Joy Letters
I am a recovering perfectionist, productivity chaser, and people pleaser, coaching women to disrupt old thought patterns, let go of behaviors that keep them stuck, and make their joy an everyday priority.
🦩 ripples of delight 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, “You are a delight,” someone said to me as I left a networking thing last week.* “I know,” I answered, “and adding delight to the world is an important part of my mission.” This is not an exchange that would have occurred during my successful (measured by numbers and titles) corporate career. I did not see myself as a delight, nor was any part of my mission to spread delight. It usually had something to do with KPIs, ROIs, CTRs, or whatever acronym was the measure of...
🦩 rituals, values, and the courage to pause 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, I saw an Advent Calendar at Costco last weekend. It sells for $99 and is five feet tall. I’ve been wondering who it’s for, and apparently, at least one loud part of me is screaming “MeMeMe,” because I am still thinking about it. What do people want from an Advent calendar? What do they value about having one? Me? I value ritual. Pausing. Vorfreude. I want a little delightful treat every day during a time that’s supposed to be about joy, love, compassion, and generosity, but...
🦩 if your conundrum were a raindrop... 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, This morning, I filled the final empty pages of my current “Daily Page” journal.* The Hierophant is a good guy to have on your council of elders. As I flipped through the pages from today to the beginning, I realized that the first pages were actually journal entries from the Salmon River Slowdown, the retreat I co-hosted last year. It had been raining and we’d all retreated to our tents (still unaware of the approaching thunderstorm that would shake the canyon walls within...
🦩 slow currents 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, Even if the surface appears completely still, the river is always in motion. Things have been slow ever since I returned from the river. And with “things” I am referring to my thoughts (and their slowing is a relief), my body (its slowness a variable in my daily movement patterns), and my work rhythms (which really requires me to filter out all the non-essential stuff). But if rivers have taught me anything, it’s that the current is always moving. It may not appear to be...
🦩 packing bags 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, Packing for the wildHER Rogue River Adventure. I am glad it all has to fit into a 3.8 cu. ft. drybag: Sleeping bag, down pillow, hiking shoes, camp shoes, river pants, camp pants, long underwear, tank tops, wool hat, sun hat, journal, pens, book, pajamas, chargers, battery packs, toiletries, meds, fleece jacket, rain jacket, rain pants, cotton comfort clothes, costume for the last-night-on-the-river celebration. Oh, and the little stuffed ant eater that has travelled across...
🦩 intuition 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, “Alright, you know what’s coming…” I say to my client, and a big grin appears on her face. She wasn’t always this keen on answering the question I ask at the beginning of every coaching session: “What are you celebrating about yourself? What have you been proud of since we last spoke?”* “My intuition and the fact that I followed it,” she says I won’t tell you what she intuited, but I will tell you that her intuition was right on point, and the results are positively...
🦩 reasonably unseasonal 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, It’s an afternoon in August, and I just brought my writing outside. The unseasonable temperateness of the temperatures makes it possible. (Did you know that temperature used to be a synonym for mild weather?) There is a lot of unseasonable going on right now. I might even say an unreasonable amount of unseasonableness: The Halloween Decorations are coming out in the temples of capitalism and today (August 6!) I even saw a Thanksgiving display. Apparently, it's time to plan...
🦩 vorfreude 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, The German word Vorfreude roughly translates into pre-joy, and I just felt it tingling through my body, walking through downtown Missoula on a Saturday morning and anticipating the pastry case at Morningbirds Bakery. In my mind, I could taste the cinnamon roll; I felt the spongy texture in my mouth, and I imagined licking the sticky icing off my fingers. In that moment, I wasn't thinking about my to-do list or worrying about my local public radio station. My thoughts had...
🦩 chasing hawks 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, My thoughts were lulled into a rare state of quietude by the sounds of crickets and my steps on the gravel trail. The scent of summer pine. The heat of the afternoon on my face. Until a shriek unlulled me—pulled my eyes to the sky. One of my favorite shows to watch had come on: “Chasing Hawks,” played out by two chickadees harassing a red-tailed hawk. It never looks strategic (or smart) on the little birds’ part, diving, circling, fluttering, darting. Maybe that’s what...
🦩 choosing choices 🦩
Guten Tag, Reader, A few things before we get into the thrill of making life-impacting decisions: 🌿 July Moss Hour is coming up on July 7th. Join me on Zoom for a grounding gathering to start the month. 🛶 When was the last time you felt truly wild? Untamed? Fully You? If you have trouble answering (these or any of the questions down the letter), join us on the wildHER Rogue River Adventure. And now on to this week's letter: “I am not going to use this,” I mumbled to myself. “It is too banal,”...
I am a recovering perfectionist, productivity chaser, and people pleaser, coaching women to disrupt old thought patterns, let go of behaviors that keep them stuck, and make their joy an everyday priority.