Very last minute we decided that we wanted to go to Disney World a few weeks ago.  Just for a few days; just to get out of the city.  I'm so lucky to have a fantastic Travel Agent as a good family friend (reach out if you want to be put in touch with her - seriously she is THE best), because she was able to get us in to do all the things and meet all the characters and generally have a really lovely time.  

We were there for three nights and decided to go to Magic Kingdom on the second day and to stay long enough to watch the fireworks.  As I wandered around the park that afternoon, I was really transported back to my childhood.  The days of glass slippers and 7 lovely Dwarfs; times when virtue was sure to win and following your heart was the only roadmap you'd ever need.   Before adulting and times when things can become more narrow, there is the expanse of imagination - it was so good to be giving the opportunity to Remind myself of those dreams -...

The last two months of my life have been deeply challenging and beautiful. I usually find the space each month to put my thoughts out there - but it has been two months since I have had the ability to sit down in peace and really think and feel.  

A few weeks ago I was on a little family vacation in Philadelphia.  Though I grew up in the area and my family and I have been in many times, we had never stayed there and soaked it in.  Discovering the city as an adult with my Mom and brother was really lovely.  I was struck by all that I re-learned about how our country began and the choices people made.  At The Franklin Institute, we went to see the Brick exhibit.  This exhibit displays the brilliant work of a man who designs artistic pieces entirely out of Legos.  The first piece on display was a 3D hand holding just one tiny Lego brick.  To the artist, this signified that each and every thing we do is built brick by brick.  One at a time....

I'm pretty positive I'm on to something. 

I've been on to this for a while now - a few years - but now I'm able to articulate and create structure around it which is bringing it to life.  My boyfriend says, it's as if I was the owner and creator of this incredible flying machine; a top of the line private yet which houses in it incredible growth and freedom and wisdom and amazing things.  The issue I had is that my incredible machine had no doors - no way to gain entry.  So it was just sitting in the mental hangar of my brain, helping no one.  Until now.

As I write this, feet up on the ottoman, glass of homemade almond milk beside me, I'm gazing out at the drifting clouds and the sky changing as the sun moves.  It's peaceful here.  Only the faint car horn can be heard from about 200 feet in the air.  I'm feeling deeply grateful, because earlier today I rehearsed in a practice room for two hours.  I got to sing out and feel all the joy and...

I've been coming across it more and more.  With projects at work, with clients, while driving...it has even crept into my relationships at times.  I was reading the NYT a few weeks ago and this epidemic was even featured there.  Rushing.  It's all around us in a modern world.  

Where does the need to rush come from, what are the impacts of it, and what can we do to minimize how big of a role it plays in our lives?

My hypothesis is that rushing comes from a superficial need or desire to control.  Control comes from a fear-based place.  When used productively, control can be useful.  For example, controlling choices around eating healthy or getting enough rest or drinking enough water.  Control can veer into unhealthy territory easily though and can end up looking like micromanaging, anxiety or other ego based behaviors.

There are two instances of rushing that have come to my life most recently and both carried with them unintended but...

Today I realized that figuring out how to live fully and uniquely as myself is one of the best ways I can love myself.  

I've been going through a fascinating period of growth lately.  I'm spending more time thinking about what makes me, "Me".  What attributes, skills, perspectives and talents do I bring to a situation or relationship?  Of those, which allow me to feel in the flow and fully aligned?  Which ones feel most authentic?  What am I really passionate about? What makes me feel more alive rather than depleted?  

I arrived in this moment today by really listening to a few messages that have been circling me lately - from emails I'm getting, conversations I'm having with my boyfriend and opportunities that are coming across my path that require me to be only and exactly who I am.  

At first, I was uncomfortable.  For so long I have prioritized being "for everyone".  I have been interested in getting along with everyone; in...

It's a new year.  Fifteen days in I have managed to find one quiet hour to sit and think and Remember.  I'm grateful that I've had enough practice with this now that it doesn't take me long at all to find myself and listen.  It used to not come at all...then months...weeks...a day or so, and now just the time it takes for a quiet warm shower and a cup of tea will do the trick.  

I find that talking to myself is really helpful and brings clarity.  So many things are coming to mind, but only one idea is easing its way towards the surface: how we choose and power our perspective. 

Last night one of my dearest friends and I went to dinner before heading to a comedy show at The Beacon theater here in NYC.  Both headlining comedians were smart and funny, but it was one thing that the opener said that has stayed with me today.  He told the story of how he hated NYC.  He thought it was terrible and all the people in it were mean - a horrid place....

I think I've always been a thinker.  I've always been interested in the stuff behind the stuff...the subtext...the nuggets...the tiniest building blocks of things that actually are tiny only in size.  My Mom always called me "eagle eye".  

Even though I have truly terrible eyesight, whenever something was lost, I could somehow always find it by getting quiet and paying attention and noticing everything I could.  That's how I found the stuff.  My earliest memory is of finding a contact lens in a high pile, almost shag, carpet that I'm pretty sure was navy blue.  My most recent memory is of retracing steps to find a lost credit card at night in grass that needed to be cut.  

I really like it. Observing.  It's now a large component of who I am and I really love it about myself.  It's what I relied on heavily when I was learning how to be a musician.  The first instrument I learned to play was the piano and my Mom was my first teacher,...

I knew I would have to leave my NYC studio apartment to get it all done in the way I wanted and needed to. It's been two years since I learned that my father passed away, and in that time I had processed a lot and learned SO much about myself.  I felt pulled to write about it as a way to fully process and acknowledge what I learned.  I knew that just finding two hours to write in between work and life in NYC was not going to yield the kind of result that I deserved.  So I decided to schedule a self retreat.  I could have gone almost anywhere, but for some reason felt pulled to go somewhere very near water.  The ocean, specifically.  

So here I am on an island in the Caribbean, sitting on my balcony at the quietest corner of the hotel.  I get up for the sunrise and have my coffee beside me.  I meditate with the ocean breeze passing over me and helping me Remember how to breathe.  The waves coming in slow my heartbeat down and help me to...

I usually notice it first as an outward manifestation of what's going on inside.  Perhaps I just won't be able to jog as quickly, or it'll take an extra cup of coffee to get me going, or it'll take an extra shimmy to get into those pants.  It's usually a sluggishness that will start to come forward and is a sign for me that I've been disconnected from my choices and because of that, I'm not always making the right ones.  

For me these choices include not eating mindfully or often enough and when I do, not eating the right foods. I go to foods that are quicker, easy to assemble meals, many meals out, definitely alcohol.  All of these things don't serve me or my body being and feeling my best.  When I feel this way (as I do right now as I'm typing this), I know that I've got to stop, listen, hold myself accountable, and start making better tiny decisions.  

I'm grateful when it happens and I can notice it, because now I listen.  When I do, I know I...

Climate change is a very real thing.  Over time, nature and animals are remarkably adaptable...maybe we will be, too?

Recently, my own ability to adapt was challenged not once, but TWICE in a one month period of time when flights from Chicago to the East coast were cancelled.  The strong storms and winds hitting the entire east coast were enough to ground flights for days.  

The first time, I was traveling back to NYC with my Mom and brother after a wonderful family vaca to Yellowstone.  We ended up having to crash in Chicago overnight and then took a regional flight to a cab to a train to the Acela to get home.  Exhausting, but better than trying to fly through the huge storm that was impacting the coastline.

Then two weeks later, I was in Chicago for a wedding (which was lovely), and our Sunday morning direct flight from ORD to LGA got delayed...then delayed...then delayed...then cancelled 4 hours later.  The tricky thing this time was that we...