How To Stay Sturdy During Stressful Times

Lately, amidst stressful collective times, I’ve experienced what feels like a particularly modern form of cognitive dissonance - and I know I'm not alone.

Let me try and convey a snapshot of how it's been for me recently:

My seven-year-old daughter hands me flowers - ahhh, and now she's got pinkeye (again!). My family celebrated me on Mother's Day so sweetly, and yesterday I breathed in the scent of budding lilacs and contentedly tended my raspberry plot. I'm excited about creating a group coaching program for the fall. I exchange voice audio messages with dear friends, intimate heart-to-hearts threaded into our busy lives. We need eye drops and antihistamines, I've got laundry to fold... and always, 'what's for dinner?'

Yet, woven through minutia and mundanity, I scroll through Instagram or tune into the news and witness suffering in our world that feels so horrific that I'm gutted.

When We Tend To Our Lives, They Bloom

Imagine a garden lovingly tended by a skilled gardener. Each plant, each flower, each tree, nurtured with intention and attention to detail. This garden thrives, not by chance, but through the deliberate efforts of its caretaker. But what makes for a truly beautiful garden - and what makes for a beautiful life?

Endings are hard and we often resist them.

Autumn’s energies of maturation and dying can teach us embrace them with care and reverence - and to reveal their generative power…

Conflict is such rich terrain for growth and for expanding our resources of self-trust, self-belief, self-worth and self-acceptance.

Conflict often brings up core psychological risks, including judgment, criticism, rejection, and loss.

No matter how 'modern' our times, we are social primates that experience security in attachment and belonging. Conflict often feels threatening…

My kids recently missed two weeks of school due to mild but relentless illness, and we were in a slog of clinic calls, tracking fevers and medicine doses, cuddling, shuffling work schedules: doing what we needed to do to manage a tough stretch!

I know that many people are overwhelmed these days, and I want to offer sustaining resources and tips for restoration if you're feeling depleted at the moment…