I do not know your story I do not know your dreams or visions I do not know your limitations or constraints I do not know your hidden super power I do not know your desire to become What I do know is your Soul. I do know the Self that is you because I too, am that Self. Although we appear separate at the expression through body into this world, at ... Continue Reading >>
Women
Memory Lane: Out of the Shadows
Are we ever really too busy to consider the quality of our own lives? As much as we can find ourselves caught up in the daily routines that form part of living our lives, our willingness and ability to stop... take a breath... and ask ourselves: “Am I living the life I desire? Or am I living the life I think I’m stuck with?” - is no more difficult than ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Penetrating Cultural Coma
As much as I am committed to engaging in the creation of a meaningfully sustainable life for mySelf, I am mindful that my life unfolds within a larger collective of others. My life is touched by and affected by the perspectives and choices of others, that include my family and friends; my colleagues and clients; and the cumulative impact of those whose faces ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Penetrating Cultural Coma
Life unfolds within a larger collective of others. Our unique and individual lives are touched by and often shaped by the perspectives and choices of others that include family and friends; colleagues and clients; and the cumulative impact of those whose faces we may never see and yet, their choices can shape the context within which we find our lives ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Chaos and Order
You’d have to be living in a cave on a mountain top not to notice the pace at which things in our world are shifting. Whether on the social, economic or environmental front, news reports - and our personal experience - are telling us that the world is changing in ways and at a pace that make it impossible for us not to pay attention! What is that larger ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Finding Your Voice
In my close-to 30 years of working with women, far fewer women actually don’t know what they want than there are women who know… and just won’t tell. That’s a tough one: when you think that others don’t want you to have what you want or that others would turn away from you if they really knew the truth of who you are. And yet, in all those years of working ... Continue Reading >>
Easy Listening: Women Awakening – Part 6/6
To recap (short version) from the first post: To assist you along the way, you can find visual aids for each of the wall charts referenced in the audio material on the WEL-Systems Institute website. Scroll down to about the middle of the page to access links to a PDF of each wall chart. This final week's conversation is intended to offer an experience ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Money and Mind
Over time, money has come to be generally accepted as the currency of choice; as the preferred medium of exchange that allows us to bring into our lives that which, without currency, we believe we could not experience. Truth is, rare is the person or the moment when we stop... take a breath... and ask ourselves: Is money the only currency? How else ... Continue Reading >>
Easy Listening: Women Awakening – Part 5/6
To recap (short version) from the first post: To assist you along the way, you can find visual aids for each of the wall charts referenced in the audio material on the WEL-Systems Institute website. Scroll down to about the middle of the page to access links to a PDF of each wall chart. This week's conversation is an invitation for you to re-awaken and ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: The Great Daring
In truth, incremental change is much easier for us to manage. With those tiny steps - inching ourselves forward from one day to the next - those around us are able to watch and listen, tracking for our movement and potentially, adjusting accordingly as we go. Through this process, even though we may be changing, we continue to be experienced by others as ... Continue Reading >>
Easy Listening: Women Awakening – Part 3/6
To recap (short version) from the first post: I’ve decided to share the full experience of that ‘Women Awakening’ event (Volume 3). The related sound files will unfold over the coming six weeks, each part approximately 20-30 minutes in length. These are intended to offer you food for thought; and if you’re willing, a gateway to a renewed trust in the truth ... Continue Reading >>
Easy Listening: Women Awakening – Part 2/6
To recap from the first post: One of the explorations I came across was to be Volume 3 of the ‘Women Awakening’ series. These were evening events, usually three hours in length, that were intended to be of value to women who were seeking to find a process that would guide them back to that within themselves which was core to their unique and authentic ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Children and Potential
