Do you try really hard but don’t get the results you would expect for all the effort you’re putting in?

Would you say you’re a good student of life but you’re kind of (secretly) disappointed in how the Universe shows up for you?

Are you on a spiritual path but it just seems to be going reeeaallllly sloooooowwwwwllly?

That’s definitely where I was a few years ago. Pre-pandemic, really. I was doing all the things I’d been taught to do (meditation, gratitude, yoga, breathwork, journaling, etc) and yet it felt like A LOT of effort for kind of mediocre results.

Then we went into isolation and it was a huge gift because all of a sudden, I had time to do a course I’d been gifted called The Energy Codes, with Dr Sue Morter. It had sat in the ethers for many months but with us not going anywhere, Presto! - I made it happen.

And I fell in love. It felt like I had finally come home. Like everything I’d done up to that point had led me to that...

Occasionally, I like to share products that I adore and I’ve been chomping at the bit to tell you about this one. 

My good friend, Adrienne Furrie, has created what I believe to be the best lip balm ever. 

Here’s why:

First of all - the girth!

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced a girthy lip balm tube, but I’m telling you, once you’ve gone big, it’s impossible to go back to those spindly little ones. 

There’s just something about a nice thick lip balm coating your smackers that is super satisfying. 

First of all (I know this is the second point, but it’s equally as important as the previous one, so it still gets number one status) - it’s organic!

Our home is pretty much chemical-free. We don’t use any cleaners or skin care products that are harmful to our bodies or the earth and so I’m extremely thrilled that this wonderful lip balm fits the bill. 

Next win - the packaging is...

Well, we’re all done with the bugs, and may I never have another bug story to tell you. Here’s what I want to share with you today.

A few weeks ago, I was coaching a client and I noticed something significant. I like to start my sessions with hearing wins and miracles. As my client shared her wins, I noticed she was doing something interesting, and so I offered an observation.

“Did you know that after each win, you downplayed it?” I asked. 

“I didn’t! What did I even say?” she wondered.

“When you shared that you got a tax return, you said that it was small. When you told me that you cleared out some boxes, you minimized it by saying there were still so many more to unpack,” I reflected back to her. 

She decided to share her wins again. “I got a tax return! I cleared out some boxes!”

The feeling between the two experiences was monumentally different for both of us.

So now I turn it to you. Do things that you...

Once upon a time, in the days of yore (aka before Paul and I had kids) we backpacked through Europe for 4 months. Although we almost abandoned the trip on Day 1 due to a series of unexpected novice traveler issues, things got better from there.

Several months later, we found ourselves in Turkey. We were really getting the hang of backpacking, going with the flow, and pantomiming (since one can only pick up so much Turkish in a few weeks). 

On my birthday, we arrived in a town called Kaş. The only thing I wanted for a gift was Qtips and somehow, Paul found them. Best birthday present ever! Once we had found a place to stay, we set out exploring. 

Here are a few memorable moments from that day. (If you want to get right to the bugs skip down a few paragraphs.)

We discovered what cats in a fight sound like. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard feral cats yelling at each other, but we were pretty sure someone was dying until we happened upon what could only...

The Bug Series is back! I’m thinking there are two more “episodes” of note to share with you. Today I’ll be exploring with you the self-care lessons I learned from some very tiny little fly-type-things.

If you recall the Mothssacre from a few weeks ago, you could imagine that we were pretty happy to be bug-free in our new home. Sadly, it lasted a very short while.

In our condo, we have a downstairs entrance, bedroom and bathroom and then there are two upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms along with the living space. Our unit is on the first floor above the garage. This seemingly random information will become important in a few paragraphs.

As we celebrated the eradication of the moths, we started to notice little flies in our downstairs bathroom. Harumph. At first, they seemed innocuous, but gradually, just like the moths, they started to multiply. Out came the vacuum. Thank goodness I was a pro at wielding that bug-sucker.

