Essence Blog

This email is long. So feel free to skip it and come back next week. 

I wrote most of it in my journal. I decided to share it because you most likely remember this, are experiencing it, will be, or know someone who is. 

Last August, we helped Ethan – our only child – move into his dorm for his first year of college. 

It's a big milestone moment for any kid, but it felt like one of the most significant in my journey as a mother. 

On the one hand, it was ...

For a while now, I’ve felt hyper-aware of the yin and yang of social media.   It’s a source of entertainment and connection, but it also houses a darker side filled with manipulation, fear-inducing content, and vitriolic exchanges. Even if we agree with the point of view being made, the dehumanization we witness in comment sections can be heartbreaking. 

Rather than avoiding it altogether (although breaks are really good), I developed a little practice I use for social...

July marks the mid-way point of the year!

As an education major, I trained in how assessment and review are key pieces of the learning process. It’s how we determine progress (or lack thereof), what needs attention, and if objectives are met and on track.

In my own life, I do reviews and reflection rituals. I’ve shared them with clients to do in your personal life, for your work, and especially for your business if you are an entrepreneur. 

The following review process can be...

I was going to write you a love letter, but it became a letter of longing. 

I long for time to slow down. I’m not ready for it to be the halfway point of 2023. 

I long for connection and conversation that feels meaningful + warm, + uplifting, even if the topics are heavy and emotional. 

I long for a break from the bad news of corruption, hate, dysfunction, and destruction that comes at us from all sides.  I long for a respite from the heartbreak of the comment...

Did you know that, on average, each day, you generate 50,000 words in your private thoughts? 

That's equivalent to a short book or roughly 100 pages.

It's fascinating to think that your brain is constantly writing a book of thoughts (which could become beliefs)  regardless of whether you're aware of it. This is why I work intentionally with my thoughts. Once I realized how much we "speak to ourselves," it prompted an important question. What genre is your thought book? 

...

Hey everyone, I was invited to have a conversation with Coach Michael Taylor on his new podcast  Not Okay with Gray which is about empowering men and women to change their mindsets and attitudes about aging so they can make the rest of their lives, the best of their lives.   

We discussed female empowerment, my journey, and some of the work I do.  

Check out my episode or his other episodes you can listen on Apple or Spotify or the video...

Did you see the Oscars this year? I was in NYC, and after seeing Little Shop of Horrors, my family returned to our hotel room and turned on the TV immediately, hoping to catch the end of the Oscars. 

And that's when we watched Michelle Yeoh's historic win for Best Actress. Of course, seeing someone achieve a dream they worked so hard for always makes me emotional, but this was bigger than that. My eyes filled with tears. 

In 95 years of awards given by the Academy, only two women of...

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....

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...

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...