible feeling. When I’ve been in times like that I’ve felt heavy, unclear, hopeless, unsure of where or whom to turn, desperate, frustrated, full of despair, and usually very alone. My hope is that as the year
As I’m writing your hopefully helpful article for the first month of 2023, a snowstorm, cold temperatures and gusty winds swirl around my mom’s house in Illinois. Our Christmas road trip to Minnesota to spend time with family has been postponed, and we’ve been busy kitchen bees this morning whipping up chicken wild rice soup