One thing I’ve learned over more than 25 years of working with others - and from being a Mom,myself - is that we can be very touchy about our kids! Not so much because it’s really about any particular child but much more because as parents, we so strongly identify ourselves by who our children have become. Are my kids well-behaved, doing well in school, ... Continue Reading >>
Easy Listening: Women Awakening – Part 1/6
One of the fun parts of exploring ‘retirement’ is that as I wander through long-untouched audio files, I have discovered many, many hours of unpublished recordings. Due to constraints of available time and effort, these sound files are just now re-entering my consciousness. Given that a WEL-Systems® approach is process and context driven, the ’shelf life’ of ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Reclamation of Self
Reclaiming your Self is not a single event but a living and perpetual intention. It’s a way of ‘being’ that takes us far beyond solving a problem or fixing a broken life, and offers us access to the reclamation of untapped potential to become more than we had ever imagined possible! Reclaiming your Self is a perpetual journey and not a destination. It’s a ... Continue Reading >>
Memory Lane: Owning Our Strategies
It’s not always easy to come face-to-face with the truth of our own lives. Keeping in mind that it’s not about good/bad, right/wrong, it can prove to be profoundly meaningful to make the time to pause and allow ourselves to consider how our lives are an authentic reflection of the truth of who we are... and how they are not. In the moment of that ... Continue Reading >>
The Future: Growing into Grace
Recently, I had the great joy and privilege of attending the wedding of my first-born son. They were engaged in the summer of 2015. Little did I know that I would spend the following months in the grip of frequent episodes of tears… welling up from somewhere so deep within me, I could not recognize the source. It was a puzzle for me, since I felt such joy ... Continue Reading >>
Invisible Frameworks: Who Designs Them?
Woke up this morning to another beautiful day at the Chateau Montebello. Windows open, breeze blowing through the room, smell of the water….life is good! I greatly appreciated the opportunity to spend time with three strong and courageous women in what was, for me, a compelling and deeply meaningful ‘pull’ for discovery of some kind. Add to that, that I ... Continue Reading >>
Markers and Journeys
As I approach 67, I am becoming aware that I have forgotten more than I even remember having known. As I continue my journey of letting go of all that is no longer meaningful in my life, I am finding digital trails of articles, blog posts, etc long stored…. ‘just in case’… that speak to things that I now recognize as markers along the path of my own ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 10
Good morning! Here I am on Day 10: The first day of the rest of my life. I think of the completion of this cycle of enquiry as the end of a long, steady and deep inhalation… of my Self. Now, I pause… and in this continuing cycle… I enter into the long, slow and deep exhalation as I choose to live my life as an expression of the integration that now ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 9
Good morning! Day 9: the penultimate, in this journey of inner exploration. We are almost complete, ever mindful that we can begin anew anytime we choose. There is never an end - only pauses along the way to live out discoveries and re-awaken the desire for yet another deep dive into the unclaimed possibilities. How does it go? The purported Chinese ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 8
Good morning! Inside myself, the ’tone’ of my own enquiry has shifted. As I move from what I know or have known, to what I know I don’t know, there is a sense of being set adrift in a weightless environment. Perhaps this is what a walk in space might feel like. I am more present to the moment; more in the ’now’ as I release myself from searching and ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 7
Good morning! In my own life and with others, I became aware of patterns and how these patterns, themselves, become the very fabric of our existence; aware that they come to shape our very lives into what we come to call ‘reality’. These patterns come to be relied upon as not only the right thing and the appropriate thing, but the essential thing for our ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 6
Good morning! It has been the longest 5 days of my life! :) Great surges of insight! Deep undulations, reminiscent of those from so long ago. Churning and swirling and twisting….. constant movement of the Soul, as is to be expected when a Great Journey is undertaken. And in this moment, calm. This is what it must be to enter into the eye of a ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 5
Good morning, All! Today, I feel the wrenching. And the truth is: sometimes, when something has been fixed for so long, the wrenching is required for it to be dislodged. A very, very old wave activates as I notice an inner voice speaking to me, in the timbre and cadence of a much younger me, chastising that I have gone too far. That I have asked too ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 4
