Essence Blog

Stress, overwhelm, self-doubt, and loneliness will show up unexpectedly in our lives. Sometimes they stay overnight. Sometimes they move in for a while.  

When we get into the weeds we can’t always see ourselves clearly. Our wisdom feels less accessible as our feet sink into the quicksand. Sometimes we go into auto-pilot letting the busyness swallow up whole chunks of time leaving us feeling depleted. Sometimes we shrink down and isolate- out of protection, inadequacy, or a...

As many of you know, I have a special knack for planning and organization. This year, I got a jump start on creating my own 2022 planner.  I get a lot of questions about planning and I love helping clients and friends come up with a system that works for them because that’s what it’s all about. 

With Black Friday sales happening and longer shipping times, now is a great time to pick out a planner for next year. There are so many options out there!  

I created a...

When kids head off to school with new backpacks and new hopes for a new year- so do I. Maybe it’s because of my first career as a teacher or maybe because I love a blank notebook and the feel of new pens. Fall feels like a new start. Even when the weather in Florida is still 90 degrees, and the world feels uncertain, Fall holds the promise of hope. 

With a new schedule comes the desire to get back into routines, prioritize, and plan. One of my fall rituals, besides putting cinnamon...

Do you know that draining feeling of being stuck because you can’t make a final decision on something? You keep ping-ponging back and forth between two choices or you agonize over the research or the details?  It’s this classic overthinking which leads to limbo. It’s what I call the Wishy-Washy Gremlin.

Recently,   I’ve been wishy-washy over picking two much-needed appliances because I got overwhelmed and worried about making the wrong decision....

You might be hearing the phrase  “spring is in the air”. 

Are you nodding your head yes with anticipation, or looking the other way? 

How about we make both totally ok, shall we?  

You might be a person who is feeling the sense of hope and renewal and initiation that embodies the energy of spring. It might feel extra this year given how the world shut down just as we entered spring in 2020. Metaphorically some of us have been in a year-long winter and are...

It was a late Sunday afternoon approaching the edge of evening, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, and the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees. It was the kind of afternoon that reminds me why I live in Florida. It felt too beautiful to stay inside, so my family hopped on our bikes. 

We took the back roads through one of my favorite streets lined with big oak trees and spectacular houses with a jaw-dropping water view overlooking a gorgeous lake. The water...

If you'd rather hear my voice tell you this story instead of reading it, click here.

 Many people I know are ready for 2020 to be over. I get it. 

Last year when I sat down to write to you about my annual reflection ritual, it felt really hard. 

I wasn’t sure I could even bring myself to do my own ritual, let alone write something compelling about why you should join me. 

A lot happened in 2019 that felt devastating. I went through some major losses, and a few...

Throughout my decade of coaching and leading women, I have come to believe in the transformation of giving ourselves grace and forgiveness as a way to really care for our physical and emotional well-being.

Forgiving yourself is difficult especially if it was never modeled. How could you ever be “enough” if you were conditioned to carry around your guilt like a badge of honor designed to keep you “humble”?

As a human be-ing, you will make mistakes and poor choices, act...

Today is the Autumn Equinox here in the Northern hemisphere. 

Seems strange to imagine that this is a day of equilibrium between the light of day and the darkness of night. Strange to think of the concept of balance when all the imbalances and inequalities of the world are on full display. 

And yet here we are. September 22nd, 2020. 

“Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance, and there is only the dance”- T.S. Elliot 

Today marks the still...

Originally posted May 2020 

It’s been almost exactly two months since things shifted in the world, and so I continue to ask myself, what is shifting within me? Here are a few things I’ve noticed. 

• 50 Shades of Gray has made a comeback. Turns out it’s my actual hair color.

 

• Telling yourself, you’ll shower after you exercise later can result in days when you don’t shower or exercise. 

 

• The “home edition” of my meals...