Inspiration

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

Last weekend I went to the Light Therapy exhibit at the MOCA here in Toronto. And it really helped! Would highly recommend, if there’s something similar where you live.

The Buffer Stories Creator lets you use other fonts besides what Instagram has on tap, but also looks easy and lightweight and you can do it from your desktop. Cool.

I’m launching a new group strategy program called The Foundery, and I’m going to try out using Twist for our group online communications instead of Slack. I’ve used Slack for a while and like it, but Twist looks calmer and more user-friendly for multiple questions & ideas.

I’m excited to be writing this while listening to this playlist of what are apparently the world’s most calming songs. You can read more about the study here, but ironically this page auto-played about 4 different videos at once, which was the exact opposite of calming.

I realized that I only have the rest of the month to read 10 more books for my reading challenge (ahh!) so this week I’ve been reading a few good ones: Beartown, It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy At Work, Becoming and This Is Marketing.

I liked the concept of setting yourself micro-habits as a way of “casting votes for a new identity”. It reminds me of Sarah’s concept of bookmark or placeholder habits, which I also love.

In case you missed it, I started a newsletter for my business! You can read the first issue all about intentional business here & subscribe in the top-left corner.

---

As the week has gone on, I’ve felt more and more under the weather, both emotionally (we’ve mostly had grey, frigid days, with a bit of sun here and there) but also physically! I’ve got a sore throat, headache and runny nose, so it’ll be lots of fluids and sleep for me this weekend! Oh, and reading. There will be a lot of that too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

This video clip filled me with so much joy. How talented are they?!

We all need ideas about how to save money on gifts this holiday season! This year, basically everyone on my list is getting books.

Speaking of money, I find Weathsimple’s Money Diaries super interesting and well-produced. This one with JVN is fun!

I felt like punching the air in excitement when I read this post from Seth this week. THIS is why systems and details matter so much.

Some of the coding stuff was over my head, but I liked this behind-the-scenes look at how Kai built Dense Discovery (one of my fave newsletters).

If you have any secret gift exchanges this holiday season, allow me to recommend this super simple online generator. I used it to set up a Secret Santa with my sisters and it’s way more fun not knowing whose name everyone drew!

This week The Vault launched its first print collection, On Healing! I am so proud to be a part of this magazine, and this collection is so beautiful.

It was lots of fun to tour Cobblestone Farm Retreat this week with Sonja and Laura and learn more about Sam, the owner. She is so cool and has had such an interesting life. Plus the house and dogs and horses are all beautiful!

Next Monday I’ll be sending out the first issue of my new business newsletter, Creative Support! It’ll be a monthly email sharing some business thoughts & strategies, what I’m up to, and things I love. It’s a different list than these Inspiration posts, so head over here to subscribe if you’re interested!

Last but not least, this week I was inspired by those little orange berries. How cute! You can read more about that here.

---

It was a slow week, and for that I am grateful. Apart from our day trip to the farmhouse, I had very few plans and lots of space in my days to get back to reality and feel grounded again. November has been FULL, in a good way, and it’s nice to be able to catch my breath and plan ahead for the rest of 2018. This weekend I have a few lovely low-key parties to go to, and otherwise am hoping to read and relax. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

The most inspiring thing I experienced this week was the retreat I was a part of last weekend, Nurture. Huge shout outs to Sonja, Kathryn of Golden Age Botanicals, Mel of Sunday’s Company, Jo of La Jo Lee and Jodianne from The E Project for making the weekend so incredible.

I’ve been trying to practice these strategies for sitting up straighter in any chair and they really feel like game changers – like, how did I not know these things before?!

My favourite customer relationship management software just released their scheduler functionality, and the entire community went bananas! I truly love Dubsado & would recommend to anyone with a creative business. This is my affiliate link if you want to save some money!

After a particularly infuriating experience dealing with a man in a professional context last week (truly awful), I appreciated the satire in this ‘how-to’ article about being less threatening as a woman.

I LOVE the idea of Seth Godin’s Thanksgiving Reader, which I only found out about this week! Will definitely save this to use at a future Thanksgiving.

I lost track of how many times I teared up on the streetcar listening to this absolutely brilliant interview with Elizabeth Gilbert. Her life, her wisdom, her kindness, her grief. All I can say is, “oh, the humanity.” It’s beautiful and raw and wonderful.

If I was going to stop bullet journaling (which I probably won’t), I would succumb to the true beauty and thoughtfulness of the Monk Manual. Also an excellent example of how to run a successful Kickstarter campaign.

This week I had a narrative healing session with my wonderful friend Braden, and it was very powerful and very inspiring. He is about to move to Mexico to work on writing his book, but I would watch this space in case he opens up more such sessions. He is very wise.

Also inspired this week by my new rubber plant, in the world’s cutest pot. I get happier every time I look at it. Consider this your permission slip to go buy a new plant for your home.

---

So many inspiring things to be a part of this week, but the flip side has been spending a lot of time alone to recover from all the activity. I’ve been exhausted and kind of run down, and the VERY cold weather we’ve been having here in Toronto lately has not been helping at all! I am looking forward to a weekend of relaxing, reading fiction, writing in my journal, and playing with the dog. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! xo.

Every week on Friday, I share a list of the most interesting and inspiring content I’ve read lately here on my blog. You can expect thoughts on productivity, happiness, balance, spirituality, politics, and more. Subscribe here to get updates. See archives here.

Last weekend I bought my friend Katie her first tarot deck, The Illuminated Tarot. The imagery is so stunning and the cards are such a perfect size. If anyone’s in the market for a deck, I’d also recommend mine, The Wild Unknown, and the Animal Spirit oracle cards which Katie gifted me last weekend.

I am so inspired by my friend Brune starting her daily blog. Talk about goals! I am strongly considering making the commitment for 2019 but I am scared of not following through. Bolstering myself by reading lots of Seth Godin.

This week on Instagram, I started following Rachel Ricketts. I’ve been enjoying her content and am planning to register for her Spiritual Activism 101 webinar when she next offers it, because I unfortunately won’t be able to watch it before it expires on November 18th.

I ran into my friend Addie at the park and she told me about a fascinating course she’s taking called Leading from the Emerging Future, which is free. Can you believe? Definitely on my list for next year.

I can’t say I’m not intrigued by these sparkling CBD drinks.

Celebrities: they’re just like us! But seriously, I too love washing dishes by hand and find it incredibly soothing.

Thanks to Dense Discovery for this awesome reco of a fast, easy-to-use tool to create polls. It obviously went straight into The Appothecary!

This week I revisited Ask Polly’s perfect-in-every-way column, “I Hate Men”. If you’ve read it before, let me say that I got so much more out of it this week than I did last year.

On Instagram I shared that I’m starting a newsletter for my business! I’ll be sharing thoughts on building businesses with intention, having better boundaries, managing our time & energy and being more productive. Want to get it when it’s ready? You can sign up here! PS. I recommend always using a secondary email address for newsletters, even mine.

Last but not least, this week I was incredibly inspired by the power, strength, and fierce compassion of the women in my life who showed up for me in ways big and small when I was going through something strange. I hope you all know how much I love you and how grateful I am.

---

This weekend, it’s Nurture: Fall 2018! Sonja jokingly calls me the ‘executive producer’, which means I help out with all the logistics and make sure everyone gets the information they need. And I chop vegetables and wash dishes with love. I cannot wait to be there with 13 other incredible women and bask in their wisdom, joy and kindness. It’s magic and I want to appreciate every second. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! xo.