A Life in Progress | Pursuing a life of purpose, health, and JOY

To a Parent Who Has Lost Their Child to Suicide: In the First Year

Sep 19, 2020 Leave a Comment

It seemed as if you turned toward/somewhere else, away from all/our help, so that we are left to/ask for your help now, not in answers/but in asking all the difficult/and beautiful questions your life/bequeathed. —David Whyte 10 months ago, I lost one of my favourite people. A kindred spirit (though he’d roll his eyes at that). At 23, my son Jairus had his own best friends, but he was one of mine. He made my life better, more interesting, funnier. Harder. I loved spending time with him, and he helped […]

The Curious Ways that Constraints Unlock Creativity

Sep 13, 2020 4 Comments

Inside: Choosing to get curious when faced with limitations allows us to shift away from judgment into joyful possibility. This post contains referral links. Have you ever experienced the serendipity of how an unexpected lesson from a book or movie in exactly the right moment leads to a podcast that leads to a conversation that leads to new insight that changes you or your perspective? One of my absolute favourite things in life is how when I get curious I build all sorts of new creative connections that meet me […]

Resource Recommendations for Your Life in Progress

Sep 7, 2020 Leave a Comment

On this page, I offer a thoughtfully curated collection of favourite resource recommendations to help you show up fully to your life in progress. I’ve set a boundary for myself of 7 resource recommendations per section – hard work! The decision to exclude fiction from this list is rooted in my desire to keep the list lean. However, I want to say that story changes me and calls me to growth as much as non-fiction and it infuses my ordinary life with pleasure which is equally valuable. This is my […]

A Life in Progress is Having a Birthday!

Aug 29, 2020 8 Comments

Inside: As I celebrate the 5th birthday of A Life in Progress I reflect on the journey and on all the people who have come alongside and helped me keep going. I witness my strength and look forward with curiosity and hope. Five years ago, A Life in Progress officially came to life as I took a deep breath, stepped out upon the water, and published my first blog post. A Life in Progress: The First Five Years That first year I was a homeschooling mama with one kid heading […]

Small Things

Aug 22, 2020 6 Comments

We know that to accomplish a goal it must be broken down into small intentional steps. To build a home you first dig and lay a foundation. To live on purpose you have to get up each day and do all or something. All or something. All or some small thing. Because small thing after small thing builds a full and meaningful life. Small Things I like to read by the light of the salt lamp Louise Penny, Laurie Frankl, stories that make me laugh and cry. I like to give thanks […]

What Surrender Sounds & Feels Like 9 Months after Child Loss

Aug 8, 2020 12 Comments

Inside: Child loss is excruciating. Letting go feels like creating a safe and special corner of my mind and heart in which to gather and house my memories and love for my son so that I have some room left for hope and joyful possibility. TW: Suicide, grief, child loss The agony was intense but I knew that something important was happening inside of me. Several times I wondered if I was losing my mind but even in my pain and wrestling it didn’t matter if I was having a […]

Tell the Truth

Jul 24, 2020 11 Comments

Inside: Yesterday marked nine months since his death. Nine months can feel like a lifetime or the blink of an eye. Enough time to help create and birth new life but not enough time for my heart, mind, or spirit to figure out how to say goodbye. TW: grief, child loss, suicide I took my son’s leftover medications to the drug store today for safe disposal. This probably sounds like a very minor accomplishment, an inconsequential baby step, but it felt like an important act of letting go. The thought […]