• The Lessons and Possibilities of Early Spring

    Spring in New England can test a gardener. She begins her slow unfolding on March 20 and proceeds at a slow pace. Spring will not rush, no matter how much we’d like her to. Be patient, she whispers. It will all happen in due time. Patience has never been my thing, but I have learned to accept the futility of picking a fight with nature. April tends to be the month of slow marching through warmer days, cool nights, frosty mornings, and unpredictable weather. The daffodils, slightly confused by this year’s erratic temperatures, have been attempting to bloom for a while now. The landscape is still bare, but there are swelling…

  • How to Navigate This Season of Change and Possibilities

    There is a vast difference between willingness and willfulness. Most often willfulness is based on fear. We try to make the world the way we want it by forcing solutions. Compensating for the uncertainty inside us, we become motivated by power instead of participation. Then we find struggles instead of solutions because force is often met with resistance. We stay emotionally hungry yet cannot be fed. We ask for more and more and receive less. Willingness, on the other hand, allows life to show us the way. Gunilla Norris from Becoming Bread It is late October, and the glorious rituals of Fall are in full display. Living in New England means…

  • Your New Beginnings and How to Take That First Step

    The seasons of a year. The return of spring.The heart grows glad when it can leaf out,when light and shadow are known to belong toone another. – Gunilla Norris We are constantly in a state of reinvention, and never is that more apparent than at the onset of spring. Every day, as we look out our window and step out our front door, we are reminded that a new beginning is already underfoot. I was talking to a friend recently who mentioned how much she loves waking up early in the morning, so she can stand in front of her window to watch the sunrise. Each morning the sun rises, marking…

  • Homecoming

    I drove through town today, a drive that I have probably done thousands of times in the last 27 years, in all kinds of weather. Today’s ride was beautiful, with trees putting on a spectacular and colorful show. New England knows how to dress for fall, no doubt. I drove slowly, leisurely, taking in the colors against the grey autumn sky. As I looked at various buildings and corners of our small town, I found myself going down memory lane. A lot has changed in the last 27 years. Places that I used to love and frequent, alone and with the girls when they were growing up, are not here anymore.…

  • 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…

  • Sacred Space

    Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again. Joseph Campbell Lately, I’ve been waking up even earlier than usual. Fall has already made its entrance, and I find that I need more quiet, alone time with myself. It’s dark outside when I make my way downstairs. The light arrives faintly around 6 am. Nature comes alive when we’re going to sleep, and the animals wrap up their activity as the morning light announces itself. The coyotes are having a howling convention in the late evening hours. As I tiptoe around my kitchen in the early morning hours, I catch glimpses of activity I wouldn’t have noticed…

  • The New Normal

    This morning I asked the girls … “Hey girls, what do you think I should write about today?” Elinor turned to me and said, “Write about normalcy. I keep thinking that when I go back to New York, life will not be the way it was before I left. I used to walk to work every morning and I’d see familiar faces, the same young people walking to work too. Some of us will not have jobs by the time we get back and how is that going to play out? And, what about some of my favorite places? Will they survive? How is the new normal going to be? I…

  • Here. Now.

    Today is the first day of Spring. Only this day of new beginnings is like no other that I remember. We are in the middle of a global epidemic. The world is taken over by a crisis and we’re all trying to muddle through a situation we hardly understand. There’s fear, anxiety, panic, and information overload. There’s also denial and indifference. Supermarket shelves are empty and human nature is laid bare for all to see. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was in a store yesterday staring at empty shelves when a young employee came to see if I could find what I needed. No, I said, the…

  • 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…

  • Warning! Unknown Territory Ahead!

    My twin daughters are high school juniors. Our family of four is dancing — or should I say spinning — to the tune of change these days. Not that change is new to us. These girls have been changing our lives since before they took their first breath and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The day I had my first ultrasound the doctor pointed to the screen and said, “Here’s one head and . . . there’s the second. Congratulations! You’re having twins!”  Neal jumped up. He couldn’t contain his excitement. He was over the moon. If he had any cigars on him, he would have passed them around. …

  • Dare to Dream: Endings and New Beginnings

    There is a stream that cuts across our backyard. Yesterday, it seemed completely frozen. When I looked closer I realized that, right under the ice, there was this faint vein of water moving. There is life at the bottom of this stream. There are frogs, fish, and all kinds of creatures snug in the mud, waiting and preparing for the thaw. Spring is coming and when the temperatures are right and the environment hospitable, they’ll find their way to the surface and they’ll begin yet another cycle. We too are creatures of nature. We live our lives in cycles; endings and new beginnings and everything in between. Every cycle has its…

  • Photo by Nathan Fertig on Unsplash

    Spring Forward

    On Wednesday, March 20 at 7:09 am EST, Spring, the season of rebirth, made her entrance! There’s still snow on the ground but it’s melting fast. The weather report is warning us of yet another snowstorm coming Monday. It works like this, as one season gives way to the next; two steps forward, one step backward… dancing the tango and so we go round the seasons. Saturday morning, I made my usual rounds to the recycling center, post office, and driving the girls to their various activities. It was windy, at times cloudy, then sunny. The sky was a brilliant blue. There were even snowflakes falling, dancing their way down. When…