The word love can be pretty charged. Every person has a lifetime of experience behind what the word love means to them. 

In some recent courses that I’ve been taking, love has really opened up for me (and I already thought I had a lot of love) so I wanted to share what’s made a difference in my life. 

For many people, the frame of reference for love is in relationships. You give love, you get love and that’s what we know. 

There’s a bigger love though, that’s completely available to anyone, regardless of how you’ve experienced love in the past. 

It’s actually the love that everything in the universe is made of. The more you can open to and receive this greater kind of love, the more you’ll be able to love yourself and, consequently, others. 

Much of this love can be experienced through nature. It’s valuable to start actively noticing how you feel in the face of some of the following types of experiences....

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

You’re probably receiving 782 Valentines-related messages today and I don’t normally craft my messages around specific days (I’m counter-culture like that) but I thought it would be weird to totally ignore it, so here’s another to add to your virtual pile. 

Seeing as how we’re celebrating love today, I thought it would be beneficial to share one of the ways I’ve built up my self-love over the years.

Although I’ve always seemed to be pretty happy from an outside perspective, for many years my inner world was very different.

There was a whole lot of critiquing going on in my mind. Judging myself was just a way of life. I was oh-so-very-hard on myself. The kicker is that I didn’t even know that I was doing it. There was no awareness and so I was really leading this dual life - happy and positive to others, mean and demanding to myself. It certainly took a lot of energy.

The worlds of personal...

The other day Paul, Oakley and I were out for a walk. I don’t know what it’s like where you live but here we’ve had warm spring-like weather followed by very cold weather, followed by warm weather and so on. What that means for the purpose of this story is that the snow fell, then thawed, then froze, then thawed and so on.

Because Paul was in the lead on this particular walk, we found ourselves bushwacking on an urban trail by the river. (He doesn’t tend to stick to any main routes.) I wasn’t prepared for bushwacking so my shoes didn’t match the very-slippery-semi-melted-somewhat-muddy steep riverbank conditions. 

Both Oakley and Paul had to hold my hands and hoist me up the treacherous path so I didn’t end up seated in puddles or sliding down the hill. Gradually we made our way to the top where there was a wonderfully clear sidewalk.

There was also a woman who must have been in her 70s at the top of the path. She had a dog and a...

Many years ago, I did most things in my life to impress other people. 

I wanted to inspire. 

I wanted to prove that I was amazing.

I wanted to matter.

Those were the days of overdoing pretty much everything. 

• Over-giving
• Over-trying
• Over-committing
• Over-efforting

It there was a way of ‘overing’ something, I did it.

I was very concerned about my image and I spent a great deal of effort and time trying to live up to this gargantuan version of myself that I’d created. Not only live up to it, really, but to exceed it. 

As you can imagine, it was exhausting. And really not sustainable.

I was very externally oriented. I would do anything for acknowledgement and recognition. When I hosted workshops and retreats in those days, I wouldn’t let myself feel successful at the end until I had read the feedback forms. If the comments were positive then - yay! - it must have been a good workshop. 

If there was even one hint of criticism (such as...

One of the most important things to do in January is to choose a theme for the year.

Why?

>It sets the tone for your whole year.

>It gives you clarity.

>It helps bring in more of what you want without having to work so hard for it.

Last year, for me, was The Year of Delight and let me tell you, I got to know delight on so many levels. It showed up every single day multiple times in ways I never would have expected.

One such way resulted in me making this video about an advent calendar I purchased. It was the weirdest advent calendar I’ve ever experienced. Have you ever wondered how weird products come to be? My little video is my imagined brainstorming meeting to create the advent calendar. 

It brought me so much joy and delight to make this vignette partly because I got to play dress up (with wigs!), partly because I got to be on camera (even though I was filming myself) and partly because it was something out of the ordinary. I hope you enjoy it too. (It made...

You might be wondering: how does one get a Christmas injury? I’m still wondering that myself. In a nutshell, I mysteriously hurt my back whilst decorating our tree. I dropped an ornament (which broke), then twisted my spine to pick it up (not in a particularly unusual way) and all of a sudden, a sharp pain shot through my lower back.

Within a few minutes, I couldn’t really walk. I tried to stretch it out, but the pain didn’t pass, so for the rest of the day, I hobbled around. This was 2 days before Christmas, so it’s not like I had nothing to do. 

I did a few things (that I’ll share later) which made it feel significantly better the next day - less hobbling, more walking. However, the second night I woke up to go to the bathroom and tweaked it again so intensely that I couldn’t stand. I sat on the edge of the bed in a full sweat because of the pain (definitely level 10 at this point). 

I crawled to the bathroom at a...

Happy New Year!

I just love a fresh start, don’t you?

I have so many things I’m excited to share with you AND, I’m taking a little holiday with my family in the gorgeous mountains of Canmore. 

I certainly want to practice what I preach, so in honour of that, this week’s message is brief. 

Whether we’ve met in person or not, I want to let you know that I deeply appreciate you and I truly wish for you the very best year yet. 

2023! May it be miraculous and filled with smiles, laugh-out-loud moments, profound connection, deepening self-love and all sorts of easeful growth and expansion (except of your waistline, I’m not wishing that for you or for me, unless that’s one of your wishes, in which case go for it!)

Oh - and I’m going to do a little experiment. Often I have resources or books or other things that have made a big difference in my life, so I’m going to include a recommendation section in the next few...

One of the many aspects of the holy days that we’re experiencing right now is gifts and so I wanted to take a little time today to ask you about the gift of your mind. Are you using it in the best way possible or is it more like an unopened or unused gift that’s just waiting to be discovered?

Consider a candle. Do you have any candles around your house that remain unused? My daughter said the other day that she wouldn't be burning a beautiful beeswax candle she has because it’s too pretty. That got me pondering…

The whole point of a candle is to bring light. It also contains the potential power of transformation (because fire transforms things from one state to another). However, if a candle just sits there collecting dust, its gifts remain untapped, no matter how pretty it might be. 

If you burn a beautiful candle, there will no doubt be another candle out there. No shortage of candles. (Obviously, that’s not a 100% guarantee, but since candles...

Happy all the things! (Solstice + Whatever else you’re celebrating at this time of long nights and winter fun.)

Here’s the kind of winter fun I’m having: yesterday my son, Oakley, and I went for a walk in the -39C/-38F but sunny day. It took about six layers including two down jackets, but we totally felt like we had accomplished something significant.

Three things for today.

Thing 1

Would you like to know how to have more fun at your holiday gatherings (or any gathering for that matter)? Click here to read my latest article for Brainz magazine. You’ll discover 3 super fun activities that will ensure more connection, harmony and love this holiday season.

Picture glowing smiles, bright sparkling eyes, laughter and palpable love. That’s what you’ll get when you uplevel your table conversation using any of these suggestions. My very best wishes are coming your way for your most meaningful holiday ever.

Thing 2

Can you really hope to...

Thank you for all your kind wishes regarding the book I told you about last week. How lovely to be connected with such exceptional people like you.

In other news, it’s time for the 2 most powerful events of the year in Courageous Self-Care Land and you’re invited. Here’s the scoop.

Event #1- 2022 Courageous Self-Care Year-End Retrospective December 27

Can you really move forward if you haven’t taken some time to consciously look back?

This will be the fourth year that I’ve done a Year End Retrospective. I can’t imagine not doing it anymore because I’ve discovered that by taking the time to sit down and review the year, you learn so much about yourself and how you showed up during the year. 

From there, you set new intentions for the upcoming year, keeping the habits that have clearly worked. Although the last few years have been *interesting, they’ve been the best of my life, and I attribute that to consciously reflecting on the...