Lately I’ve been thinking about curiosity and its usefulness as a life skill. I must confess I’ve always been a naturally nosey and curious type of person. Google dictionary tells me curiosity is “1. A strong desire to know or learn something, a spirit of inquiry, inquisitiveness. 2. a strange or unusual object or fact.” I’ve…
Did you ever have something inside of you that you were bursting to say? Only to be told not to be so loud, or so boastful, or so full of yourself? When I was a young girl singing in the school choir, a teacher told me to just mouth the words, not to sing them…
As Mother’s Day approaches, I’ve been thinking about the joy and pain of motherhood. I’m speaking from the perspective of a woman in her early sixties and about my role as a mother and as a daughter. This past year has been one of joy and pain on both fronts. There has been a surprising…
Don’t you love the feeling of being in the flow? When I’m in the flow, ideas for writing and rug design coming easily, I’m able to make decisions in life and business and I feel active and engaged in my life. It feels like being inspired. I was asked recently how do I get inspired?…
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” Rosalia de Castro It is in the space of not knowing that our creativity is released. All we need to do is to hold space for ourselves to allow that opening. The…
Do you ever think you’ve got it all together and then suddenly you don’t? What helps you to keep moving forward? I recently had an experience that stopped me in my tracks and gave me pause to think. As you may know, I’ve been doing my self-care work for the past two years. I was…
What do you need right now? What do you need to feel well, to be well, to take care of yourself? What is the one, simple, next step you need to take? Not feeling well on a physical, emotional or mental level can be overwhelming and it can be difficult to know how to move…
I’m not a Chakra colour expert. I was introduced to the idea of using the Chakra colours for well being by Louise Gale. Louise has an online class called Chakra Colour Art Journal. I took Louise’s class the summer I was waiting for my diagnosis of breast cancer. I had rented a cottage by the…
How hard would it be for you to write yourself a love letter, a note of encouragement? I was surprised recently in my writing class. Several of the participants struggled with this Invitation to Create from my latest book One Loop at a Time, The Creativity Workbook. “If you were writing yourself a love letter,…
Sometimes we reach a point of not knowing how to get moving. Maybe we are in a spot of overwhelm, with too much coming at us. Maybe we are at a crossroads. Maybe we have been moving along freely and something happens that knocks the wind out of our sails. Maybe you can relate. Feeling…
January is a time of self reflection, a time of new beginnings. It is a time that I like to review and repurpose my self care goals for the coming year. The holidays are over and I’ve worked hard to choose meaningful gifts for friends and family, to cook delicious and interesting meals and to…
Don’t you love it when you find a phrase or a piece of advice that totally resonates with where you are at the moment? To me that is a light bulb moment, where my heart gives a little leap and my mind says yes! I received a mantra from a very special person in my…
How do you find joy when the going is not easy? Why is it important to lean into joy, especially during difficult times? Recently I’ve had the opportunity to practice looking for joy when the world feels heavy. My first introduction to the idea of embracing moments of joy, even when times are tough was from…
Do you struggle to get everything done in a day, to find time for yourself? How do you cut through the overwhelm? We all know self care is important, but how do you wade through the to-dos and make the time you need to re-charge? It can be simple – really. As I enter the…
Do you have a dream you’ve been waiting for? Thirty-nine years ago as a younger woman I visited Saltspring Island with a dream of becoming an artist and a writer. I travelled the Gulf Islands, walked the beaches and sketched and wrote to my heart’s content. I returned to my home in Ontario and life (graduate…