Good morning! As I settle comfortably at the keyboard… first coffee of the day gratefully within easy reach… I am mindful of the sounds of a new day beginning, as they stream through the open window behind me. The light of dawn and dusk hold a special promise. Light softened yet still allowing for all to be seen, there is a peace as the harsh light of day ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 3
Good morning, All! The dawning of Day 3 and already, it feels as if we have been here for weeks! Clearly, I am in the right place, at the right time and with the right people. With every thought you share, my own expand. The awakening of internal cues is palpable. As I read, I am aware of the great courage that it takes to dive so quickly into the ... Continue Reading >>
Whispers from Within: Day 2
Good morning! An earlier start to my day, today, as I am off to Carleton U for a lecture series on astronomy. Yup, not much to do with anything I usually do, and I’m loving it! What great joy to read your insights about yourself, revealed and shared! I have long known - for myself and in my life - that in the choice between willing and able, willing is ... Continue Reading >>
Women’s Retreat with Louise: Nov. 22, 23 & 24, 2016
It’s that time of year, again! With the rapid approach of Fall, my thoughts turn to the annual Emerging Futures retreat for women; at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello. The Sharp Edge of Your Own Evolution: Contouring the Curve of Creation November 22, 23 & 24, 2016 Such an odd way to define this event! How do we make sense of recognizing that our own ... Continue Reading >>
The Meaning of Life
How presumptuous of me : to think that I have figured out the meaning of life. And yet, to be sure, I have figured it out for mySelf. Things change. There was a time when I was driven by a bottomless well of caring that my potential, and yours... as human beings... was given the chance to be fully expressed. In that, I felt it was both meaningful and ... Continue Reading >>
The Mother/Daughter Dance
Tomorrow will be my Mom's 91st birthday. Inside the strong, straight body that moves her through my world, her mind continues to fade into a world that only she can navigate. As I prepare to make the drive to spend time with her, I am grateful that she is happy, healthy and at peace with her reality. Today, as a result of conversations with another ... Continue Reading >>
The Seeds of Potential: Living In the Inclusive ‘Or’
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” (Aristotle) From one day to the next, we are pressed into considering so many diverging and often conflicting thoughts. For most of us, what we have been taught to do is to shut out that which neither reflects what we already know nor builds incrementally on ... Continue Reading >>
The Journey to ‘Radical’
Be mindful of the company you keep. My world - and yours - is shaped by the conversations that we have and the people with whom we choose to have them. For my world to expand, I must first expand my conversations. I don’t know about you but I have long tired of the blah blah blah... as we continue on, deep in our denial and mindless march to the edge of the ... Continue Reading >>
Sexual, Sensual and Spiritual Beings: Penetrating Coma
The pervasive and relentless sexualization of women and children has created a downward spiral for us all. There is no power in judging this or railing against it. The power lies in knowing that this is not the world I want to leave as my legacy for my children... and then, act accordingly. This exploration was seeded more than three years ago. I would ... Continue Reading >>
Seeing Through the Eye of the Storm
Recently, there has been lots of turmoil. Lots of change and uncertainty. Life coming and Life going away. Many new ideas and considerations. New and different paths from which to choose, needing first to explore and discover the underlying mechanism for choosing that will enliven my 'being'. Random thoughts coming and going, some taking root and some ... Continue Reading >>
Women in Collective: Redefining Networking
Now in business for more than 20 years , I’ve lost count of how many early mornings and evenings I’ve spent in the presence of other women in business. Over those many years, I've also had the opportunity to speak to many groups of women (professional groups, corporate groups, personal growth conferences, wellness conferences, etc.) and engage with them, ... Continue Reading >>
Women, Breast Cancer, Food and Men
The entangled threads of my own thoughts tug at notions of women and leadership; women and breast cancer; the need women seem to have to apologize when not agreeing or when finding something lacking; food and its stranglehold on women and their bodies; and last, but most definitely not least, women and men. Were these neatly laid out in some pattern or ... Continue Reading >>
Women and Business
I've noticed that my interests are all over the map! It is less knowing what moves me and more about discovering 'what else' might move me, into action or the desire to engage in some way. Recently, Anne Day, Founder of the Company of Women, posted her opening remarks in the latest Newsletter... which led me to discover something about myself, as a ... Continue Reading >>
Women Gathering in small groups, talking….
