I’m starting to honor the limits of my own capacity, control, and mortality. As my blind optimism fades and I surrender to what is actually true, I've stumbled into a strange sense of peace. Audio version available.

A post giving you permission to not be OK, because things are not OK right now. What if we can use these hard feelings to build a better world? Audio version available.

I’ve been in a Funk, and it feels exactly appropriate. Instead of trying to fix it, I’m listening. My bad mood is telling the truth about how broken the world is. Audio version available.

I was a people-pleasing "yes" junkie...until it nearly killed me. Now, a few years after recovering from severe burnout, I reflect on my relationship to saying “yes” and saying “no,” especially at work. Audio version available.

My observations about when self-care routines are helpful and when they are harmful. Audio version available.

As our capacity ebbs and flows, self-care is a constant dance between discipline and surrender; pushing and trust; routine and variety. This post is a permission slip for you to gently lean into either structure or freedom. Audio version available.

After ten years of coping with chronic migraines, I’m asking myself: “Do I surrender to the pain or do I fight for relief?” This essay brings chronic pain into the light, acknowledging that there are seasons for resisting pain and seasons for accepting it, and wondering how to find the sweet spot somewhere between. (Illustration by Michelle Rial.) Audio version available.

What does it feel like to have your own back? To put your health and wellbeing above pleasing others? I've noticed that the more I have my own back, the more it encourages those around me to have their own backs. Like a rising tide lifts all boats, advocating for ourselves naturally helps others. Audio version available.

An excerpt from the September 2021 email care package to subscribers, including resources and support for moving, back-to-school, and navigating a heavy heart for the state of the world. Audio version available.

What are you waiting on to happen before your “real life” can start? How can you meet yourself where you are? I'm nose-deep in this inquiry, and I’ve created a workshop to help you think about it, too. Audio version available.

An excerpt from the July 2021 email care package to subscribers, in which I shared our new website, 5 Ways to Transform Worry, Dismantling Perfectionism & White Supremacy, and links to great LGBTQ+ Pride content.

An excerpt from the June 2021 email care package to subscribers, containing musings on embracing the uncertainty of change, lots of links to browse (especially about re-entry and reinvention), and our first essay in a series about anti-racism and wellness.

An excerpt from the May 2021 email care package to subscribers, about gently and consciously emerging from isolation, links and readings for this unique season we are in, and a few small Boston creative businesses to support.

Announcing monthly email care packages! This is an excerpt from the April 2021 care package to email subscribers, just in time for the sloooow transition to spring. Contains anti-hate resources for supporting the AAPI community, reflections on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic in the US, and more.

One year ago today, as we hunkered down to brace a global pandemic, I started The Retreat Space.

It was Friday the 13th. Most Boston businesses—including the museum where I worked—closed their doors that day.

How is 2021 going for you so far? Not in the casual “oh, I’m hanging in there” sense, but in a deeper, self-reflective way. What is your energy and mood like? Does it feel like a new year? How is 2021 meeting or not meeting your expectations? I ask with no judgement; just total curiosity.

I spent the month of January in a tug-of-war between setting goals and finding inner peace with where I am. Today, I am emerging triumphant (and a little banged up), holding two truths: that I am enough, and that I also feel stuck.

The month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings. Janus was the gatekeeper of the heavens. He is depicted as having two heads--one to look into the past and one to look ahead to the future. The image of these two heads is a powerful representation of our divided attention.

2020 was a big one, you guys.

I left my job of 12 years, lost my young friend to a heart attack; narrowly escaped a money-draining; self-help cult; landed an exciting consultant job; and got divorced. And then it was March.

We are in a big collective transition right now. Tonight is a full moon eclipse in Gemini (kicking off eclipse season). In the US, we are winding down an unusual Thanksgiving week and witnessing the formal transition of power for our next president, Joe Biden (hallelujah!). And of course, we are about to welcome in the LAST month of 2020 (double hallelujah!).