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.

This week I had the pleasure of visiting Sydenham Ridge Estate for their beautiful Open House event. The property is so beautiful and peaceful, and it was such a refreshing experience. An excellent reminder that it’s important to shake things up, visit new places, and spend time with friends.

Sarah Von Bargen’s concept of the Authenticity Tax is one of my favourite ideas ever, so I was so happy to see this detailed post on it this week. Such an important and powerful idea!

I liked this post of concrete suggestions for anyone asking how they can be an ally to women.

I just put this on hold at the library and I’m so excited to read it! Oprah 5ever! She is my favourite.

The case for not organizing things too much. This is exactly why flipping back through my old bullet journals can be so inspiring and helpful.

Winter is coming, and I want to make every single one of these soups…or at the very least, at least one of these soups.

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It was nice to change things up this week! I visited my mom’s house (and her puppy!), got to have lunch with my sister, and spent time at the beautiful estate mentioned above with my friends. A fun contrast to the days spent at my desk at the café I love or in my home office. I hope you have a wonderful weekend: here’s your reminder to enjoy being outside!

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 week for our TuesdaysTogether meetup, we got to have business planning discussions at the beautiful new coworking space here in Toronto, Make Lemonade. It was so fun to chat with the founder and hear her story, and talking to other people who are also struggling with various issues around planning and ‘going pro’ in their businesses was a breath of fresh air.

I got a lot out of this interview with Michael Singer on Super Soul Conversations, including a couple of big a-ha moments! (Ignore the tags shown below the player on that page, they aren’t topical to the episode at all.)

Hilarious + empowering (feminist) advice regarding creative work (and email) that makes me giddy with glee. This appeals to all of my expectation-setting, space-creating ways. “Here is a question: Do you want to be a reliable source of literary art, or of prompt emails?”

I am now 100% obsessed with Captain Awkward (I am very, very late to this party) and am loving every single column I read. If you, like me, are constantly searching for the missing How Do I Adult? manual, read read read. This article on unhealthy relationship dynamics and how to address them puts into words so many helpful ideas, and gives you actual scripts you can use in situations, which I love.

When Brené Brown tells you to read a book, you read the book! All of the books she recommends for inspiring bravery are now at the top of my list.

I liked this op-ed by Lena Dunham about the epidemic of sexual harassment in Hollywood (and everywhere, tbh), and how it put the onus on men to speak up since they often have the least to lose. I was heartened to read this piece the very next day about how Terry Crews is speaking up about his own harassment experiences in Hollywood. Then I saw this video of the rapper Loyle Carner kicking a fan out of his concert for shouting sexist, harassing things at his (female) opening act. This is what we need! More of this, please. Support + solidarity are so important. Edit: I just had to come back and add to this section after reading this article about how James Van Der Beek is speaking out as well!

Last but certainly not least, I cried while watching this beautiful and painful video that was put out by The Global Goals for Day of the Girl. We have failed girls and continue to do so, and that needs to change.

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It was Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend, so it’s been a short (but busy) work-week around here! This weekend I am going to what is sure to be a beautiful dinner party, planning to have a mini Saturday morning adventure, and going to a comedy night with a friend. 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.

Enough is enough is enough. The news this week was the opposite of inspiring, but this heartfelt response certainly is.

I got to be a part of this amazing Harvest Table Dinner last weekend (on my one-year anniversary of living in Toronto!) with a bunch of friends and cool people. It was a really special night and I left feeling excited and energized about my life here in Toronto.

“Creative work has seasons. Part of the work is to know which season it is, and act accordingly. To an outsider, it sounds like I’m doing nothing. It looks like I’m doing nothing. But I feel very much like Corita: “new things are happening very quietly inside of me.””

My friend and client Erin wrote a beautiful letter this month to her newsletter list. Every time I see her, I leave feeling inspired and motivated and ready to do the dang work – and this letter might give you just a glimpse of that spark.

I absolutely loved Pamela Paul’s memoir/love letter to books and reading, My Life With Bob. Never before have I felt so mirrored in a book, especially when it comes to my deep love of reading, my connection with books, and the ways that reading has been my beloved lifelong companion. I feel like this book gave me permission to love reading even more than I already do.

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Just a short list of links this week, since it’s felt like a short (hectic) week. A good week, but a busy one. I’m looking forward to having some quality family time this weekend to relax and unwind and play with all the puppies. And read! I am excited to read. 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.

Emotional labour is the job men still don’t understand. This article was hard to read because it articulated something so frustrating and so prevalent. However, we can’t fight what we can’t define, so having these conversations is the first step.

Lately I’ve been worrying a lot about being productive and getting things done quickly. So this collection of thoughts about the importance of silence from various writers and thinkers was extremely refreshing to read. Silence is a space for something new to happen.

I liked this post about finding your brand purpose, especially since it introduced me to the  5 Whys exercise, wherein you ask “Why?” five times to get to the true, underlying reason or purpose. So simple but so profound!

A beautiful way to reframe hurtful behaviour: “what did they teach you?”

Good tips here for reducing email overwhelm! One of my favourite topics.

I really loved this list of resources and tools for small businesses! Most I had heard of, but some were new and it was cool to see them all in one place.

I picked up an Ideal Bookshelf print last weekend at Curiosa (an awesome Harry Potter themed store here in Toronto!). Pro tip: I bought the greeting card version for $4.95. The larger prints were around $40, but the one I got looks great in a frame and adds a pop of colour to my home office.

Modern life is becoming disconnected from nature and that is no bueno, my friends. Being outdoors is so important! If I’m not in nature every day I feel completely depleted.

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It’s been a great week, but I’ve felt fairly scattered. I’m still working on finding that balance of productive work and restful breaks, and I haven’t quite achieved it! Maybe I never will. I like to think I’m getting better, but this week my generalized anxiety flared up and I felt like I was running around but not going anywhere. As I write this, I realize that the solution is to actually go running to work off some of that nervous energy!

This weekend I’m going to see one of my favourite podcasts perform live, and am helping out at a sure-to-be beautiful Harvest Table Dinner. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.