We interrupt your regular programming to bring you… a little joy. 🙂
The interviews for my “Letting go of the Ground” series have been beyond amazing. I have several more that I can’t wait to share with you. So many stories, so much wisdom, so much courage!
Today’s a mini-vacation though (the girls are on Spring Break and we’re going on little road trip), so I thought I’d take a little break from the interviews and share a little JOY!
Here are the things bringing me joy these days:
– The road trip. A girls only mini-vacation with friends who make us laugh.
– Amazing connections with really wise people. This interview series and my e-book are full of incredible wisdom and it humbles and amazes me (and baffles me somewhat) that I’ve managed to surround myself with so many smart people. Wow. Really… WOW.
– And the connections go even further. Remember ALIA? One of my favourite events of last year? Well, I’m going again in June AND in the space of time between now and then, I get to interview a number of the really smart people on the faculty for their “Change for Good” project. This is amazing stuff, people. These are world-changing, deep-thinking, knock-my-socks-off kinda people and I get to have one-on-one conversations with them. Pinch me! Here’s one example.
– Spring. Oh my – it can’t come soon enough! SO glad to have this hard long winter over!
– Running. Still loving it. This morning – seven miles in the crisp air.
– The administration in the University program I teach at saying “You’ve managed to build trust with the students. We want MORE of you.” And then having them offer me more classes to teach.
– One of my students (with a sparkle in her eyes) blaming me for exposing her to so many ideas and possibilities, that she just can’t go back to her “safe” way of thinking anymore.
– Chai latte with my friend Jo-Anne tomorrow. We have the GREATEST conversations.
– More people downloading my e-book in three weeks than I dared to dream of. So many people responding with gratitude, saying how much it means to them.
– Another upcoming opportunity to teach my “Leading with your Paint Clothes on” workshop.
– My book! I think I’ve finished the first draft! (I say “think”, because I’m going to sit with it for awhile to see if anything else needs to emerge.) And the best part is – I’m feeling really happy with it so far.
– Living this dream of writing and teaching and creating for a living and LOVING every minute of it.
p.s. If you’re reading this, and you’re in the middle of a lot of pain and ugliness right now, and you’re thinking “oh my gosh, I wish this Pollyanna would just shut up with the joy already”, just know this… it gets better. Just after writing this, I realized that a year ago, I was in a horrible place of transition and ugliness and dealing with a husband slipping into a deep dark depression. Let me tell you, I know from personal experience that it gets better.
One of the things I love about the process of doing interviews for this series is the great variety of stories that are emerging. Today’s story is quite different from the last one, and yet in each one there is great wisdom to be gleaned.
When I first started dreaming about leaving my job for self-employment, I picked up the book Making a Living Without a Job and I was hooked. It was the perfect thing to fuel my dream. I also started following its author, Barbara Winter, on Twitter and soon learned that she is one of the most warm and genuine people you could ever meet. When I finally left that job, I think Barbara was the first person to cheer me on, and she has been a consistent cheerleader and supporter since. Some day, I want to curl up on a couch with her and enjoy a cup of tea together.
In this video, Barbara shares her personal story of making the leap from “safe” employment to the relatively shaky ground of self-employment. (Once again, the longer video – full of all kinds of wisdom and advice – will be available once I release my e-course.)
When I first started down the path that lead me to Sophia Leadership, I started searching for other people online who were writing about feminine wisdom. Julie Daley is one of the first people whose writing drew me in. It didn’t just draw me in, it wrapped itself around me like a warm quilt that made me feel like I’d come home after a long and lonely voyage at sea. Julie is wise and beautiful and one of the most gracious and kind people I’ve met online. She exudes that grace on this video.
I could have talked to Julie for hours, and to tell you the truth, we’re already considering a follow-up interview. In this video, she shares a couple of heart-wrenching stories of when the ground was  swept out from under her feet. In future installations, she’ll share more about the times she’s chosen to let go of the ground.
Once again, Julie shared much more wisdom than is on this video. That will be available once my e-course emerges. For more on that (and a collection of all of the story-sharing videos in one place) visit my e-course preview.
I’m excited to introduce you to my second guest on the “Let go of the Ground” series.
Almost as soon as we met on Twitter (about a year ago), Desiree Adaway and I started joking that we must be “sisters from another mother”. We have a lot in common, and at the time we met, we were on very similar journeys. We were both leaving leadership positions in non-profit to launch our own businesses. Desiree now serves as a consultant, working with organizations and individuals who want to be change-makers. Her work inspires me and reminds me that there are good people in the world working for positive change.
Once again, I’m only sharing a portion of our conversation. In this piece, Desiree shares a personal story of when she – at the tender age of 16 – learned her first big lesson in letting go of the ground.
If you want to see the rest of the interview and the wisdom lessons Desiree has learned on her journey (and you’ll just have to trust me on this – it’s AMAZING – at one point, when she was wiping tears from her eyes, she accused me of being Barbara Walters), you’ll have to wait for my final offering on this. I’ve decided I’m going to offer something that I’m calling an “e-course” (for brevity), but is more like an “e-basket full of goodies for your transformation journey”. Check out what I’m working on so far! (To be honest, I feel like I’m letting go of the ground with this whole venture, because it is emerging so beautifully and seemingly out of my control that I just have to trust the process.) To stay informed as this progresses, add your email to my list (in that box on the right side of the screen).
Yesterday I launched my series “Let go of the ground & taste the sky” about learning to surrender the way a caterpillar surrenders to the chrysalis in order to step fully into the butterfly she’s meant to be. I shared one of my stories, and now I’m busy gathering stories of other people who’ve learned to let go of the ground.
Today I’m very excited to introduce you to my first guest. Jen Louden is one of my favourite people to hang out with on Twitter. She is genuine, friendly, optimistic and committed to making the world a better place. She has written six books and has taught all over the world. She has recently launched a brand new experiment called “Savour & Serve”, which I LOVE. I’m also (as I’ve mentioned a few times) a huge fan of Teach Now, the online workshop she teaches together with Michele Lisenbury Christensen. The first call of Teach Now is on Thursday (and it’s FREE!), and if you haven’t signed up for it yet, I’d highly recommend it.
I had a delightful conversation with Jen yesterday. Here’s a part of that conversation. I’m saving the rest of it for the special offering (e-course, or whatever I end up calling it) in which I’ll be inviting people to join me as we learn to let go of the ground together. (If you want to get the details on that, add your email to the box on the right – and download my free e-book while you’re at it. I’ll be sharing the information with my email list first.)
We interrupt your regular programming to bring you… a little joy. 🙂
and I was hooked. It was the perfect thing to fuel my dream. I also started following its author, 