I was visiting the WGGG (Women Gathering Google Group) today and was reminded of this recording from earlier in 2010. As I listened, I heard new things - not because they're new but because I am. Women's Voices - Women's Choices is a testament to the simplicity of the power of women. Maybe you'll find something new, for you, too. ... Continue Reading >>
A Meaningfully Sustainable Life/World
It's been an incredible few weeks. Lots of 'stuff' going on; so much creativity and innovation; so many new ideas, projects, conversations, programs, experiences, etc. coming into expression, leaving me breathless with the potential revealed... ready and waiting for me to engage the next wave! Does it get any better than this? Last week, I spent two days ... Continue Reading >>
Sacred Space in Cyberspace
Slightly more than 18 months have passed since I had the urge to create the Women Gathering Google Group - a place for women to dare to be themselves, for its own sake, regardless of who may see. Over these 18 months, I have laughed, cried, grieved, celebrated and delighted in the presence of those - most unknown to me, personally - who have chosen to show ... Continue Reading >>
Scorecards
It's been a long time since I've considered the notion of 'keeping score'... maybe because now, the games I play are intended exclusively for my own accelerated evolution, and not much else! Is that a good thing? A bad thing? I have no idea - I only know that I love being me. I think that's a clue. A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of the notion of ... Continue Reading >>
Losing Faith in Organized Religion
Once again, allegations of institutionalized child abuse perpetrated by the clergy of the Catholic Church fill the news. This time, Europe is awakening to what we for all too long have not wanted to see or hear or know as a truth in our own experiences: we are a species that cannibalizes our young. I've written about this in many other times and spaces. ... Continue Reading >>
Half measures = Whole Life ?
I woke up this morning to this thought: half measures will never get me a whole life. Half a marathon will never get me across the finish line. Half a recipe will never get me a pan of brownies. Half way will never get me to Hawaii! Half of my attention will never get me a whole understanding. How many times in my life have I longed for... strived ... Continue Reading >>
CODE Model Coaching™: Midwifery for the Soul?
I've never been a big fan of the notion of 'coaching'. Way too guy-like... sports-like... and far too reminiscent of the guy standing on the sidelines, running it all while observing the players on the field - the ones engaging life! Guiding, directing; chastising, praising... and all the rest of it that goes with it. Short conversations with clear ... Continue Reading >>
When does virtue become a vice?
I am so mindful of reactions to and language around those moments when women are perceived to be less than 'patient' and 'understanding' and 'caring'. What exactly does that mean? In a recent chat with a friend and colleague, the thought that kept coming into my awareness was about 'patience is a virtue'... leading me to wonder: when does a virtue become ... Continue Reading >>
Bullying
I read Tanya's posting and had to move away from it. As I 'heard' the small voice of her son, torrents of memories flooded back into my awareness of a time, not-so-long-ago, when her voice would have been my own. Although the difference would have been in my son being the one in the schoolyard being harassed/bullied/harmed, both would have been victims. I ... Continue Reading >>
“My people…”
November has been an incredible month for me - not just because of its intensity but because of the acceleration of my own evolution, as a result of it! November began with the first of two Engaging and Awakening Others women's intensives, offered in Halifax. A small group of women gathered, talking about their lives and the potential that awaited... if ... Continue Reading >>
Sleeping to awaken
I am feeling the urge to reveal myself, to myself. I know of no better way to do this than to allow the words to flow out the ends of my fingers onto the screen, ultimately allowing me to discover who I have become. Last week, in the good company of a loving and ferocious friend, I created space for myself to stop... let all of it go... and rediscover who ... Continue Reading >>
My emerging future…
"Eleven different climate zones generate everything from lush rain forests to arid deserts, black sand beaches to snow-capped mountaintops. The Big Island is Hawaii’s biggest playground." I now better understand what so pulls me to the Big Island of Hawaii. In many ways, I 'feel' just like that! Over my lifetime, some have delighted in but most have been ... Continue Reading >>
Catching up to myself
It's been a busy month! I notice the date of my last post and marvel that it has been less than 30 days and yet, it feels like months have gone by. How does that happen???? Things no longer unfold in increments but in leaps and bounds. Having created the Group of 10 (a gathering of women who know, without a doubt, that each of them IS The One to make a ... Continue Reading >>
