• The Season for Clearing and Making Room for Growth

    Happy February, I hope the new month unfolds in ways that support and inspire you as you move forward, creating your vision for the new year. This time of the year usually moves slowly for me. It is winter, after all, a time to slow down and linger, reflect, ask questions, and gain clarity before moving forward with what the new year asks of me. There are loss anniversaries to cope with, but there are also new beginnings to honor and celebrate. February is a landmark month for me. I was born in February. Thirty-nine years ago, I left Greece to move to the US, and in a few weeks, Neal…

  • Powering Through

    We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of the beginning of quarantine. A year! A challenging and emotional march through four seasons. How have we changed and what have we learned? Where do we go from here? Although we may be sensing the light at the end of this dark tunnel we’ve been walking through, there’s not much clarity as to how or even when this unexpected journey will end. This time of the year lends itself to being inside, reflecting, seeing, evaluating where we are and where we want to be. Given all that has happened this last year, many of us feel anxious about the future. We’re hoping for positive change…

  • Endings & New Beginnings

    January 2021 began with a bang and an intensity that rocked us. We had hoped for a deep breath of fresh air and a new beginning. We knew that things were not going to change overnight. They didn’t. Instead, January 6th happened. The images, intensity, and sheer scope of the day’s events jolted me and activated memories, emotions, and past experiences that I thought were behind me. If you too experienced an avalanche of emotions or strong memories, please remember it’s normal. Research has shown that traumatic events can trigger this kind of response. Take good care and be extra patient with yourselves. I was grateful when on January 11th, a…

  • In-Between

    Hello everyone, I hope this finds you healthy and warm. December 21st marks the darkest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and it comes on the heels of our first major snowstorm. People around the world celebrate Winter Solstice and the beginning of winter by bringing the light inside. We gather around the fire, decorate with fairy lights and candles, and participate in various rituals and ceremonies which remind us that, after a long journey through darkness, the light always returns. 2020 has been a year of immense change, widespread suffering, and, frankly, madness. We’re all being tested as we’re trying to navigate the turbulent waters of the pandemic…

  • On Strength, Health, and Sanity

    The day after Paying Attention was published, I received a thoughtful email from a friend and faithful reader of my posts. She usually writes back to let me know what the post meant to her, asks me questions, and at times challenges me to go deeper. These email conversations have become our little ritual, and I love it. After I posted Paying Attention, I sat with what I had written. I felt that the post was incomplete. There was more to say about how each of us is handling the tremendous stress and pressure we’re experiencing. There’s nothing straightforward about our current, collective experience. When I received my friend’s reply to…

  • Breathing Through the Storm

    Only a few months ago, our family entered yet another phase of endings and new beginnings. Our twin daughters, having graduated college, found jobs, moved out of the family home, and launched their new lives in earnest. Three weeks ago, both of them, having being asked to work from home, made the trip back to the family homestead to weather the storm. Suitcases are lying around and a dining table covered in laptops and paperwork. One of them begins the day with an early video conference call, at the end of which she’s joined at the table by her sister, who also begins to work. Neal too is working from home,…

  • Working From Home

    I don’t know about working from home, she said. I don’t know if I can be as productive. It’s going to be an adjustment. We spoke the day she found out that her office would be closing for two weeks, because of the coronavirus epidemic, and she would have to work from home. Hearing her apprehension made me realize how challenging it must be to start working from home, not because of choice, but because you have to. Not only that, but you’re asked to work from home because of an epidemic, during a time of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty. When I decided to leave corporate, launch my coaching practice, and…

  • Full Speed Ahead? Not So Fast.

    I do love the change of seasons. I even enjoy winter; given a warm coat, a bowl of hot soup, time by the fireplace, and not having to drive on icy roads, that is. There’s a reason the Seasons of Change model is the foundation of my coaching practice. Not only is there infinite beauty in each season but they also provide us with the metaphors that can serve as guidance for navigating life’s ups and downs. Two days ago, I found three ants crawling around my kitchen. “Look,” I called out, “spring is coming!” Neal looked at me and said, “As you wish.” Of course he’d say that but I…

  • You Got Rhythm

    My mother loved to dance. She taught me how to listen to and feel the rhythm of the music. “You can’t dance if you don’t have rhythm,” she used to say. She taught me the waltz and the tango and some folk dances. The Flamenco from Spain, the Kalinka and the Cossack from Russia, the Tarantella from Italy, and of course several Greek regional dances.  Music and dancing were a big part of my childhood and the main form of entertainment duringfamily gatherings, national holidays, seasonal celebrations, and informal gatherings.  Folk music and dancing are deeply rooted in the collective experience of the people in world regions. They tell a story…