I soon noticed that these flies were...

Here ye! Here ye! We interrupt the highly entertaining Bug Series (yep, there’s still more bug stories to come) to announce an upcoming event.

I’m hosting a complimentary community call on Sunday April 3rd temptingly titled (insert suspenseful music) The 1/4 Year Review.

If you feel like: 

• you’re always on the go 
• that your life is very busy and stressful
• there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day 
• you kind of have that ‘wind-blown look’ 

… then this call will help you get a handle on things.

One of the key teachings in Courageous Self-Care is to create a better relationship with time, and one way to do that is to look to the past with gratitude (rather than regret and doubt) and towards the future with anticipation and excitement (rather than fear and worry).

During this 90 minute workshop-style call, you’ll get practical experience in honouring what has already happened so far this year, and then...

When I considered this next bug story, there was a part of me that really didn’t want to tell you about it. Why? Because a few weeks ago, I shared about how much I value life and didn’t want to kill the bee that got stuck in my house. Today’s story involves killing bugs, and I didn’t want to tarnish my reputation as a non-insect-killer, but that wouldn't be the whole truth and so here we go; vulnerability, confessions and all. 

Sometime in 2021, in the place we lived before we moved last June, we started to notice moths on the ceiling. They were few in number (at first) and so we just kind of co-existed with them. They were mostly in our little storage/laundry room and so all was well.

Within a few weeks, they started to multiply (as bugs do). They also began to emerge into the rest of our condo, onto the kitchen and living room ceilings. Hoping the problem would resolve itself through blatant ignoring, that’s what I did. Sadly, it didn’t...

Welcome to the fourth week of my musings on the unexpected self-care lessons I’ve learned from bugs. Who knew there was so much to say? I guess the little critters have influenced my life in more ways than I would have thought. They can still keep their distance, but I must admit to feeling quite grateful for all their (inadvertent?) teachings. 

Today I would love to tell you about the rockslide and the fly. This is probably my most tender bug story.

A couple of summers ago, Paul, Zoe, Oakley and I went on a backpacking trip. We’re talking the kind of backpacking where you carry all your food, shelter, clothes and paraphernalia on your very own back. The way we go about these trips works very well for me. Paul does all the planning and preparation and I show up for the adventure. 

On this particular expedition, we had to hike in for several hours to get to the backcountry campground somewhere in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. It started out as a lovely day....

Welcome to the third instalment of the Bug Series where I’m answering the age-old question: 'What do bugs and self-care have to do with each other?' I suspect it’s been burning in your soul for decades, and now, finally, there are answers. You’re welcome.

Today’s story is about your favourite pest and mine: the mosquito.

Before we had kids, Paul and I cycled in France for 5 weeks with my parents. Ooh la la, it was magnifique! We had many memorable experiences such as discovering that wine bottles fit in the water bottle holders on our bikes, that the French love cyclists and that even the tiniest French villages have poignant war memorials. Plus: fresh croissants every day!

Another memorable experience (but not because it was wonderful) was the night we stayed in an old French farmhouse. It was the opposite of wonderful, which fortunately made it hilarious in retrospect. 

Here’s what happened. The summer we were there broke many records due to a...

You may not think that bugs and self-care really go together (and I kind of wish they didn’t) but I’ve had some profound lessons from those little guys and so here’s part 2 in the series. (If you missed The Ant and the Shower and your curiosity is piqued, you can find that here.)

Today we’re moving on from ants to bees. Specifically one bee that had a big impact on me. 

A couple of homes ago (I love to move), we had a kitchen with a big old window in it. I hadn’t paid it much attention until the day I heard a low and loud drone in the house. A thumb bee had found its way in (I don’t know the real name for that kind of bee, but we call them thumb bees because they’re as big as your thumb… almost.)

Dismayed to be home alone with a bee in the house, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to call on my kids or husband to remove said bee. My daughter, Zoe, actually likes bees; she even pets them and they seem to like it....