What does it mean to live a BIG life? What constitutes a small life?

The answer is entirely up to you…and the way you choose to think about it.

You don’t need to take lavish vacations, spend time in Vegas or pal around with international celebrities to enjoy a big life. You need only go within and get curious:

How could I be enjoying my life more right now?
What activities bring me pleasure and satisfaction?
Who do I love being around?
What sparks joy in my heart?
What do I love to learn about?
What do I love to share with others?
What makes me feel alive?

As the leaves shift from summer greens to the hues of autumn here in Virginia, it serves as a gentle reminder of the passing of time. As I embrace this season of my life, I recall a famous quote from American poet Mary Oliver:

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Am I content to live a small, limited life? What’s tugging at my heart right now? How is my soul calling me to...

I wish it was easy for me to choose love in every life situation. It’s not. Sometimes I want to avoid a difficult conversation or pretend I don’t get scared when I hear disturbing news. Even with a consistent spiritual practice, I can still get triggered by a harsh comment, chaotic world event or when faced with a difficult decision.

After practicing degrees of avoidance, dodging, pretending and the occasional “forgetting” for decades, I’ve remembered the truth. All these tactics are simply an ego dance that keep me feeling constrained, stressed, uncomfortable and in conflict.

The truth is equally simple.

Every time I go within and ask Love for guidance on a specific issue or ask for help to react from love instead of fear, something miraculous happens.

There’s a shift.

Sometimes subtle, sometimes more pronounced but a definite shift to a feeling of peace. The shift is physical, mental, and emotional. My shoulders relax, the knot in my stomach...

When is the last time you consciously looked at people, places, or situations in your daily life “anew?”

That’s the message I’ve been getting lately. “See all things anew.” Not from a different perspective, or with a different attitude. Look at everything anew. 

I’ve been exploring this by asking questions.

How could I see my marriage anew? My business? My finances? My family? My body?

I’ve been asking these questions for a few weeks now and have been receiving amazing insights. By consciously looking at every aspect of my life with “new eyes” I’m seeing things I either haven’t seen or have taken for granted.

I looked at my husband anew and noticed the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I am more aware of how kind and loving he is towards me. Had I really forgotten this? (I can easily remember every time he doesn’t act this way!) I recognize once something becomes expected, it can lose its sparkle. Time...

This past weekend, a true leader was honored in my town on his 100^th birthday.

Rev. John R. Winter (known as “Rev. Dick Winter”) was surprised with a community celebration by the Warrenton Volunteer Fire Company at the fire house. Rev. Winter was the minister for the Warrenton Presbyterian Church from 1953 until his retirement in 1987. He baptized me as a child then my own daughter thirty years later.

He was in the Rotary Club with my dad and sat next to each of my parents’ hospital beds countless times over the decades. He did all the things a good minister does. He preached the gospel, taught Bible classes, officiated at weddings, baptisms, funerals, enjoyed church picnics, potlucks, and coffee hours, comforted the sick and offered counseling, kindness, and encouragement to all. But there was more.  

Before we all had instant access to local news, he seemed to know where to go to offer support, comfort, and compassion in the community at large. He...

I used to know exactly what the “right thing” was. In my younger years, and in most every situation, I had my opinion and felt strongly it was the “right” one.

Then I lived a few more decades and got a tad wiser. Not a Yoda by any means, but I gained the type of insight that comes from living life and through societal changes.

When I was a very young girl, the “right” thing was to send children to specific schools based on their race alone. As I grew into a teenager and young adult, I was led to believe the “right” thing was to pay women a lower wage than their male colleagues doing the same job. Well into my adulthood, the “right” thing was to only recognize legal marriage between heterosexual couples.

A lot has changed over the last sixty years and thankfully so. I’ve come to recognize that prevailing opinions shift based on societal norms, customs, spiritual practices and developments in science and technology.

So...

I was on a zoom call last week with two of my treasured “soul sister” friends. Among the giggles, questions, and loving comments we discovered a trend. Each of us were having up close experiences with…creatures. Whether it had fur, wings or was long legged and jumpy, we had all encountered signs from nature in the form of these nonhuman souls.

We discussed the spiritual meaning of each of the specific “visitors” and discovered how perfect each message was for the recipient. Coincidence? Not a chance.

One of my friends mentioned butterflies in her house. Many resources describe the butterfly as bringing a message of personal transformation, renewal, rebirth, and even elevation from earthly focus to a more spiritual one. According to Ted Andrews, author of “Animal Speak:”

“An important message carried by the spirit of the butterfly is about the ability to go through important changes with grace and lightness.”

I thought about...

                  “What you experience in your external world is a reflection of your internal world.”

I can’t remember when I came across the teaching above or who I first heard it from, but I do remember that I immediately resonated with the message.

As the years have progressed and I’ve studied the mystics, neuroscience, and many of the great thinkers of our time my understanding has only deepened. I believe that what I “see” in my external world is indeed a reflection of my conscious and unconscious beliefs. Oh, I believe it, but I still forget. Here’s a recent example.

I’ve been supporting a friend who is struggling with a specific challenge. She is the most organized person I’ve ever met and is prepared for anything.

Worldwide shut down due to a pandemic? Prepared. Emergency home repairs? She’s got that covered. Extra...

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  

 Viktor E. Frankl

This week my country celebrates July 4^th as Independence Day. The holiday marks the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the 1776 Second Continental Congress when my forefathers declared our freedom from Great Britain.

While the last few years have been cited as the reason many in America feel oppressed, in truth, significant swaths of our population have never been free. At least not like it was described in the history books I studied as a kid.

I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom. And who, what or in what circumstances I truly feel free.

I realized something.

My freedom comes from an inner sense of peace. While laws, ordinances and Supreme Court rulings can restrict my actions, movements and outside choices, my freedom lies in my ability to choose my response. As...

I was on the phone yesterday with a dear friend. As we discussed recent world events, she wondered out loud, “Where can I move that would be safe, protected from this chaos?”

We both immediately knew the answer.

Within.

“Within where?” you might ask. One of the Scandinavian countries? Australia, New Zealand? Somewhere in the Caribbean?

The safest place for you, me, and everyone we love is much closer than that: within the wisdom of our own heart.

Your best guidance forward, the way to navigate the world events and help consciously evolve our communities, countries and the world will not be found within current government structures. Or in rhetoric created to induce fear. It is always available within the quiet space of your own heart, however.

How do you access it, the wisdom of your inner divine heart? Meditation and spending time in nature are excellent options and here are three more:

• A favorite tool of mine is the free app offered by the Brahma...

I find the most specific guidance, the clearest wisdom and undisputable truths often come through at weird times.

Like when I’m in the shower.

That’s where I was today when I realized I had been wondering how to be more effective in my business. Somewhere between the shampoo and conditioner, I heard it.

“Connect. Inspire. Lead.”

This is a message for all of us:

• Connect – All the wisdom we need to understand our lives, have healthy relationships, and enjoy our time on this beautiful planet ALL comes from our sacred connection to the Divine within. How? Connect in meditation, spend time in nature, listen to sacred music, read inspirational books and be mindful of the ever-present now.
• Inspire – Often when I tell someone they inspire me, their reaction is “Me? What’d I do?” Our society used to think proof of inspiration through influence came from bestselling books, social media “likes” or the size of an email list. Not...