Noticing my life
It's been a busy day in the discovery department! Reading blog postings by three amazing young women - Naomi and Lisa and Amy - and marveling at who they have discovered themselves to be! Wow... in such a short period of time, their lives have exploded with their own genius. Does it get any better than that? Watching a great tv show as a world-renowned ... Continue Reading >>
The pause that refreshes
Tomorrow, I head for Toronto for a matinee, dinner with wonderful friends, a stay in a 5-star hotel.... and the pause that will allow me to leave my existing thoughts behind. It's not that they're not good thoughts or useful thoughts or even greatly beneficial thoughts, it's that they are thoughts of a kind that have shaped my world and yet have, in some ... Continue Reading >>
Bubbling up from the turmoil
Wow... has it been that long? As much as I could tell the story of it all, the story now seems completely irrelevant. What feels so much more potent is the place where I continue to stand, not always easy or comfortable and yet knowing that it is exactly where I need to be. So many thoughts continue to come into my awareness, some with great ease - ... Continue Reading >>
Whose fault is it, anyway?
Sometimes, I miss having someone else to blame for the state of my body... of my life. I lament the 'good ole days' of believing - heart and soul - that the world 'out there' was doing things to me... that other people were doing things to me... and that I was a righteous and legitimate victim of my circumstances. There are moments when I long for it to be ... Continue Reading >>
Paradigm of BEING
It's one of those moments. Things are moving way too fast - inside, where I live - for me to be able to calibrate or track for specifics, or for information in any kind of order. It is all an explosion of formless and nameless ‘stuff' and yet, I know it all makes perfect sense. For some time, I've been mindful of the degree to which a WEL-Systems® ... Continue Reading >>
Being In-Different
As my world continues to unfold, moment-to-moment in an Emerging Future, I am beginning to notice something about myself. I care deeply and passionately. I live my life from RIGing - for myself and others. I am indifferent. Hmmm.... I wonder out loud... how do all those fit together? I am in-different. I don't need to be the same as you or have you be ... Continue Reading >>
The Audacity of Being Present
I've been reading the blogs and emails of some of the women I spend time with. I've been chatting and listening to the direction their lives have taken since our last time together. There is a theme emerging and I believe it is greatly important to pay attention to it. The theme is this: the audacity of daring to claim our own lives! The audacity of ... Continue Reading >>
Hints of things to come
I'm in the middle of a retreat or program experience, and I find myself observing myself saying something. A small voice inside me (somewhere) says: "Pay attention to that - that's important. " And in the blink of an eye, it's gone. Hours will go by, possibly even days, and it happens again. I'm saying something and notice a sentence or a new word in ... Continue Reading >>
Restlessness….
I am aware of the degree to which I am restless... agitated... ready to move! I am also mindful of the speed at which change can occur (from my Manifesting 6-day of last week) and the alternative state of paralysis that is a reflection of the attempt to manifest from the intellect. Slooooowwwwwwwing down to re-enter what is considered 'normal' is creating ... Continue Reading >>
Invitations to greatness
There are always bumps in the road. Just how dull would it be if the road were always smooth, without any twists or turns to test our attention and our skill.... to test our willingness and ability... to own both the destination and the journey? I'm one of the lucky ones. In my life, I cross paths with more genius women than likely my fair share. ... Continue Reading >>
For the love of dancing… Part 2
Even when I sleep, I am still dancing! I awoke this morning with an yet another insight into my experience of dancing. My dancing is not dependent on whether or not I like the music, the people or the environment. Dancing is an essential form of expression of who I AM in my world. Music or no music; classical, rock or jazz, dancing is still the ... Continue Reading >>
For the love of dancing
I am a dancer. I have no memory of anything other than loving the movement of body, connected and engaging in flow, with or without music. I remember moments of walking down the street, being present to the vibration of every cell in my body, as it engaged in the flow of getting from here to there; vibrating to, responding to and dancing with the sounds of ... Continue Reading >>
Living is a choice…
... but living fully is a determination... an intention and an accompanying presence that will not be swayed by anything outside itself... and one that requires we be awake, fully present and both willing and able to engage. Living fully is no small feat in a world of mediocrity and complacency. That's not rhetoric but the cold, hard truth of what stands ... Continue Reading >>
Breathing is good….
