From Dread to Delight: A Lesson in Attitude Adjustment
Last weekend, I had the “opportunity” to do something I was looking forward to about as much as a tooth extraction: standing […]
Sharing a Fine Whine
Whining often gets a bad rap. Culturally, it conjures images of someone stuck in the past, replaying the same story to anyone […]
Finding the Stillpoint
“What’s the best way to move cattle fast?” “Slowly.” — Cowboy wisdom In our fast-paced world, moving slowly isn’t easy. Sometimes I […]
Talent or Practice? Why I Choose to Keep Drawing
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been drawing every day—sometimes for five minutes, sometimes fifty. It started as a discipline, […]
Launching Anew
I’ve just introduced my Engaging Presence newsletter to Substack where it is called Embracing the Muse. The new title reflects the […]
Time to Move
Next week, I plan (okay—hope) to move this newsletter blog to Substack. It should be simple… but let’s be honest. We’re talking […]
Curiosity, wonder, and an ordinary afternoon
This week. I had a magical day, a simple one downtown on my island that taught me a piece of what’s possible […]
Choosing What You Choose
Too many choices? Too little time? “First world problem,” you might say — and often, I agree. Having choices is a privilege. […]
A Passion for Hope
This week, the world lost one of its great advocates for hope: Pope Francis. His autobiography, titled Hope, reflects the central role […]
Beyond Chocolate Bunnies
Spring has sprung in all its spectacularness. The cherry tree has finished weeping its delicate pink blossoms, and now the crabapple takes […]
The 3 AM Blues (or how to tame the tiger lurking in your mind)
You probably know the feeling. It’s three am and a wave of thoughts rolls in. The thought police—who diligently steered you away […]
Anchoring to steady your life
I find myself teetering on the edge of overwhelm a lot these days, and I suspect I’m not alone. It feels […]
Wither art in times of turmoil
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need […]
How to Feel In Control (Even When the World Isn’t)
The Buddha suggested that our need for control leads to suffering. But who, among us less enlightened beings, doesn’t want to feel […]
When the World Shakes, Get Grounded
The outer world may be disturbed, but your inner world doesn’t have to be. I woke up at 5:10 a.m. this past […]
Loving the flowers (a pause)
The News: Everything is Bad The Poet: Okay, and what if we still fall in love with the moon and learn something […]
When the World Shakes, Get Grounded
The outer world may be disturbed, but your inner world doesn’t have to be. I woke up at 5:10 a.m. this past […]
America 2025: Finding Your Role in the Performance of Our Lifetime
Given the appalling daily news from Washington, D.C., I’ve heard many ask, “What can I do?” and “What’s my role in turning […]
The “Dunno” Card: Your permission to not know
Back in my school days, I was rewarded for knowing things. And the world, as I understood it then, was knowable—even if […]
In Case of Catastrophe—Calm
When the news bombards us with calamity after calamity, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, our minds caught in a never-ending spin […]
Be Subversive: SMILE (and then act)
Given the nightmarish news, you may wonder why I suggest smiling—when the appropriate emotional response might be RAGE. I don’t like for one […]
Balance Out Don’t Tune Out
I did that thing I tell myself not to do: I read an email headline too early in the morning. It […]
Health Alert: Inauguration Despair Virus is Surging
No one needs reminding that it’s been a tough month: fires, bombings, and an inauguration many of us never thought possible. It’s […]
Finding Joy in Baby Gratitudes
As you might know, I’m a big proponent of small steps—even micro ones—that keep us moving toward what matters most. At this […]
The Future Needs Us to Go Deeper
Einstein once observed that our problems can’t be solved at the same level of thinking that created them. My take? To address […]
The Art of Unknowing
When I was growing up, school rewarded us for what we knew. We were tested on facts and praised for correct answers. […]
If you need a hug—or some light today
This isn’t the blog I intended to write. I’ll skip any analysis of the world or elections and instead offer you my […]
Christina Baldwin, Author of the Beekeeper’s Question
Author Christina Baldwin is a pioneer in the field of personal writing, a decades-long teacher of journal writing and storytelling. Her titles […]
Because it’s complicated
High-end AI systems can now process a gigabyte (billion bits) of data per second. In contrast, human attention spans have declined to […]
We’re in this together
Fear and worry can constrict us, prompting us to hold our energy protectively when we sense danger. These feelings can separate us, […]
Celebrating The Muse—A One Year Anniversary
Candles and Balloons—Celebrating One Year of Meeting the Muse After Midlife As I reflect on the one-year anniversary of publishing Meeting the […]
Seven Steps for Surviving Election Season
If you’re prone to anxiety, the pre-election period can feel like an endless source of heart-thumping drama. The state of the world […]
Expand Your Joy by Listing What You Love
Last week, I mounted my horse for the first time in six weeks. For most equestrians, mounting is second nature—we forget about […]
The Power of Kindness (First lessons from recovery)
I’m five weeks into my recovery from hip replacement surgery, and things are going well. By well, I also mean SLOWLY. It […]
Hip, Hip, Hooray
The last couple of weeks have brought much to celebrate: An amazing change in the race for the US Presidential Elections. A […]
Letting Curiosity Guide Us When Things Fall Apart
Last week I lost my neighbor and riding coach, a friend I’d known for thirty years. Hearing the news of her death […]
Time to shout “no” to misogyny
I wish it were easy to just say no to a force that has been weighing us down for centuries—affecting our bodies […]
