April DeConick is an award-winning textile artist and professor of the study of religion at Rice University (Houston, Texas). After decades of writing about mysticism and gnosticism, she has found that words often are inadequate to communicate the deepest aspects of reality. She has turned to art to communicate what cannot be said in words,…
Jennifer Gillivan is a delight. In this wide-ranging and truly insightful conversation, Jennifer shares her perspective on midlife and beyond women (we are just getting started), her passion for improving the health of women through better, unbiased research, how to be a renegade and more. Her advice to midlife women and beyond? “This is our…
Many women during menopause observe a renewed interest in having a creative process. I was speaking with Dr. Jenn Salib Huber (also known as the Menopause Nutritionist) recently who said “It’s something that I really noticed through my transition was this renewed interest need, craving, for creativity. At first I was attributing it to the…
Stephanie didn’t think she was a Renegade initially, but when it comes to speaking out and going for what you want and know is right, she fits the bill. She tells the story of her harrowing escape with her family from Laos at the age of four and her career as a specialist in Asian…
You may not recognize her face or her name, but when you hear the voice of my next guest, chances are you will say, “Oh yes! I recognize her voice. I love her!” In this sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant conversation Martha Chaves shares how she singlehandedly de-colonized the Canadian stand-up comedy community, her experiences of…
In this episode, Lisa LaFlamme shares tips on how to connect with your inner wild woman, tells us what kind of a kid she was in grade two, reveals several super exciting projects she has on the go AND admits she has always been a maverick! Lisa is drinking Fair Trade Coffee from Kenya in…
In my last blog post, I wrote about how to get started in discovering your next steps. The first step was figuring out what makes your heart sing. Listening to your heart takes practice and it requires some down time. Even if your life feels too busy to take some quiet time, try these suggestions…
I was sitting beside a woman recently who said “I don’t know what I should be doing. I’m 50 and my efforts to do x and y have been unsuccessful. I don’t know where to begin to figure out what’s next.” I told her “that’s exactly what I do! I help people figure out how…
I am not lost. I’m exactly where I need to be, where I’m supposed to be right now. Sometimes when we are in transition (just left a job, a relationship, moved homes, are recovering from illness) we can feel a bit lost. Not sure about our future direction(s). It can be hard to remember that…
Whether it’s because it’s halfway through the summer, or there have been too many heavy things happening in your community, or you just need a break, this blog post is dedicated to the play Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s a time to be silly, playful and fanciful. Time to bust out your wildest dreams with a…
Due to a situation with a neighbour that is outside my control, recently I have found myself ‘walking on eggshells’. Perhaps you know the feeling. It is staying small and quiet so as not to be noticed by someone who is unpredictable. It is waiting for the shoe to drop, or staying tense and guarded…
We have the answers within. Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my journal in response to the writing prompt ‘Hello Wise Woman…’. Hello Wise Woman… Thank you for being there, for guiding me. For being that quiet inner voice that cheers me on. You are like an old friend. Someone who listens and guides without…
What is receptive, feminine energy and how do I cultivate it? My natural modus operandi is to step up, reach out for opportunities, and work hard to make things happen. Does this resonate with you? Recently I’ve been more tired than usual. I’m finding it more difficult to pivot when negative thoughts or emotions intrude….
This collective heartbreak is real. Even if we are not directly affected, if our community is dealing with a wildfire, the residual effects of a pandemic and a mass shooting, or all three, we are all feeling stress, uncertainty and a sense of helplessness. It can be difficult to concentrate, we can have trouble sleeping….
In a recent corporate creative journaling workshop I delivered to two groups I had a strange experience. When we got to the creative writing/sketching prompt about resilience each group had a different reaction to this word. One group dove into the exercise (which was to describe a person whose resilience you admire). The other group…