Look Up
This powerful spoken word film has already been viewed eighteen million times, but I just saw it for the first time tonight. If you’ve ever felt alone, despite being connected to hundreds online, you need to take five minutes to watch this.
How to Hear Your Inner Wisdom When Making Tough Choices
“Everyone who wills can hear their inner voice. It is within everyone.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
Do you struggle with listening to your inner voice? Do you doubt yourself and every inner signal you get? You’re not alone.
A decade ago, I didn’t know that I could follow my heart. I’d never heard of the concept of inner wisdom or inner voice.
I started following my interests and doing what made me feel good, and this is the essence of doing what you love and listening to that subtle voice inside of you.
The problems start when we listen too much to …
16 Things to Let Go to Live a Truly Happy Life
“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” ~Jim Rohn
Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent the better part of my life chasing after happiness. It always seemed like happiness stayed just a tad bit out of my grasp—somewhere in the future that I could always see, but not quite touch.
For instance, when I was a kid, I believed I’d be happy if I got an admission into a good college. In college, I believed that I’d be happy if I got a good job. When I got a job, …
When You Still Don’t Know What You Want to Do with Your Life
“If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.” ~Unknown
Sitting at my kitchen table, I can’t help but ask myself over and over again how I got to be here. Just yesterday it seems I was sitting with my family for dinner, discussing my college plans and a future that seemed so far away from the comfortable and naïve life I always knew.
Now, I am graduating from college and embarking on the unknown journey that is “the real world” with what seems like no preparation whatsoever. Well, I wouldn’t …
Searching for Your Next Step: How to Deal When You’re “In Between”
“A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.” ~Unknown
After finishing my master’s degree, I felt pretty directionless. I felt like I graduated with more questions than answers, and I really didn’t know what career I wanted, or where.
I figured I should take whatever opportunity came my way, so I accepted a low-paying teaching job in a foreign country, which didn’t work out for various reasons, and ended up leaving after only five months.
I came back to the U.S. the day before Christmas, feeling like a total and utter failure. I …
Life Lessons on What Really Matters from a Dying Man
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
You know how you can remember exactly when you found out that Michael Jackson died? I think it’s called flashbulb memory. It’s when something traumatic happens and because of that, you remember everything else that was occurring at the time. I was on a bus in Santorini after watching an amazing sunset in Oia.
The day I found out my boyfriend was dying was just like that, but worse. I remember everything.
Let me digress.
We spent the week leading up to …
One Simple Thing Anyone Can Do to Have a Better Day
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” ~Maya Angelou
Today as I walked down a trendy suburban street heading to an appointment, my phone rang. I was not having the best of days.
I was walking past chic cafes and designer shops displaying tempting wares. However, having been laid off for the second time in two years, with a mortgage to pay and months without an income, these trivial symbols of indulgence were almost too much to bear.
Over the past two years, I have felt …
Shine Bright: A Short Film About Using Your Gifts
When David from We Do This (Glasgow) reached out to me about his new short film, I was beyond flattered to learn that he wanted to use my words, from the blog post Let Your Light Shine Bright.
And now I’m honored to share it with you. It offers a tiny but powerful reminder to let go of self-doubt and share your gifts.
We all have it. A little a voice inside that tries to hold us back. Are you ready to stop listening to yours and let your light shine bright?
How to Stop Feeling Inadequate and Embrace Your Imperfect Self
“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~Anna Quindlen
As I sit in bed typing this, all cozied up with a hot cup of tea and my fuzz ball Maestro relaxing at my feet, I feel happy and at ease.
I scan the room and see a couple of stacks of laundry that need to be put away. I recall that my daughter’s toys are still strewn across the house because I didn’t feel much like stopping to pick them up prior to my retreat …
5 Ways to Find Your People (The Ones Who Really Get You)
“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” ~Unknown
For probably over thirty years—since I was old enough to know I needed them—I’ve been looking for my people.
You know the ones—the people who get you, somehow; who are on the same wavelength. Some might even say the people who share the same brand of quirky, crazy, or oddness that you do. The ones who understand why you do what you do, or if they don’t understand, they either ask or they just accept, and either way is …
Imagine a World Without Hate
Imagine a world without bigotry. Imagine a world where inspiring individuals like Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Harvey Milk, all victims of hate crimes, lived on to contribute even more to society.
Dealing with Life’s Inevitable Pain: 4 Lessons to Help Reduce Your Suffering
“Suffering is not caused by pain but by resisting pain.” ~Unknown
Pain is everywhere. Whether through heartbreak or a broken bone, we all struggle with unavoidable hurt at some point in our lives. Often, even the suggestion of suffering is enough to send us running for cover.
One of our most basic instincts is to avoid being hurt, and for good reason. The world is full of sharp objects and hot frying pans. While our instinctive wiring is helpful when it comes to cooking, it only contributes to our suffering when applied to the pain of relationships and physical discomfort …
8 Solutions for Loneliness That Don’t Require a Romantic Relationship
“People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.” ~Joseph F. Newton
The epiphany has finally occurred. Why on earth has it taken so long? I ask myself this as I look back on the last nine years, which I have spent trying to cover up my real issue. Loneliness.
After getting married at twenty and then leaving nineteen years later, it took another two years before I met another man that I fell in love with almost instantly. He told me from the very beginning it would never be a relationship, and yet I have persevered with our …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine.