Spring makes me a ball of anxiety. Always has. Likely always will. I find myself out of sorts, off my schedule, and feeling like I don’t have a handle on anything. It feels as if everything is up in the air. I know my words, thoughts and feelings run counter to the society I live in – yet that seems to be the way. And I don’t think that I am alone in it. I have never heard a bad word about Spring. Or even a questioning word. Spring doesn’t have any bad PR. Spring is good. Spring is light,…
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Maybe… Photo Chris Molloy: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brooklyn-bridge-new-york-944690/ The last in this series, this phrase kept popping up in my mind. It frustrated me when I was a kid. Is this a locality thing? Did kids growing up in California hear “If everyone jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge would you?” Am I in the last generation to have heard this phrase? I am suddenly very concerned about this. This week’s phrase: “If everyone jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?” Maybe I was the recipient of this line. If I was, I don’t remember. It sounds quaint now. Ridiculous even. Our whole…
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If only… This month is all about WHY you feel so weird and creepy when you see some of these “positive inspirational quotes” on social media or listen to a friend or co-worker quote it while trying to “coach” others through their stuff. This week’s quote: “The worst thing that can happen is a feeling.” I have heard this one A LOT. I’ve been told it. I’ve heard it said to friends and family. I’ve seen it all over. The whole “It’s just your thoughts. You are holding yourself back.” And my response is, “Well, yeah, maybe…” It is true…
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This is THE mountain I will die on. March 2024 Interrupting my normal schedule because we aren’t even two weeks into this and I’m miserable. Yes, it’s Spring in the Northern Hemisphere but I hate every moment of it EVERY year. It feels so disjointed and false. I write this same thing to myself EVERY year as a reminder to myself. My least favorite time of year…where my body wants it to be earlier and the clock says it is later. And the sun definitely does NOT match the number on the clock. I am NOT a fan of Daylight Savings…
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Unless you are a rose in the arctic… Our desire for one liners that can support YOU to fix everything and change your life NOW is vast and never-ending. This month I’m digging into a few I see the most. I want to show that 1) yes,they can be supportive (at times) but they can also 2) do serious damage and harm when used incorrectly. Bloom where you are planted. The visual on this statement makes it instantly understandable and recognizable. We can see and understand the limitations and rules of nature surrounding us. No study or internet research needed.…
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I’m currently reading “The History of Coined Words” by Ralph Keyes where he tells the stories about words we use today. Some were meant as jokes that then turned into fields we know today (ie. scientist). Some were meant for degradation and then used by others to empower themselves (ie. suffragette). Some were words used to explain a whole different idea that turned into worldwide phenomenons themselves (ie. paradigm). It’s freeing – we made ALL of this up and we can remake ALL of it up again. And it’s petrifying – we DO have the responsibility to make it all…
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I actually wrote most of this in November of 2022 – again, I am baffled and frustrated that it still is relevant I’m awake. I got up and meditated, did my morning routine and even read for about 20 minutes. Then connected with the world by checking email. That’s the only extent I ever really want to connect with the world. I feel so defeated regularly. I feel like everyone walking around are polar opposites. I fear that at any point, someone is going to decide they don’t like something I say. They will decide I’m a threat and are…
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Contact Lenses Audre Lorde Lacking what they want to see makes my eyes hungry and eyes can feel only pain. Once I lived behind thick walls of glass and my eyes belonged to a different ethic timidly rubbing the edges of whatever turned them on. Seeing usually was a matter of what was behind my brain. Now my eyes have become a part of me exposed quick risky and open to all the same dangers. I see much better now and my eyes hurt. I came across this poem reading “The Selected Works of Audre Lorde” Edited and with Intro…
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I have invested lots of money into coaching and leadership programs to help myself and to help other people (CAVEAT: if they should want my help.) These two words, coaching and leadership are so loaded, so diluted and so mainstream that they really don’t mean anything anymore. It’s sad that they have become shells of their former meaning. I have never really liked the word coach. I’ve had a few coaches of my own over the years. I am so grateful for them. They helped me immensely – holding me accountable, helping me think through things, and giving me resources…
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January is the perfect “excuse” to embrace contradictions – hell, it seems like we are all for it as a society. Just only in a certain way. “Start your goals NOW!” In the dead of winter, without processing anything really from last year, without resting and letting things percolate. Then beat yourself up when you crash sometime mid-January and tell yourself that YOU are the problem. “Of course I am the problem. How could it be the society and systems that give lip service to rest and balance but just use them as a way to get more productivity out…