Since returning from the Emerging Futures: Entrepreneurial Women retreat, I'm noticing that I can hardly breathe! From one day to the next, I catch myself holding my breath - time and again - and wonder what that's all about! Typically, breathing comes easily and effortlessly, bringing with it a sense of the vast Space that I AM for my own evolution. But ... Continue Reading >>
Emerging Species, Women and Pollination
I spent last week with a small group of women, talking... about many things, all of which were indicative of but a sliver of their own potential... and mine. (Visit the Women Gathering blog for more about the week.) I was deeply moved by my time with them. I witnessed terror and courage; grief, sadness and loss sharing space with determination and hope. ... Continue Reading >>
My life: re-entry
I love being in the deep end of the pool! I love the power of the conversations and the way they change lives. "Just talking' is more than enough to guide us all through 'invite and allow' that we might find a new place to stand. I love the intensity that accompanies this highly personal, individual and unique journey of discovery. No two of us are the ... Continue Reading >>
I am a changed woman…
My time in Hawaii is almost complete. Tomorrow, I leave the Big Island until the spring of 2009 when I return for a four-day retreat for women. Emerging Futures: Power, Passion and Purpose will change lives... including my own! (More information will follow on this 'Emerging Futures' retreat re dates, etc.) I am already a changed woman. During my time ... Continue Reading >>
Sainthood and Martyrdom: It’s a girl thing
I spent time today with a woman I consider to be a good friend. We've known each other for about 6 years, and yet it feels like just the slightest brush of time. If you offered me money to pick one thing about her that I don't like, I'd be hard pressed to come up with something. When I think of her or engage with her, my experience is always one of ... Continue Reading >>
Activist for Acceleration of Human Evolution
It seems like I blinked and a couple of weeks went by. I've been listening to and editing for production the raw recorded material from the October 2007 offering of Emerging Futures: Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed. What an amazing experience! What felt so strange about it is that as I listened to my own voice (there was more than 24 hours of recorded ... Continue Reading >>
Bifurcation for mothers and their sons
I care deeply for the people in my life. My mother tells me that my greatest strength lies in my obvious and unwavering passion for my family. (I think she's a little biased....) And given the nature of the work that I do - of how I live my life and the great intimacy that comes from my time spent in experiences with clients - my clients very often come ... Continue Reading >>
Instructions for opening your eyes
What you see depends on where you stand and what direction you choose to look in. Hardly rocket science and yet, it appears that we so rarely think about any of it. What we see also depends on whether our eyes are open or closed. Try as they might, no one can explain to you how to open your eyes. You have to just do it, trusting your body to guide the ... Continue Reading >>
The power of contagion of an awakened organic collective
When I am in this state (which I never really quite know how to describe to anyone else that may make sense to them!), new ideas come in burps. Like blips on the screen of life, they just show up, make their presence felt and then disappear. However, something lingers and gravitates to yet another something that has been hanging there... waiting... ... Continue Reading >>
A new breed of woman?
I started my day with telephone and email conversations with three women, one of whom I’ve known for years and the other two much more recent entries onto the holodeck of my experience. Each conversation left me filled with deep love for who each of these women is: full of wonder and willingness to engage; unsure and moving forward with trepidation and ... Continue Reading >>
Open note to Kathryn
(See Kathryn's comments on 'The right to change my mind')Hi Kathryn,Thank you - for being a living example of the genius we instinctively ARE in the world! I can't think of a single thing that is more connected to the body experience than a bed! It is, after all, where we begin and end our days; where we surrender our need to hold ourselves up to the simple ... Continue Reading >>