Got Anxiety? If not, why not? (with lessons from Inside Out 2)
One great takeaway from Inside Out 2, Pixar’s summer blockbuster, is that we are all entitled to a full range of emotions—from […]
How to Create When You’re Feeling Stuck (part one)
This week, I began designing the course Embracing the Muse: Transformative Processes for Enhancing a Creative Life, which I’m teaching on August […]
Alex Doman, Sound and brain health entrepreneur
Alex Doman is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, psychoacoustic music producer, and TEDx speaker with more than twenty-five years’ experience in neurotechnology. His […]
Singing through the storms
Here we go again. A major US Supreme Court decision that threatens to decimate democracy gets made a few days before the […]
How to Interview a Rock Star
By the time you read this, I will have interviewed my first rock star. Or, more accurately, a former rock star. Or a […]
Celebrating the Magic of the Summer Solstice
The summer solstice is here with people celebrating around the globe. I’ve never paid much attention to it—except perhaps for a big […]
Vicki Robin—Coming of Aging Wisdom
Vicki Robin has been breaking ground throughout her career—she’s truly someone who’s been shaping the stories that matter. She did that in […]
Stumbling in the land of too-much-ness
While we’ve kept our national attention on Covid-19 and its variants, another pandemic has slipped into town: too-much-ness. You can see it […]
What’s growing now (a pause)
What’s growing in your garden? Not just in your outside garden, which I hope is flourishing, but in your inner garden as […]
Letting life “cure” us
Every day, life burnishes and “cures” us —sometimes by the unexpected and dramatic, sometimes by the routine and ordinary. We feel, we […]
An Unlikely Path to Humility and Mindfulness
When I taught several groups of Japanese managers near Tokyo, one of the qualities I most admired was their humility and consideration […]
Have you taken the AI challenge
(Hint: It helps to be human) The rapid advance of AI technology feels dizzying, exciting, and terrifying. New technology is outpacing our […]
A Gift from an Unusual Source
What if you could strengthen the qualities you need by feeling your connections with friends who have died? I know this may sound […]
A humble, life saving, brain easing tool
While preparing for my about-to-launch art show, a friend helping me (Thanks, Kymm!) created a checklist to guide my work. On it […]
CJ Miller The Spiritual Artist
Chris Miller (CJ) is an entrepreneur, artist, writer, and speaker. He’s a lifelong Spiritual learner who has spent the last 20 years […]
Bringing all our parts to the table
We have “no bad parts,” at least according to Dr. Richard Schwartz, founder of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach to psychotherapy. […]
Sparking creativity with curiosity and joy
Words from a creative genius Maybe the essence of creativity isn’t complicated. Or maybe we should replace the word “creative” (to help […]
Michael Williams: Storytelling as a Healing Practice
Dr. Michael Williams is a Canadian-born storyteller who spent three decades living in Scotland, where he honed his skills as an oral […]
There Goes the Sun (da, da, da, da, da)
In a world that’s full of darkness, it’s nice, even miraculous, when something pulls us into the light together. Usually, it takes […]
Playing with Paradox
To be able to hold a paradox requires holding the tension between opposites—seemingly contradictory forces. When the world appears too chaotic it’s tempting to want to […]
The Glory of New Growth (A Pause)
I find it a miracle that despite what is happening in the world (and thanks for the well wishes about the loss […]
Clarissa Castillo-Ramsey: Living and Leading Artfully
Dr. Clarissa Castillo-Ramsey brings artfulness together with leadership and helping people grow. She is an organizational psychologist, artist, coach, and author of […]
When who we are is how we are supposed to be
Last week I received the latest episode in my ongoing series, “Lessons in Loss and Grief.” A close, dear friend died after […]
What’s Age Got to Do with It? (Thank you, Tina Turner)
In 1984, Tina Turner celebrated one of the biggest comebacks in music history. She hit the stage at 44 with her “Private […]
When stuff doesn’t make sense
Sometimes, what I expect to make sense doesn’t. And what feels a little crazy might make most sense of all. As a […]
What to say (or not say) to a friend who is dying
Thanks for reading—it’s not easy to think about losing a friend, let alone what to say. I’m not thinking today about the […]
Small Acts Can Light the World
All around us tiny acts of kindness are happening daily. You have done some of them. Big or small, they bring light […]
All You Need is Love (but skip the roses)
I’m writing this on the National Day of Loving, aka Show-People-You-Love-Them-By-Spending-Money-on-Them Day, aka Valentine’s Day. How did we get started with this […]
Eight Books Someone Should Write
The uber-creative illustrator and drawing coach, Wendy MacNaughton, issued a challenge this week to the folks following her on Substack: come up with imaginary […]
Learning to see again
Even with the best of eyes, we often don’t see. I discovered this truth while cleaning my office—a historic event that was […]
Francesca Aniballi: Fairy tales aren’t just for kids
What if fairy tales could help us, as adults, to open our imaginations, re-enchant our worlds, and support our personal transformation. In […]
And now, a brief view from the land of the ordinary
The world’s been a bit gloomy, so I thought we needed a change. A little visit to main street, real life, the […]
Changing at the Speed of Slow
Question to a rancher: What’s the fastest way to move cattle? Rancher: Slowly On Monday, Martin Luther King Day, I thought about […]
Set Up Your Day With Morning Rituals and Routines
In these tumultuous times, as I wrote about last week, morning rituals and routines set the direction for our days. They offer a base […]
Fasten your seat belt—it’s 2024!
