In every discussion about upcoming programs, one question comes up:

"Why invest in a facilitated group?"

The answer is straightforward: Change is challenging, and facilitated groups provide the framework, structure, and support to ensure that we sustain ourselves through the 6 or 12-week process.

Beyond that, we provide ample opportunities to stay connected - casually in our wider community of group alums - or more formally.

December dilemma. You decide - is this time of darkness best for hibernation or preparation?

Both are reasonable responses to waking in the dark - and at least in Northern Europe - four o’clock sunsets.

If the former is your preference - we’ll see you in late January!

But if preparation appeals join our December programs for support.

Why it’s not too soon to start thinking about the new year. Step one is about laying the groundwork to make new choices and commitments.

That begins when we ask ourselves: Who are we in this life stage?- What’s next?- What or who might help? Most importantly - do I have the humility to ask for it?

Transmitters and receivers are great descriptors for prayer and mediation. Early in 2022, Seeking Wisdom, A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection hit the store shelves, just one year after Julia Cameron released The Listening Path, The Creative Art of Attention. As with those lessons on deeper listening there is more to learn about asking for guidance…

A holiday weekend approaches. My newsfeeds, the airwaves, and billboards all shout out about the latest bargains on offer.

Apparently, I need to spend money for the ‘good’ of the economy.

Does that seem to be a shared value that we or the planet can live with?

Brigid is the Celtic goddess of abundance traditionally honored on the Celtic cross-quarter feast of Imbolc  between Winter Solstice & Spring Equinox; now on February 1st.

A floodgate is the metaphor I used for years when describing a fear of being paralyzed if I unearthed a long-buried childhood trauma.

Rage, even the expression of mild anger, was forbidden in the household and schools in which I was reared.

This is an invitation to dive into the enthusiasm & sense of possibility we were born with, overlay the lessons learned & choose an intentional life moving forward . The stories are a way to pass along the wisdom gleaned.

Our stories bring us clarity - and they are our legacy.

Consider that we met our children, nieces, nephews, & their children as grownups or elders. In our presence, they experience only our present.

What might they learn of having known us when we were their ages?

We’ve all heard the adage that reminds us we have two ears and one mouth - hence, we should listen twice as much as we speak. Cameron shows us the how. She encourages us to explore and practice six ways of listening: Listening to Our Environment, Listening to Others, Listening to Our Higher Self, Listening Beyond the Veil, Listening to Our Heroes and Listening to Silence.

Each is layer is explored in a chapter that invites us to practice cultivating a heightened awareness of what we may not be attuned to…

"But Eve, I'm not an artist."

Many conversations begin that way when I introduce the tools of my practice supporting people in transition.

I share a larger toolbox with many coaches: Life pies, personality type indicators, skills indicators, habit or mood tracking charts, personal inventories, vision boards, mission statements, etc.

I use them, but I lead with the bedrock tools of 'discovering and recovering creativity' introduced by Julia Cameron three decades ago.

That meets with considerable resistance because the book in which she introduced them is called The Artist's Way.

A colleague's 6 year old grandson returned from school having been taught the biblical story of Joseph.

"Daddy, why did his brothers throw Joseph in the pit?"

"Because Joseph was his father's favorite. Jacob didn't treat the other brothers as nicely."

He went off. A good while later he was back, having seriously contemplated the matter at hand.

"They should have thrown Joseph's father in the pit!"

That, dear readers, is precisely why we tell stories.

Imagine if we, as a culture, could embrace depression. Imagine that in any life cycle there are, as in nature, seasons. Depression does not always have to be viewed as pathology.

The industrial age introduced clocks, the digital age upped 9-5 to 24/7.

We are not meant to operate outside of the natural order of things. Riotous springs are followed by productive summers. In fall, as energy wanes we’re motivated to prepare for winter and muster the energy to get things done. In winter we accept that little grows, days are short and if we give over to the darkness and rest, we’ll recharge.

"You are the hero of this story"

...and you're thinking - "Who me? There's not a heroic bone in my body!"

So, let's make "hero" a bit less intimidating. First, throw off the superhero images. Just showing up and being available is Job #1.

Accepting the challenge to live life more purposefully, to imagine a new future & lay the foundation for a new life stage - is what we in the storytelling business call - "The Hero's Journey".

So what’s a memoir? It’s simply a tool – and it’s best described by Julia Cameron – who created it:

“The Memoir is a weekly exercise that builds upon itself. You will divide your life into sections; as a rule of thumb, divide your age by twelve, and this is the number of years you will cover each week…you will trigger vivid memories, discover lost dreams, and find unexpected healing and clarity...

Along the way, you will find dreams you wish to return to, ideas you are ready to discard, wounds you are ready to heal, and most of all, an appreciation for the life you have led.”

“Anonymous was a Woman”…

…and still is – far too often.

This book was a gift from a friend back in the 80s when I was learning to quilt.

I treasured it and gave copies to a cadre of good friends with whom I shared a passion for ‘antiquing’ – or rather scavenging the markets of Lancaster County.

Coffee klatches, consciousness-raising groups and water coolers were among the favoured gathering places in my lifetime. Humans are social animals, we thrive in community and whither in isolation.

And conversations drive change- whether it’s personal, professional or civic.

The gatherings haven’t changed much – but they have reflected changing times.

I’m passionate about celebrating the privilege of living in a place so beautiful that C.S. Lewis modelled Narnia on it. Carlingford Lough & the Mournes is where he spent childhood summers with his grandmother.

I’m passionate about working to teach entrepreneurship, creating jobs and bringing investment.

The granddaughter of a reluctant emigrant, I returned a century after he left to find work. The children of this island are leaving again. We are exporting 1000 a week. 54,000 left in a 12-month period between 2010 & 11.

Sadder still is that we are now exporting our first generation reared in peace. We must focus on exporting their intellectual property, not our children.