The power of retreat: Allowing your soul to catch up.

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The power of retreat: Allowing your soul to catch up.

I stumbled upon this quote as I was flipping through Wayne Muller’s book, Sabbath, in December and the words really struck me. The idea of just staying in one place for a few days, with the sole purpose of allowing my soul to catch up sounded so alluring to me. It had been a crazy but interesting fall, and despite the infusion of mindfulness and slowness in my day-to-day, there was still an influx of frenetic energy going into the various projects and plans for my business. When I read this quote, it sunk inside me like a stone as I realized (once again!) that I was living too far in the future and I needed to stop and let my soul catch up.  

So, at the beginning of the new year, I decided to book a rustic cabin in the mountains (no electricity, water or heat!) for a retreat of sorts; an opportunity for me to get away from the distractions of my day-to-day life and really slow down and get clear about what was really important to me. 

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Less fear, more action. Intentions for a new year.

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Less fear, more action. Intentions for a new year.

In 1933, the new President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, uttered the now famous words, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" in his inaugural speech to a country caught in the grips of a deep and terrifying depression. It was a time of great uncertainty. Economic instability, drought, high unemployment and fear were rampant across the western world. 

Roosevelt's words were powerful at the time, and they still ring true today. 

Biologically, fear is a highly useful emotion. After all, when we feel fear it triggers a fight-or-flight response - a physiological reaction that shoots an evolutionary cocktail of dopamine and adrenaline through our body, honing our senses, our intuition and our ability to react. 

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Living life on autopilot: How to get yourself back in the driver’s seat

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Living life on autopilot: How to get yourself back in the driver’s seat

I have to be honest. I am a little bit freaked out about the advent of the driverless car. Last weekend, I read an article on the projections by most major car makers that driverless (autonomous) cars will be on the market by 2020. Despite the argument that these cars will be safer than cars with drivers, I can’t help but shudder when I think about them. Maybe it is because they feel too futuristic (I mean, even the Jetsons drove their little spaceship), or maybe because I am getting to the age where nostalgia trumps novelty (I hope not!).

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All work and no play: Are you operating at a play deficit?

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All work and no play: Are you operating at a play deficit?

Earlier this month, I read Dr. Stuart Brown's book, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and invigorates the Soul. Dr. Brown is a psychologist and co-founder of the National Institute of Play and a strong proponent for the importance of play in our busy grown-up lives. He believes that play is essential if we are to keep our minds and hearts open, flexible, healthy and adaptable to our ever-changing world. 

A strong argument, a fascinating read and a powerful reminder that I need to play more.

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What a few cups of tea will teach you: a lesson in perspective

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What a few cups of tea will teach you: a lesson in perspective

This fall, I was at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival for an evening of films and photography. The last film of the night was a documentary by Jennifer Jordan called 3,000 Cups of Tea in which Jordan, along with her husband/cinematographer Jeff Rhoads, explored the 2011 allegations about Greg Mortenson’s financial misdeeds and his distortions of the truth.

Like me, you might remember reading the book, Three Cups of Tea. It is an inspirational memoir about Mortenson’s work building schools (primarily for girls) throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan. The book spent 220 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List and by 2011 donors had contributed more than $70 million to the organization. When the 60 Minutes exposé came out, the world of Greg Mortenson was forever altered. He fell hard and fast.

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Remembrance Day: Why Stillness Matters

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Remembrance Day: Why Stillness Matters

Early in my teaching career, I joined two colleagues on a summer-time trip to Europe to visit the battlegrounds and grave sites of the First and Second World War. This trip had a huge impact on me, both personally and professionally. At the time, I was new to teaching and despite a four-year history degree, my war knowledge was less than impressive. Driving in our rental car through the French and Belgian countryside changed everything for me. We stopped at countless Canadian war cemeteries, Vimy Ridge, Ypres, Dieppe and Normandy (among other battlegrounds) and spent hours in silence as we weaved our way through gravestones and memorials trying to imagine and comprehend all that had taken place so many years ago.

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An argument for being average

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An argument for being average

Earlier this week, I was working at a local café when a woman in her late 60s (maybe early 70s) struck up a conversation with me about the necklace I was wearing. The next thing I knew, I was clearing my work off the table so this stranger could join me. She only had a few minutes to spare, but right away we found ourselves deep in a conversation about life and work. She talked about her husband, her children, her grandchildren, the work that she does and the passions that she has. Between bites of pastry and sips of tea, a lifetime of wisdom poured from this regal-looking woman. I sat there, in complete awe.

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Are you listening? How slowing down helps us tune in.

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Are you listening? How slowing down helps us tune in.

Just this summer, I was at my doctor’s office for my annual checkup. Our visit started, as it usually does, with a series of questions about my current state of health. I sat, legs dangling from the examination table, starring absentmindedly at the posters on the wall. My doctor also sat, her back to me, as she riddled off a series of rather personal doctor-like questions. As I responded to each question, she earnestly entered my responses onto a file in her computer. Only once or twice, during that first 15 minutes of the visit, did our eyes connect for a brief moment when she turned her head slightly to confirm what I had said.

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How I boosted my productivity by stopping - a quick lesson in doing nothing.

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How I boosted my productivity by stopping - a quick lesson in doing nothing.

This past week, I found myself restless and squirming at my desk, unable to link even two coherent sentences together. Instead of switching gears and doing something else I just kept pushing, desperate to squeeze out an article in time for my self-imposed deadline (which has passed, in case you are wondering). The more I tried to write, the more frustrated I became with myself and the abysmal work I was producing. I grappled for any semblance to flow, but it was completely and firmly out of my reach.

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