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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