I started taking piano lessons (again) in June, but before I tell you why, let me give you some backstory. When I was nine years old, my dad retired from the Chicago Post Office and used a huge chunk of his savings to buy a Baldwin upright piano. He dreamed of playing “House of the …
Radical acceptance: accepting reality as it is, without judgment or resistance. Acceptance of all of it: not partial or conditional. I was having a conversation with a dear client yesterday who shared that he was practicing radical acceptance with a recent experience. Two hours earlier at my yoga class, someone said to another student, “I’m …
Breaking the Control Habit: Discovering Freedom in Radical Acceptance Read More »
When author Julia Cameron came out with The Artist’s Way in 2002, I had just left my job and was branching out on my own. I was a little lost and feeling pretty untethered. I gave her Morning Pages technique a try, and twenty-one days later, my entire business plan (unbeknownst to me) was laid out. Morning …
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In a recent LinkedIn post, I wrote about how anxiety and stress often come in waves, making it challenging for me to manage. I find that containing it is often necessary so I can work, but “stuffing it” ends up forming cracks and leaks that cause “flooding.” And when we flood, the nervous system is on …
Feeling a Wave of Stress? Try a Technique That Works for Me Read More »
Named one of the best books of 2022 by numerous publications, author Hernan Diaz is the author of Trust. I loved this book, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m just blown away by the creativity in the structure and expression of the story. It is a metafictional novel that reflects on the nature of storytelling itself. …
Did you know that children laugh eight times more frequently when they are with another child than when they’re watching a cartoon on their own? That’s the case even if they thought the cartoon was just as funny in both instances. One study reports that children laugh on average three hundred times a day. I’m …
Anxious or Stressed? Try What Patch Adams Knew Best. Read More »
Many of you know my love for the Chicago neighborhood where I was raised. Stoops outside our front doors were practically windows into our souls. Sharing milestones and events of the day, and simply passing the time with neighbors strengthened our connections to life and each other. My stoop was also gateway to the outdoors. …
We know through research that teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers average only three minutes. Personally, I have to lock away every electronic device at night so I don’t grab them in the morning before I even get out of bed. Here’s an excerpt that …
I had no idea that volunteering to take care of a city drain on our block would mean so much to me. Last winter, we northern Californians had record rainfalls. By January, 23 trillion more gallons of water fell on us than usual, and it was far from over. Up to this point of record …
I don’t know about you, but I regularly struggle with setting boundaries for myself. I say yes before I even think about the impact of taking on that work or responsibility. I go along to get along, even though there’s often a toll on me, and I can “silver-line” everything to stay positive and focus …
Want to Feel Better? Don’t Ignore This Life Skill. Read More »