For many of us, 2025 was a bittersweet year. Perhaps this is true of most years as we look back. For me personally, there were challenging moments, including health challenges and family challenges. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, “When there is no mud, then there’s no lotus.” There is usually light at the end of … Read more
As the new year settles in, there’s often a quiet pressure to move forward quickly. New goals. New routines. New expectations of who we should be now. But before we rush into plans and resolutions, I want to invite you to pause – just for a moment. Because the year we’ve just lived didn’t simply … Read more
January often arrives with a familiar message: eliminate. Cut sugar. Declutter your home. Lose weight. Let go of habits that didn’t work last year. While simplification has its place, many New Year intentions for women are rooted in scarcity, implying that something is missing or needs fixing before life can feel fulfilling. For women in … Read more
As another year gently folds itself away and a new one begins to shimmer on the horizon, we often feel a familiar stirring – a quiet anticipation, soft but steady, like a hand on the small of our back guiding us forward. At 60 and beyond, this feeling arrives with a particular sweetness. We have … Read more
Many women tell me something quite astonishing: when they speak French, they feel like a different person. Braver. Freer. More willing to take up space. It’s not the vocabulary that changes them, but the voice they discover when they use it. I have watched this unfold hundreds of times over the years, and it never … Read more
I’ve been mulling over something different to do this year on New Year’s Eve. For the past several years, I spent NYE surrounded with old magazines, a large piece of tag board, scissors and tape, constructing a vision board. Many times, I made it a party with friends, happily chatting while we taped pictures of … Read more
When I became a hospice volunteer, I imagined – considering my background as a reporter and writer – that I might be able to help people who wanted to write or record their life stories. I thought it would help people make sense of the joys and struggles in their lives. Or it would help … Read more
It’s that time of year again. Everyone is talking about their New Year’s resolutions. Lose weight, get fit, and save money are the most popular. Yet, despite our good intentions, only a tiny percentage of us will actually achieve our goals. I get it, I’ve abandoned my share of resolutions through the years. Why do so … Read more
From the sun-baked banks of the Nile to the high plateaus of the Himalayas, to the Yellow River of China, humanity has asked the same questions for millennia: Why are we here? What is the good life? What happens when we die? What is ultimately real? Although the languages, symbols, and rituals differ dramatically, the … Read more
It was like being hit by lightning! As I stared at those words, the light bulb turned on in my head and the puzzle pieces started falling into place. This made sense! I could become anything I wanted because the way already existed. What I needed to tell myself was that if I could see … Read more