“Live with skillful nonchalance and ceaseless concern.”~ Prajnaparamita Sutra ~ Fasten your seat belt, it’s 2024 and we’re in for a wild […]
Solstice edition: The Light that lives within
Excerpted from “The Light Within” 2023 SJF Last week, I wrote about the darkness and grief many of us felt for the […]
Coping with (collective) grief during the holidays
The holidays can be challenging when we’re feeling grief, especially after personal losses—even those from long ago. This year many of us […]
Beauty and the Holidays
I caught up with the Angel of Beauty the other day as she stared into a storefront. “Beauty,” (as she let me […]
The exquisitely beautiful and difficult
“To me, this is so much of life: holding the really beautiful things and the profoundly hard things in the same palm.” […]
The Gift of Ordinary Kindness
When readers tell me that they are enjoying my book, it makes my heart sing. If it inspires them to expand their […]
Blessing the glad and the sad
Thanksgiving in the US is almost here, the day we sit around the table, hopefully with family and friends, and share with […]
Eight ways to help your brain chill (and not be a boiled frog)
Peter Senge taught me the lesson of the boiled frog in his 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline. He described how, if you […]
Completion challenge: Surviving and thriving at harvest time
I always thought harvesting was the fun part of the growing cycle. I still do; I just didn’t realize that it could […]
Following the trail of “yes”
My husband Steve and I just celebrated the 36th anniversary of our meeting. (We were married 35 years ago.) We said yes […]
Do you need a “mistake pass”?
A vocal coach in Australia described her method of helping the participants in her classes sing more freely: she gives them each […]
Sally Fox: Following a Creative Call After Midlife
What if your years after 50 offered creative possibilities that you never touched when you were younger? Author Sally Jean Fox made […]
When clouds get in the way
Does it ever happen to you that—when things are going great—blue sky and fresh breezes—some small thing derails you and lets a […]
Merle Saferstein: Writing and Living Your Legacy
Have you thought about writing your legacy, capturing thoughts and events that might be only for your eyes—but from which you might […]
What’s in your manifesto? (Is it time to share what you believe?)
These days, a lot of people are so busy saying what they’re against that we never hear what they’re for. Throughout history, […]
Growing high/growing low
Most trees and plants grow by reaching upward toward the light while sinking roots into the darkness of the earth. We grow as […]
Storying a more meaningful life (and a tribute to Juliet Bruce)
Stories teach. Stories heal. Stories transform. Working with stories, both ours and others, can help us find meaning and live a more […]
The Courage to Be Mediocre
Does the idea of being mediocre stop you from trying to do the creative thing you’ve always wanted to do? If so, […]
Overwhelmed? It’s OK to “Cry Uncle!”
I had tea this week with a close friend, one of the most kind, competent, and generous people I know. Also one […]
Surviving Mile 19
“Hitting the wall” is the term runners use to describe the moment when the bottom seems to fall out of their stamina, […]
Mik Kuhlman: The Actor as Activist
Mik Kuhlman is an actor, physical theatre comedian, performance artist, theatre-maker, and teacher who has worked and taught globally. Building on her […]
The real deal who brings us gold
I experienced major shifts in my consciousness, confidence, and skill as a speaker due to Sally’s powerful coaching. Sally has my highest […]
She helped me develop the leadership skills I needed
Sally shaped my leadership and professional development skills and coached me toward achieving a series of personal development goals. She challenged me […]
She helped me attract the ideal client
I engaged Sally as a coach when I was feeling stuck attracting the ideal client. Though we were working by phone, her […]
We can recognize ourselves
From Barry Johnson, author of Polarity Management: We can reflect and recognize our own stories as Sally shows how she has lived […]
A joyride!
From Ann Hedreen, author of Her Beautiful Brain Minding the Muse is a joyride. There are struggles, and there is grief, but all […]
Candid, courageous, creative
From Mary Oak, author or Heart’s Oratorio Candid and courageous, Meeting the Muse After Midlife celebrates Sally’s marvelous story of ripening into […]
Sally is a pioneer in the revolution to transform the second half of life
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Sally’s stories beckon to the pathway home
From Richard Owen Geer, director and author of Story Bridge: Some books give rules, others examples, but the best weave tales, for only […]
