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 interview with Brené Brown is one of my favourite ever episodes of Marie TV. I just got Braving the Wilderness out of the library and I cannot wait to read it, because even more than her other (amazing) books, this one seems particularly relevant and helpful in these crazy political times we’re living in. Bonus: this episode about reducing negative thinking was also amazing. Love you Marie!

Are you working too hard? “Hustle with purpose, chase your goals, but please make space for the rest of your life to happen, too. This is the only life you’ve got.”

Making the invisible, visible. This campaign is really progressive and inspiring, and I’m proud that it’s happening in my city. We cannot fight what we cannot see or aren’t aware of.

This article about why online courses won’t save your business landed in front of my eyes exactly when I needed to read it this week. It’s a lot of excellent real talk, especially since I think increasingly we are being sold the idea that we should all just throw together an online course and watch the passive income stream in.

Simple but profound tips for supporting the women around you. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE that tip #1 is engaging in authentic conversation. I really feel like truly actually actively listening to another person is the most rare and beautiful gift you can give someone. Other faves on this list: be generous with kindness, and give other women a voice.

Sarah does it again with this thoughtful list of easy ways to bake ethics right into your business practices.

I started listening to Happier in Hollywood this week, because Happier is one of my favourite podcasts. I do not live in Hollywood, but I can confirm that the content is broadly applicable and helpful, no matter where you live. I’m also inspired by the hosts’ working relationship (they’ve been writing partners for 17 years) and friendship.

This episode about Brooke Castillo’s business lessons was also very helpful and useful. I tend to find her perspective very grounding, and this episode in particular was chock-full of helpful reframes.

Last but certainly not least, my friend Christian recently lost his mother and wrote this incredibly beautiful piece on his blog as a goodbye. For me it was a reminder to stay focused on what’s important, to tell the people you love that you love them, and to remember that life is very precious and very short.

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The week flew by yet again, but I think that’s a good thing! Lots of work, lots of good conversations, and lots of deep breathing. Everything is more than okay, but the key to live (I’m learning) is remembering that everything is more than okay. It’s so easy to worry about things outside of our control or focus on the negative. Thankful this week for my family and my friends: I’m very lucky.

This weekend I’m hoping to take it easy, go for a Saturday morning adventure, and have family dinner on Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too. xo.

PS. Want to get these posts + bonus tips by email? I recently re-started my newsletter after almost a year. This week’s bonus tip is about always having an awesome suggestion for where to go for dinner. Subscribe here!

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 best thing I experienced this week was the new documentary about The Avett Brothers, May It Last. It’s hard to put into words how beautiful this portrait was, but my favourite aspect was the exploration of humility, dedication to craft, and tolerance of the uncertainty that comes with an unfolding journey. I was lucky enough to see it in theatres (thank you Sonja!) but you can learn more here.

This post about the emotional labour of female travel bloggers has much broader implications beyond just travel blogging. I see this kind of thinking and behaviour with women in many of areas of life. Her specific examples are particularly clarifying and were a good reminder to me of what I can choose to opt out of.

10Q is coming up soon! The idea is simple: once a day, you answer a reflective question about the past year. Then after the 10 days are up, the vault is closed for another year. Last year I only did 3 out of the 10 questions, but reading those answers when they landed in my inbox this week was surprisingly emotional. You can learn more here.

Even just reading the words, “that’s enough,” felt so calming to me. Maybe you need to hear this message too? “You’ve done your piece, wholeheartedly. And truly, that is plenty.”

I started a free course this week called Building Your Business Blueprint, and have been completely blown away by the depth of the content so far. I haven’t even put in my email anywhere! Just quality content, available to anyone, and tiered into 3 levels depending on what kind of business you currently have. Highly, highly recommend, especially since Caroline and Jason are the kind of entrepreneurs I admire most: very successful, but very thoughtful. Also, all their websites are so beautifully designed.

Speaking of amazingly thoughtful entrepreneurs, my friend Rebecca ran a free 5 day Ignite Your Style Challenge this week, and I can safely say it was transformational. I created outfits I didn’t even know I had and (even better) felt so cute/fun/flirty all week. As someone who regularly doesn’t feel like I know anything about style, it was a big shift for me. You can learn more about the challenge here or sign up for her course here.

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Wow. Talk about an inspirational week! I love those weeks when it feels like the juices are flowing and things are happening both internally and in my community. I feel unbelievably grateful to have such interesting people in my life who inspire me on the daily and push me to dream about what’s possible. (Speaking of which: this is your weekly reminder to find your local chapter of Tuesdays Together!! Lol.) This weekend is the yearly (enormous) Polish festival in my neighbourhood, my book club is meeting to discuss this great read, and I’m going home for a family reunion lunch. 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.

I love this writing advice: “Write to find out what you think, or find the story you need to tell”.

Anyone in the market for business tools or services? I loved reading Sarah’s list of what she uses to run her business.

Liz Gilbert doesn’t stop dropping truth bombs, ever. Her article on the Dreamers is so moving & energizing.

This dance was so fun! But nothing tops Lin-Manuel’s wedding surprise for me.

Yooooo this article is so on point. Amazing advice on budgeting, spending on yourself, and fully fleshed out scripts to use when family members or friends make inappropriate comments. No big surprise, got this gem from the Money & Happy Facebook Group.

I’ve been very into Kesha’s new music this week. I (like many others) was horrified by her legal struggles with her abusive producer, and I think her new stuff shows her soul and her strength. Especially Praying.

This blog is so cool and gets my brain buzzing about things I could do.

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I gave myself Monday off for Labour Day, so it’s been a fast week! Lots of work, lots of creative projects, lots of reading (I can’t put this one down). This weekend I’m volunteering at an entrepreneurship conference and spending some time with my Dad’s new puppy! Yay! 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.

A friend of mine told me about the existence of Mail Merge last week and my eyeballs almost fell out of my head. I am now actively looking for places where I can use this ingenious system in my life.

I am happily using Todoist lately to keep track of my to-do list, but I’m experimenting with adding Google Keep to the mix because I learned it lets you easily collaborate on notes with friends. I am also trying to use Google Photos more, because their search function is amazing (ie. Search “beach” and all the photos from the beach come up without you having needed to tag anything! Ahh!) What do you guys use for your to-do lists?

I haven’t been listening to The Lively Show much lately, but I enjoyed the most recent episode about the Law of Attraction.

Lots of great suggestions in Elise’s recent episode on getting out of a creative rut.

This week I finished the book Intuitive Eating, which I loved. Whether or not you struggle with eating, I think there are some awesome tips in here that relate to mindfulness and presence. There’s a quick rundown of the myths about this way of eating on Refinery 29 here if you’re curious!

Have you ever wished you knew just the right thing to write to shut down someone saying bigoted things on Facebook? If you tag White Nonsense Roundup in the comments, they’ll help you out!

Related: This week I did a big cleanup of my Facebook friends list and I highly recommend this. I had been ‘friends’ with so many people I didn’t even know or recognize. Byeee!

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This week has flown by. On Tuesday, I went to the CNE and the John Mayer concert with my friend Sonja, who had kindly gotten me tickets for my birthday! That was a super fun day. One of my favourite parts was riding the Sky Ride and looking out over the fairgrounds and the city beyond. Plus, John was incredible – I have naturally been listening to this playlist all week. I am looking forward to a weekend spent relaxing, reading, and doing nothing, to recharge. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! xo.