Project 180 — I Built a Place Where Women Belong On leadership, unexpected resistance, and the quiet power of protecting what matters Some of the most important lessons in leadership arrive on the days when we least feel like a leader. Today, I came home from a meeting carrying a feeling I didn't quite know what to do with. It was supposed to be an ordinary meeting of the Ladies of Saugeen Shores Women’s Institute. We were there to discuss fundraising, Rose events, speakers,

Friendsgiving: The Night We Danced Our Way Into Belonging A Persian Dinner, Wonderful Women, and the Joy of Sharing Life Today was Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and what a beautiful way to celebrate it! The Ladies of Saugeen Shores Women’s Institute gathered for a Friendsgiving hosted by our lovely new member and friend, who welcomed us into her world with a Persian dinner night. And oh my goodness—what a night! The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and there was s

Close the Gate I have been opening the gate lately. I opened myself to people.To community.To possibilities.To new relationships, new ideas, new experiences. And I needed that. I needed to see what was on the other side. But lately, I have also felt a little out of place. Not necessarily because anything is wrong. Perhaps simply because I am realizing that not everything I opened the gate to is necessarily mine. And that is okay. So I am closing the gate again. Not in anger.

The Gate Is Not a Wall There was a time when I believed that if I loved people, I had to carry them. I was the glue. I was the one who checked in, reached out, organized, connected, mediated, remembered, helped, and tried to keep everyone together. Somewhere along the way, I learned that love and responsibility were not the same thing—but I didn't always know how to separate them. Then life changed. There were betrayals. There were relationships that became unhealthy. There w

I Finally Feel Rooted When Home Becomes Somewhere I Belong This weekend, there is a Pumpkin Festival in my town. And something about it feels different this year. I am not looking at my hometown thinking about where else I could be. I am not wishing I were somewhere more exciting. I am not comparing it to the places I have traveled. I am simply here. Right here. And for the first time, I think I am really appreciating it. The little town. The familiar streets. The local busin

Order Creates Freedom The Art of Becoming Organized, Present, and Alive There are moments in life when something shifts so quietly that you almost don't trust it. You wake up. You look around. And somehow... the house breathes. There are no racks of clothes waiting to be dealt with. No piles of groceries taking over the kitchen island. No random things without homes. No constant visual noise asking you to make another decision. Things have a place. Things are put away. The su

The Art of Enough When Life Becomes More Important Than Creating There comes a moment when you realize you don't need to create anything else. Not because you have run out of ideas. Not because you have lost your creativity. Not because you have stopped dreaming. But because you finally realize: I already have enough. Enough ideas. Enough songs. Enough stories. Enough projects. Enough photographs. Enough experiences. Enough things to share with the world. And suddenly, the qu

BLACK COFFEE IS BITTER The Art of Drinking Life As It Is There is something about black coffee that tells the truth. You pour it into the cup. No milk. No cream. No sugar. Nothing to soften it. You take the first sip. And perhaps your face changes a little. Because it is bitter. Not metaphorically. Not philosophically. Just… bitter. And maybe that's the whole point. We have become so accustomed to softening things. Adding something. Reframing something. Explaining something.

The Art of Being Human Again There is a word I invented for a kind of healing I think we don't talk about enough. THERAFORGIVENESS. It sounds a little ridiculous. And maybe that's part of why I like it. It is forgiveness with a little more breathing room. Forgiveness for the unfinished. Forgiveness for the mistakes. Forgiveness for the detours. Forgiveness for the days when we didn't know better. Forgiveness for the things we thought we had to rush. Forgiveness for trying too

Learning to welcome challenges, friction, and the beautiful inconvenience of being alive There is something strange that happens when life becomes comfortable. At first, we are grateful for it. We appreciate the warm house, the working systems, the conveniences, the technology, the ability to order almost anything, solve almost anything, search almost anything, and have an answer within seconds. And then, somewhere along the way, we can become so accustomed to comfort that th

