I'm fresh off a continuing ed seminar on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion honing in on Health Equity.   I thought I was walking into a lecture style class, but was pleasantly surprised to find a very interactive format.  While ticking the boxes of intellectual and social stimulation for me, it also provoked much thinking on how these issues are faring in our own community, state and country as well. We are living in such divisive times where many leaders have completely abando

You know that feeling of blah, angst, or just a solid dissatisfaction with the way some things are? You can feel it in your body, and in your brain.  Sometimes it manifests as body aches, or fatigue, or sometimes it morphs into anxiety or depression.  It's that nagging feeling that something in your world is really out of balance, or really not ok. Sometimes we feel this with a job that we are not well suited for. Maybe we are on a career path that as we've gotten older just

The beginning of a new year is a great time to pause to analyze your business.  Taking a SWOT analysis is a smart business strategy to do more than just annually.  SWOT means pausing to analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of your business.

Ushering in a New Year is often time for reflection and celebration.  For those that have sustained great losses in 2025, the hope of a New Year looms large.   Some of us lost people we loved perhaps in passing or due to a fragile relationship that saw a rupture that has not resolved.  Some sustained financial worries and losses with investments or income with the Government shutdown that many are still recovering from. Yet others found joy, perhaps in a new relationship, the

I had a client share with me just last week about his real feelings of sadness and dread around this time of year "when everyone else is so happy and joyful."  His story (the thoughts he tells himself of how it "should be") is why so many can feel alone and deeply saddened at the time of year that they believe they "should be" so happy. The truth is many people are hurting. Some have lost loved ones; a partner, spouse, parent or child and their heart is still grieving. The ho

Some of you may have heard the acronym KISS, and while we can do without the Stupid part at the end, it does serve as a way to keep top of mind an important concept, especially this time of year.  And that is, it's a great season to remind ourselves to keep things simple.   The holidays are rife with opportunity for stress, and complicating things.  We often make things more stressful by procrastinating shopping, or thinking we have to do more than what is really needed to ma

It's the Holiday Season. And while we have lovely songs to sing, and parties to attend, for many this is really more of a Stress Season.  It is so easy to get wrapped up ( pardon the pun) in so many extra to do's that we fail to stop and see the lights, hug those closest to us, spend time with those we love and like or take a walk in the rain. Instead of treating this season as "one more Christmas" or thinking this years celebration needs to look like all the ones before, per

Are you one of those people- the kind where every holiday gathering has to be just right? The right decorations, and the right menu and the house must be clean within an inch of it’s life? Are you that person who has so much anxiety about everything being just right that you have forgotten how to enjoy the holidays? It can be enormously difficult for some people to embrace what is; anything less than perfect can feel unbearable. Where did this drive for perfection come from a

The calendar reminds us once a year on a Thursday late in November that it’s time to gather around family or friends. With some kind of stuffed bird as the centerpiece, we pause our busy lives to spend time with those we love. We shut down work, gather around an overflowing table of traditional foods we eagerly await, and pause to give thanks in between the stuffing of food and perhaps raucous conversation. We have this day set aside for expressing gratitude, food, fun and fr

The holidays are upon us. While some of us embrace the opportunities for family, food, football and fun, others approach the holidays with increased stress and trepidation at the mere thought of being around extended family.  For many, family is fraught with difficulty.  Whether you have an aunt, who passively aggressively asks why you are still single, or the drunken uncle that can't seem to hold his liquor, the struggles are real in many families. As the saying goes  you ca

How often have you heard your internal voice screaming, " you idiot, what did you do that for?"  How many times do you experience having a big emotional reaction that surprised even you? And then your inner voice begins to berate you for having that big reaction.  That voice might sound something like, "why couldn't you keep your self under better control?" How often have you found yourself criticizing someone else who dared to have an opinion that was different from yours? 

As I write this,  today is my anniversary of jumping out of a perfectly good plane many years ago. I was a freshman at Bowling Green State University when I realized I was no longer bound by the rules of my family home, and jumping out of an airplane struck me as both fun and terrifying.  My roommate was completely not interested in joining me in this adventure and neither were any of my friends or floormates. So, I did it alone.  I jumped static line- more terrifying then ju

If we want the best life possible - we need the best brain. I spoke to an audience of women awhile back about selfcare. Many in the audience were mothers. We talked about the challenges of motherhood and how some challenges are made worse by the stories we tell ourselves. I asked these women how many of them tell themselves the story that they “don’t have time for selfcare.” Nearly every hand went up. Somehow many women received the message that to be a woman, wife or mother

We think it is safe to say that most of us have become addicted to our phones.  I see evidence of this everywhere. I have taken walks in a beautiful local park only to watch people walk by me glued to their phones instead of eyes gazing at the awe -inspiring scenery all around us here in Kitsap! I was reminded recently the fall out of parents who are unable to put down their phones when a teenage client shared with me recently that she recalls vividly as a young child just wa

Have you felt the divisiveness in this country?  Maybe you’ve experienced it in your own family. You know the conversations where it’s...

One day you decided to become a business owner. Whether you got fed up working for the boss, decided you could do it better, or just wanted to be your own boss, you became a business owner.

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When did you stop being curious?  Stop you say… maybe you still are.  For too many however, the curiosity they experienced as a child is...