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How to Set a Clear Intention During Times of Seasonal and Personal Change
Early spring is messy, isn’t it? Most trees are still bare. It tends to rain a lot, the ground is muddy and soft, and although the temperatures are warming up, it is still cold enough to require coats and heavy sweaters. Patches of green moss are coming alive, and the daffodils are blooming, but the yard and the flower beds look messy and beat up. This transition period between endings and new beginnings almost always feels messy and uncertain. Every time we catch a glimpse of what is next, the clouds move over the sun, the wind picks up, and we turn back inside for safety and warmth. The first day…
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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…
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How to Navigate the Flow of Change Mindfully
Our culture moves fast and is outwardly focused. We are driven by our goals and our to-do lists. Sometimes it feels as if we can’t see the forest for the trees. We tell ourselves that we will rest when we complete what we have set out to do. Of course, not everything goes smoothly, no matter how diligent, disciplined, or organized we are. Things can turn out differently than expected, and life takes us on detours. When this happens, what matters is how we manage ourselves. For example, you may be well into your new beginnings. You waited a long time to change a few things and step onto a new…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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. …
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Off To College Already? How’s That Possible?
Five airports, three hotels, thousands of miles, two-car rentals, five college tours later, we got back home at 1 am on Saturday. I was tired and sleepwalked through the day. Neal and I went to New Haven to return the rental car and took the opportunity to go and sit at our favorite Mexican restaurant. There were margueritas involved. We needed this downtime but, of course, we still got to talking about . . . well, the girls and colleges. The thing about having twins is that there’s no dress rehearsal. For those of you who have heard me say this before, I apologize for being repetitive. You see, they do…
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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…
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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…
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Winds of Change – On Pillows and Such
I noticed her as I walked by. She must have been in her late seventies. She was being helped by a young woman and they were discussing pillows. She was trying to choose new ones for her couch. I soon found what I wanted and headed to another part of the store, then to the register to check out. The older woman was already there, completing her purchase of two pillows. As she was getting ready to leave, she turned to me and the young woman at the register and said . . . “I needed some color – a change. I’ve lived in the same living room for as long…
