In memory of my mom who died on May 2, 2021.

At the very end of my mom's life, my dad and I slept in her room with her. One night I slept at the top of her bed so I could hold her hand and be close to her. The night before that, I sat up watching her and wrote this. 

My Mom

My biggest cheerleader

Always supporting me

Loving me

"You can do anything," you said

Never doubting anything I wanted to do

Believing in me more than I did myself

You listened and supported

Guided and sacrifice…

It's so easy to get confused and think self-love is all about following your moment to moment feelings, only doing what feels good, always choosing what feels comfortable.

But it's not!

Self-love requires the balance between gentleness and nurturing AND truth and aspirations - reaching for what you want to create in your life. Tough love isn't bad - when we consider the bigger picture...WHY we're doing what we're doing, we sometimes need a little tough love to do what it takes to get there.

S…

Most of us struggle with the very real and painful condition of never feeling good enough. And it got created in childhood with the best of intentions - the desire all parents have to help our kids make friends, be good people, grow into successful adults and thrive in life. 

I know you love your kids. Unconditionally. 

The real question isn’t whether we love our kids, but rather – do they FEEL loved unconditionally.

You may be thinking, “Of course they do!” But so often I find that we make love an…

:: Context - I broke my Greater Trochanter / Upper Femur in a skiing accident 12 days before I wrote this :: 

​Lying in bed last night I got caught in the swirl of thought and fear: I can't handle it anymore. How can I do this for months? Will I ever fully recover? Can I handle the rehab? How much longer do I have to sleep in this position? Will I ever get a good nights' sleep again? I felt trapped and hopeless.

Somehow, even while lying mostly still, I found myself writhing.

In the dark of the nig…

I've always been tough on myself around exercise and healthy eating. I never felt like I WANTED to exercise so I forced myself. I craved sugar and carbs and indulged. Then I beat myself up. The more I beat myself up, the more I ate, the less I exercised. This was my pattern. And a pattern for so many. 

I've been on a self-love journey for the past decade. I always hoped that if I loved myself more, I'd be more motivated to take better care of myself - to nourish myself with whole and healthy food…

You are enough just as you are.

But you probably don’t think so. Or perhaps you think you are too much. But in some way, you probably are hiding some parts of yourself – the parts you fear are not lovable.

Over the years, you've been subjected to conditioning and comparisons. And you learned at a very young age to do whatever it takes to be loved and accepted…even if it meant being someone other than your true self. You may have learned that it was best to hide what you think and feel and who you …