Be Inspired

For the sensitive, empathic woman with Work to do.

I see the ways that you've pushed yourself out into the world to the point of exhaustion, I see the way that you've been cruel to yourself in the face of your own needs, I see the way that you've tried to bend your impulses and energy to the will of the world. I see how you continue to question yourself and what you know is true. 

Take a deep breath.

Do you notice how profound the stress is in your body when you send a post or share an...

I am barely settled. 

One day up, one day down, most days sideways. A transcontinental move of epic proportions from Colorado to Zambia. I'm in it. I'm in the fire, facing the challenge of overwhelming change. This missive is for me as much as it is for you. A smoke signal rising from the ashes for those of us who are walking through the fire of challenge. 

As I take one step and then the next through the fires of change, I'm reminded that there is a particular set of circumstances...

I've been thinking a lot about addiction and recovery as I've been winding down my work in preparation for our move, and feeling all the feels about all of it. Because I'm recognizing the clear signs of withdrawal from work. From WORK for crying out loud. It's been like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland -- I keep thinking I'm going to get to the bottom but I keep falling, my past rushing by, offering me greater wisdom and healing around the gift of addiction and the call to...

Let's begin with a fundamental truth. 

No one escapes the discomfort of uncertainty. That's the truth. The wisest course of action is slow down and lean towards it, peer into it's depths and soften your whole body. To welcome the waves of emotion as they crash on the shores of your being. The quickest way through (which may not be fast at all) is all the way through.

New beginnings are uncomfortable.

Knotted together with the wonder and consciousness-expanding experience is the...

4:30 am. Darkness. 

I wake up with questions. Questions I know will become prayers that pave the path of my journey. The quality of the questions, I know now, determines so much of the experience. 

I've struggled with new beginnings. 

Do I need to recite every catalyst, big and small, like it's own form of prayer, rubbing the mala beads smooth as I mutter under my breath? Is it necessary to mark the countless ways life has held out her hand and asked me to dance and I've either...

At two points in my life, I stopped drinking: first, when I was 18, sickened by my decisions and the hold that alcohol had on me. By ultimatum, I attended Alcoholics Anonymous and stayed sober for five years. My motivation was escaping the destructiveness I experienced in myself: the poor choices, the darkness, the desire to be numb. 

Sometimes, resisting something is enough. Certainly, it was enough to keep me sober for 5 years.

However, the second time I got sober I was again sickened...

"Wealth" triggers strong reactions. 

Three years ago, when I began talking about my own path, and my work, as the path of Wild Wealth - a dear friend told me that she was completely turned off by the word wealth, which I found fascinating. We had a long discussion about what wealth is, and what it is not. 

(She eventually came around to my way of thinking.)

In our society, wealth is associated primarily with financial wealth -- but the root of the word wealth is "weal" which,...

I attended a yin yoga teacher training

I did the training to celebrate completing my breathwork healer certification and because Kari Kwinn is my favorite yogini as well as a dear friend, and because I adore yin yoga - it's pretty much the only style I practice with regularity.

As Kari Kwinn says, "Yin is an intention." which to me means it's not necessarily about choosing outcomes or what it looks like, but it's about how we show up for the practice - heart and mind open, willing to listen...

"How you do one thing is how you do everything..."

This famous Zen quote is everywhere. I've heard it at least four times in the last week. I've had this phrase directed at me in coaching to highlight the pervasive nature of my faults and, I am certain I've used it in coaching sessions to the same effect. (If I used it on you in a session, I hope you'll accept my apology.)

This statement is a lie (sorry Zen lovers) 

It's a blanket statement that cannot possibly be true. I would go so far...

Dear Clara, 

This morning, I dropped you off at middle school. Your first day of 6th grade. This is a big moment - middle school is so different from elementary school. The stakes are higher, the perils and the promise are greater. I hope that your excitement and enthusiasm is met by wonderful teachers and delightful new friendships. 

I notice that when you enter a new grade, a new stage of your life, I am nearly always taken into a state of reflection on my experience at your age....