seasonal living Archives | A Life in Progress

Why I Choose to Slow Down and Lay on the Couch all Weekend

Apr 10, 2020 6 Comments

Inside: For happiness and a full beautiful life, it’s essential that we slow down and make space for purposeful rest. We can’t pour out what we don’t first pour in. For years I repeated a cycle of ignoring my body and brain’s call to rest and then inevitably falling ill and being forced to cancel all plans to lay on the couch reading for a weekend. I loved it. It dawned on me finally that perhaps I could arrange my life in such a way that I could choose to […]

Simple Moments Matter: On Building a Life

Mar 19, 2020 Leave a Comment

Inside: It’s easy to dismiss the ordinariness of life: game nights and favorite desserts, bedtime stories and bubble baths, or walking to the corner store for frosty slurpees after a sticky soccer match. But simple moments matter. When I was little, my dad took my sisters and I skidooing. We’d bundle up warmly and he’d pull us on a wooden sleigh behind the used Ski-Doo that always smelled of gasoline. We’d tumble off in turn despite holding on for dear life. He’d circle back or we’d trudge through the snow […]

Ordinary Magic

Nov 15, 2019 13 Comments

Inside: I think magic comes in the ordinary – for those willing to see. Do you want more space or permission to pause and notice the ordinary magic of your life? The streets are black apart from the meager light cast by the streetlamps. But this is more than enough light to illuminate the sparkle of the snowflakes as they begin to fall. You sense magic in the air. You throw on a tuque and warm mitts, lace up fuzzy boots, and head out for an impromptu night-time stroll. You […]

Living a Life of Purpose on the Mountaintop or in the Valley

Mar 19, 2019 13 Comments

Inside: Whether on the mountaintop or in a valley, we can live a life of purpose. One moment at a time. Here are 5 tenets for living a life of purpose. I put in a great deal of energy thinking through my direction and primary goals for the new year. I spent many hours in honest reflection, life management binder and worksheets strewn about me, working to identify where I could cull and simplify and work smarter not harder. I felt purposeful and excited about what lay ahead. And then, […]

How to Start Each Week With a Mindful & Happy Monday

Feb 10, 2019 10 Comments

Inside: Whether you love Monday mornings or they’re the bane of your existence, your happiness is likely to increase when you live mindful and seasonally. Here are 7 tips for a Happy Monday. This post contains referral links to my book or printables. I love Monday. Monday feels like Springtime to me. Or autumn. The transitional seasons. The spaces in which life feels fresh and full of joyful possibility. Every Monday is a fresh opportunity to choose who and how I want to be in the world. It offers a […]

Do Hard Things. These Thoughts Will Help.

Feb 2, 2019 12 Comments

Inside: Living awake and on purpose means embracing the dark and the light; owning that life doesn’t have to be perfect or easy to be beautiful. Giving ourselves permission to rest and taste pleasure and choosing to do hard things. We need to do hard things. This post contains referral links. Building a right-sized life requires doing hard things. Living aligned to our values and top priorities in every season involves doing hard things. Being a questioner, stubbornly carving out a path that feels joyful and sustainable, learning to rest, choosing […]

Living Grateful for the Wisdom in Every Season

Dec 1, 2018 14 Comments

Inside: Mindful living means choosing to live grateful for the gifts in every season. It means consciously and stubbornly mining for these gifts. This is a reflection about what mindful living taught me as I walked with grief through the seasons. It’s human to experience ebb and flow in life: seasons of transition and even uncertainty; tilting between self-confidence and self-doubt; shifting levels of energy or productivity; changes in what you need or want. Death and new life. Life is messy. And beautiful. Mindful living means choosing to live grateful […]

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