• How Well Do You Receive Compliments?

    American author Mark Twain once said, “I can live two months on a good compliment.” How about you? What does a good compliment do for you? For many women, accepting compliments is a difficult thing. It feels uncomfortable, so we brush them off. But what if we started accepting them – and feeling gratitude for them? Can you imagine what it would do for our self-esteem and our sense of appreciation? Beginning now, make a pledge to yourself. Pay attention to what other people are noticing about you – and how they’re bringing it to your attention. Instead of playing down a compliment, look the person in the eye, smile, and say, “Thank you.” Then document it in your journal. Every time someone gives you a…

  • The Power of Your Creative Ripple

    One of my biggest spiritual teachers was my mother. The unfortunate thing is – she never knew it. And truthfully, neither did I – until she transitioned from the human realm to the spiritual realm. It was this transition that magnified the power of my own teachings about life purpose legacy, helping solidify that everything does happen for a reason. As her daughter, I was able to see how her life story affected my own. As a Life Purpose Alchemist, I’m a lover of story. I genuinely love hearing people tell their life stories. Through their words, through their laughter, through their tears – I hear threads of meaning, threads of purpose. And I have a divinely-creative gift for weaving these threads together in a…

  • The Gift of the Waxing Crescent: Who Are You, Really?

    On a recent winter evening walk, I couldn’t help but take in the beauty of our lunar goddess as she began to make her way out of darkness and into her first sliver of light. It was a glorious sight! It was just enough light to see the definition of the moon in the night sky, bringing her out of complete darkness – but not quite enough light for the waxing crescent phase. It reminded me of those many times in my life, when I would peek my head out of that place of “not knowing” into the light of possibility. Getting a glimpse of the light, both inner and outer, always stirred an excitement within me. This is the beauty of the waxing crescent moon phase – a peek at what’s…

  • Managing the Ebb and Flow of Life

    American writer and mystic, Thomas Merton once said, “We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”  This speaks to the ebb and flow of life. Humans aren’t machines. We don’t have a constant source of power from which we draw upon – to perform complicated functions all the time without breaks. Rather, our power supplies (our energy and emotional levels) dip and rise with each hour of the day – and even wax and wane on a much larger level. We either find ourselves in periods of great motivation and energy – or in periods where we just want…

  • What Masks Are You Wearing?

    As we approach one of my favorite times of the year, Halloween – I’m reminded of all the costumes and masks people wear to celebrate this festive occasion. It triggered my thinking this week about the many masks we have all worn in our lives – and may still be wearing. How many of these masks serve as an authentic expression of who we are? And how many of these masks are a cover-up for drowning out our own inner voices? Have you ever stopped to think about the many labels that you wear in life – maybe you’re a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a teacher, a loyal employee, a neighbor – and the different masks that are required to show up in these roles?…