I don’t get out much. I know I’m not alone in this, I mean we just went through a global pandemic for Heaven’s sake. There is a part of me that is craving social interaction - dinners out, concerts, and the like, so, I’ll schedule something, be looking forward to it, and then when it gets here, I just want to stay home.  

One way to make myself get out more is to put myself on the hook somehow, like buying a ticket to a luncheon, for example. 

I recently attended the Howard County Business Women’s Network luncheon for the first time since I joined in January 2020. I was looking forward to being with these dynamic women and the speaker line-up was fantastic. 

Well, I had forgotten what I used to do every weekday morning for nearly 30 years and how much time and energy it takes to get all made up.  

I felt like I’d had a morning workout by the time I showered, did my hair and make-up, removed the tags, and steamed the...

February is Heart Month. I’ll be writing about the heart this month and forevermore. 

As I sat down to start writing, I immediately began thinking about who and what has touched my heart the most in my life and my daughter, Aubrey, came immediately to my mind and heart.

I hadn’t decided (consciously I suppose) to have a child, yet I found myself surprised to be growing one at age 24 after getting married just six months earlier. (I think our family and friends were pretty surprised, too!)

I remember being pregnant and reading a similar quote to the one below:

Making the decision to have a child - it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  - Elizabeth Stone, Author

I recall thinking, “That’s terrifying.” I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I was about to find out.

Having a child at that age for me is one of many examples of my being better off not knowing what I didn’t...

Tap into the power of the intelligence of the heart and awaken to the best version of yourself.

Accumulated stress is often the underlying cause of common challenges, such as anxiety, anger, depression, lack of sleep, illness and more. Cultivating a greater sense of well-being and resilience is an essential life skill needed in our current climate of elevated stress and rapid change.

Make inner renewal a top priority in your life this year by starting out in 2022 with this 2.5-hour virtual workshop, facilitated by HeartMath® Certified Trainer and life coach Melissa Curtin. Come and learn about how the heart influences your perceptions, emotions, intuition, and health.

You'll walk away with practical HeartMath® techniques that help you to tune into your heart's wisdom to:

• Approach situations with more emotional balance, compassion, clarity, and personal confidence
• Activate better health, gain more energy in your body and maintain it throughout the day
• Reduce your levels of...

Ahhh…New Year’s Eve. The energy of renewal is palpable.  

Did you know that the month of “January” is named for the ancient Roman God, Janus?  

Janus was the god of beginnings and endings, doors and gates, passageways and transitions and is often depicted as having two faces - one looking back and one looking forward. 

Well, that makes sense. 

Taking time to reflect is important and often gets put on the backburner for other, seemingly more important things that have to be done at the time. 

Now that the holiday season is nearly over and the year is just beginning, it’s a great time to look back. 

It’s also a great time to look forward. 

Every year since I was in my teens I’ve done the fairly common New Year’s Eve energetic ritual of writing down the list of things I want to leave behind from the year, and the list of things I want to bring in during the year ahead.

I tear up the page of...

I’ve observed this week how immediately following, “Hello. How are you today?” the next question is, “Are you ready for the holiday?”

This Saturday, December 25th, is Christmas Day, as you are probably well aware. So, I understand why I am asked if I am ready for this particular holiday.

In a coaching session earlier this week, I got caught up in this holiday small talk myself. 

We were wrapping up the session, talking about having a few days off, when I asked my client how he was planning on spending his time off from work, and I mindlessly said, “Are you ready for…?” 

I stopped cold. “You don’t celebrate Christmas, do you?” And he said, “No, I don’t.” 

I was reminded that many other celebrations happen during this “holiday season” besides Christmas.

While the great debate about whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” rages on,...

I know it’s cliché to say that I can’t believe we are at the end of 2021 but I can’t help myself. It’s really hard to believe. 

Where does the time go!?!? 

I remember when I was a girl, watching my mom look at herself in the mirror, pulling back her cheeks and neck to smooth it all out and say to me, “I still feel 16 inside.” 

Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about but now, I totally get it. 

I pull back my cheeks and neck in the mirror or while waiting to be let into the Zoom room.  And while my heart and soul still feel young inside, I’m reminded some days by my body that time is a cruel mister (yes, you read that right).

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I allow myself to be drawn into a little game - with myself or with others - called, “Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda.” 

I’m sure you’ve heard of it or even played it yourself. (It’s not a game you want to...

One of my dear friends turned 60 a few weeks ago. To celebrate this milestone, she rented a lovely house on Bald Head Island in North Carolina for a week and invited her girlfriends to join the celebration whenever they could. 

The eight friends who came ranged in age from 49 – 71, each having been a witness to her life within these 60 well-lived years: her beloved sister, her stepmother since childhood, a friend from her teen years whom she met when she was a server at their hometown restaurant, four of us who met her during our corporate tenures, and her newest friend with whom she has shared the painful ending of a marriage. 

Just as in life, each friend arrived on the island right on time, one amazing woman after the other trickling in the door for a total of nine women.

Our days were filled with walks and bike rides, a tour of the island by golf cart, some shopping, and of course sitting on the beach basking in the sun and listening to the waves. 

...

I have an insatiable desire to learn about almost anything. If someone would just pay me to read books and take courses all day, every day, I would totally do it. 

I am first and foremost a personal and professional development junkie and have been for a loooong time. And even though it’s literally my business, the book buying habit (addiction?) is honestly pretty ridiculous.

Back in the day when bookstores were the only way you could purchase books, I would plan my visit like a middle school field trip and spend hours walking through the sections perusing my options and hiding out from the world. 

Taking a seat on the worn out chair tucked into a corner, losing time reviewing a stack of books and magazines, maybe walking out with one or two books in hand, but most often walking out empty-handed, simply delighted by the adventure.

Nowadays, with the one-click ease of online buying, I try to beat any package that is small-ish and rectangular in shape from the mailbox...

I had rotator cuff repair surgery on my left shoulder last Friday. So I write to you this week mostly with my right hand. A good brain challenge for sure. (I think I have typed the equivalent of one page in just the first three paragraphs between deleting and retyping.)

I had squeaked under the wire for my first rotator cuff repair surgery on my right shoulder in mid-February 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown that second week of March so I’m somewhat familiar with this road. 

I put the right shoulder off for way too long and regretted it. Then, when the left shoulder took its turn, I said I wasn’t going to wait. But it’s a long recovery and I’ve dreaded going through it again.

It took an unexpected phone call that we could potentially be without the health insurance on which we have been fortunate to rely for many years for me to take action. 

This two-by-four across the side of my head lit a quick bonfire under my dragging feet, or in this case,...

I don’t know about you, but I have mixed feelings about summer storms.

When I’m lying in my bed at night and a big storm comes in, I love it. As I listen to the thunder roll, the rain pound down, and watch the lightning show through my bedroom window, I feel so blessed to be safe and cozied up inside my home. 

Sometimes we like to sit out on our front porch and watch the storm.

 They can be so beautiful and being close enough to feel the energy (while staying safe) is literally electrifying. 

Yesterday was a sunny, hot day here in Maryland. My husband, Mike and I had gone out to run a few errands when just as I put the groceries in the back seat of the truck, the sky suddenly turned gray and dumped on us.

We got home and as he ran one way with the groceries to the house, a crack of lightning popped over his head midway across the driveway, causing him to jump.

I ran up to my office over the garage to finish some work and looked out at what had now become a...