What’s Your Question?

In the summer of 2007 I went on retreat in my garden. I was seriously in need of some reflective down time and didn’t have the opportunity then to get away. I pitched a tent, set up a chair and left everything else but a journal, water, and some snacks in the house. Three days and two nights later I returned rested, refreshed, and reinvigorated.  During that time, surrounded by the joys of nature, a question...

Look for the Synchronicity

Carl Jung defined synchronicity as “a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved.” Some call it serendipity or “mere” coincidence. In a conversation with the late Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers refers to “the hidden hands” that seem to guide us along when we are on the right path. This is how it feels to live in creative flow. Everything, absolutely...

The More Naps I Take…

“The more naps I take, the more money I make. “ – Sark One of the residual gifts of being pregnant was learning to nap. I became an aficionado of power napping in a variety of different and sometimes awkward places – under desks, behind closed doors, in cars, sitting on the floor propped up against a wall, and the always precarious – leaning on my elbows in a bathroom stall. After 20-30 minutes I was...

Are You Listening?

In over a decade of listening to and visually recording group conversations I’ve learned a lot about listening. In listening for the essence of someone’s thought, I’ve had lots of practice waiting. Waiting is key to being a good listener. Much of our communication comes with window dressing – the warm up, examples and embellishment, summation, repetition. Buried in all of that is a kernel, the heart of what...

Scathingly Brilliant Ideas

I’ve got the most scathingly brilliant idea! – Haley Mills It is natural to want reassurance especially when we are treading into new territory. The work is to look for it in the right places. Do not go to the person in your life who has always been the most critical and expect to find it there. Especially if what you want reassurance for is something that will upset their status quo. Find a person or...

Do or do not

In my twenties while I was “finding myself” in various workshops of the then burgeoning Human Potential movement, the concept of there is no such thing as trying took root in me. Think about it, you either do something or you don’t do it. You pick up the pencil or you don’t. You may not succeed at a task or a goal but once you begin, you are in the realm of action. Succeeding is not the point. Action is and...

Becoming a Tracker

The verb “to track” is defined as: to follow and note the course or progress of. I’m a big advocate of tracking so let me explain what I mean and how it works. At the base of your skull is a part of the brain called the reticular activating system (RAS). I am not a scientist so in very simplified terms, the RAS is a tracking system. It notices things. Ever wonder why when you get a new car, you suddenly see that...

Let’s get this party started!

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. – Howard Thurman No one else can tell you what makes you come alive. You are the only person in the universe with your unique set of gifts, dreams, loves and experiences. That’s why YOU are the expert on you — not your parents, not your sweetie, not your friends, not the...