THERAMUSE INSTITUTE An Introduction to a New Kind of Institution for Human Flourishing Healing is an Art. Living is the Masterpiece. There are moments in life when the many paths we have travelled suddenly begin to make sense. A career.A passion.A difficult chapter.A creative awakening.A community.A lifelong question. For TheraMuse Institute, that moment began with a simple realization: Human flourishing cannot be contained within a single discipline. We are human beings made

THERAMUSE INSTITUTE An Introduction to a New Kind of Institution for Human Flourishing Healing is an Art. Living is the Masterpiece. There are moments in life when the many paths we have travelled suddenly begin to make sense. A career.A passion.A difficult chapter.A creative awakening.A community.A lifelong question. For TheraMuse Institute, that moment began with a simple realization: Human flourishing cannot be contained within a single discipline. We are human beings made

THERAMUSE INSTITUTE Advancing Human Flourishing Healing is an Art. Living is the Masterpiece. Music · Creative Arts · Education · Nature · Research · Community ABOUT THERAMUSE An Institute for Human Flourishing TheraMuse Institute is a multidisciplinary institute devoted to the art and science of human flourishing. We bring together music, creative arts, education, nature, wellness, research, and community to create meaningful opportunities for people to reconnect with themse

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing I Finally Found My Monastery There is a strange kind of peace that arrives when you stop searching. Not because you found the perfect answer. Not because everything in your life suddenly became perfect. But because, somewhere along the way, you finally realize: Maybe I was looking in the wrong direction. I have spent much of my life moving. Creating. Working. Planning. Producing. Traveling. Building. Helping. Searching. And lately, I realized so

No Regret Forgive Yourself. Live Yourself. Live Fully. There comes a time when you have looked back enough. You have remembered. You have questioned. You have analyzed. You have replayed conversations. You have wondered what you could have done differently. You have thought about the people you loved. The choices you made. The things you didn't say. The things you said too quickly. The opportunities you missed. The years you thought you wasted. The versions of yourself you wi

No Regret Forgive Yourself. Live Yourself. Live Fully. There comes a time when you have looked back enough. You have remembered. You have questioned. You have analyzed. You have replayed conversations. You have wondered what you could have done differently. You have thought about the people you loved. The choices you made. The things you didn't say. The things you said too quickly. The opportunities you missed. The years you thought you wasted. The versions of yourself you wi

I Am Not Who I Used to Be The Quiet Art of Evolving, Aging Gracefully, and Coming Home to Myself Sometimes I look at my life and wonder: When did I change? There wasn't one dramatic morning when I woke up and became a different person. There wasn't a particular birthday. There wasn't one defining moment. I simply... changed. Quietly. Slowly. Almost invisibly. And perhaps that's why I didn't notice. We Don't Always See Ourselves Changing When you live in the same house for man

The Words Were Always Mine Learning to Hear My Own Voice Again There are moments in life when someone says something to you and you suddenly stop. You think: “That's exactly what I've been trying to say.” That happened to me recently. I've been having these conversations about my life, my emotions, my relationships, my daughter, my creativity, my businesses, my music, my past and the woman I'm becoming. And sometimes, after sharing everything that is swirling around inside me

Quiet Quitting: Why Women Are Emotionally Checking Out of Their Marriage When a woman stops fighting for the marriage, it doesn't always mean she stopped caring. Sometimes it means she has finally stopped abandoning herself. There is a new phrase making its way into conversations about modern marriage: quiet quitting. Borrowed from the workplace, where it describes someone who remains employed but stops giving more of themselves than the job requires, the phrase has now enter

Home Is Actually Where I Feel Free I used to think freedom was somewhere else. Perhaps it was in another country. Another hotel. Another vacation. Another beautiful destination. Maybe it was a beach in Mexico, a cruise through Europe, Disney, the Philippines, Niagara Falls, or somewhere I had never been before. I thought that if I could just get away, I would finally feel free. But coming home from Niagara, I realized something I had never fully understood before: Home is act