Thomas Merton wrote “A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly”. But what does it actually mean to “fail well”?
Earlier this year I was sitting with the sting of failure and I was practicing dropping into my body to really pay attention to the physical sensations and thoughts that accompanied failure. I could feel a sort of defeated, heavy, …
When I was trained as a therapist (nearly 20 years ago) we were taught that when asked something personal, to try not to respond without asking a question first. So if a client said “Do you have kids?” or even “Where are you going on vacation?” we were encouraged to say something along the lines of “so what do you think’s behind that question?” …
I recently stumbled across a video from 2020 during lockdown when I was juggling clients remotely and piecing together a childcare plan for my kids. Feeling a mixture of lethargy and “leave me alone world” I had 30 minutes in my office before I had to be back on parenting duty. Parents around the globe were dealing with the same thing (and …
I remember where I was when I realized something was really wrong. It was a parking lot. My mother had just picked me up. I was 21. It was summer. I can’t remember what she said exactly, but I think she wanted to run some errands. I burst into tears. My legs and arms felt like they were weighed down with lead. …
It’s no small feat to put yourself out there into the world. I’m fortunate that I get a behind-the-scenes look at the world of many creatives, whether they’re musicians, song writers, actors or entrepreneurs. It’s a world of auditions, agents, contracts and pitches where the outcome is often rather stark. Yes or no. Acceptance or rejection. It can be hard to navigate that territory …
I’m a big fan of somatic meditation – which is really just a fancy word for noticing what you don’t want to feel in your body and then bringing you awareness into that space and opening and relaxing into the discomfort you find there. Sometimes that is all that’s needed. I’m amazed that feeling states that once upon would have spiraled can soften …
