Blog
It’s Time to Quiet Self-Doubt and Step into your True Worth
Many years ago, when my boys were learning how to write, they would freeze in their tracks for fear of making a spelling mistake. Their perfectionist tendencies were not a surprise to us - after all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree - and it was both...
These 10 Micro-transitions can Trigger Anxiety for Highly Sensitive People
Highly sensitive people feel every moment of life: the joys, the sorrows, the in-between times, the beginnings, the endings, the far-off music in the distance, the emotional temperature in a room. This is a gift, but it’s often experienced as a burden because we’re...
Mary Oliver Says You Do Not Have to be Good… But Do You?
"You do not have to be good." What does this line from Mary Oliver's poem evoke for you? When Victoria and I brought it into our last Patreon Zoom gathering, it led us into a rich and multi-textured discussion about goodness and perfection, which we then explore more...
The Top 4 Shaming Statements Highly Sensitive People Often Hear
One of the greatest challenges of being a highly sensitive person is NOT the sensitivity itself (which is a gift) but in how your sensitivity was responded to growing up - and even now, as an adult. As I've listened to the stories of my highly sensitive clients and...
Why the Time is Now to Commit to Your Inner Work
Highly sensitive people wrestle with deep questions from a very early age. We think about death, often to the point of anguish (see this week's Gathering Gold episode on The Fear of Death). We think about relationships and worry about the people that we love. We think...
Why Highly Sensitive People are More Prone to the Burden and Gift of Shame
Following up on my post from a few weeks ago where I talked about how intrusive thoughts both originate from shame and cause shame, I'd like to explore some of the root causes of shame. As I wrote about in the post: Intrusive thoughts also arise from shame as attempts...
This is the #1 Reason Why People are Terrified to Turn Inward
As much as you want to change and heal, as much as you long to feel more fullness, aliveness, calm, and well-being, as much as you deeply desire a way to navigate life with more ease and less attachment to control, as much as you ache to break free from your intrusive...
Breaking Free from Anxiety Hinges on this One Teachable Skill
One of the misconceptions about the journey of mental health is that once you "heal" (as if healing is a linear process and a final destination; it's not), you'll never feel uncomfortable symptoms again. This isn't the case. No matter how healed you are, you'll still...
This is How we Walked Through the Grief and Joy of Everest Turning 18
Many of you have been following me for years, which means you've essentially watched my children grow up. I started this blog when our oldest son, Everest, was five and half years old and Asher was just a newborn. They're now 18 and 13. I've written about their fears...
Our Fast-Paced Culture is Leaving Us Breathless but There is a Remedy
It's the theme of the week, the month, the year, these past two years. It's one of the messages embedded in covid. We're moving too fast. We can't catch our breath. We can't drop into our bodies. We can't find center. Everyone I talk to says the same thing, "I'm so...
3 Ways That High Sensitivity Shows Up (that few people talk about)
Over the years of working closely with highly sensitive people and raising our two beautifully sensitive sons, I've noticed three primary areas where the sensitivity shows up that are rarely talked about. What is not discussed tends to get tamped down into the dark...
This is One of the Most Healing Experiences We Can Have
I posted this short piece on Instagram a couple of weeks ago but wanted to share it here as well for those of you who not on social media, especially as a follow-up on last week's post on shame. *** Being understood is one of the most healing experiences we can have....
Is This the Leading Cause of Your Intrusive Pain? I’d Love Your Thoughts!
I'm endlessly fascinated by our inner world, and have been called to this path of helping highly sensitive people who struggle with intrusive thoughts to heal at the root. As always with inner exploration, it's a never-ending process of discovery; just when I think...
Intrusive Images Caught Me In Their Grip and This is How I Responded
June 29th, 2022 It’s 4:30am. My alarm is set for 5:00 but my body-psyche always knows when my son is going to fly early and I wake up well before my alarm goes off; it’s that built-in mom alarm that knows almost everything about our children. Everest has been training...
Anxiety screams, “Danger!” But it’s not what you think.
Anxiety insists, "You don't love your partner!" Anxiety declares, "You have a terminal illness!" Anxiety whispers, "You're going to hurt your baby." (Anxiety doesn't always yell; sometimes it's a quiet, convincing voice.) Your job is to say, "Thank you, anxiety. You...