What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Hello, friends,
It’s been a long time since I’ve written to you. When I started this blog, I had all intentions to deliver content on a scheduled, weekly basis, and then of course life happened. After resetting my schedule a few times without successfully landing on a rhythm that worked well, I decided to give myself grace, knowing this is an important community to me as well as an important part of my life. And knowing that I would return to this space when the time was right.
That process of extending grace to myself even though I fumbled a bit publicly in scheduling blog deliveries shows tremendous growth for me as a human and as a writer. As my parents can surely attest, I suffered from people-pleasing and an arresting case of perfectionism most of my life. I was that kid who burned myself out the night before a major project was due and then, my performance anxiety-driven perfectionism would demand I not turn it in the next day; no. My efforts failed to deliver what I envisioned the product should be, and so I would hold it back and work madly to create what I knew I should create.
Of course the assignment would be anywhere from two to seven days late, depending on the length and effort required. And how many times my teachers would look at me with the painful truth that it was too late to receive credit.
Can anyone relate to this?
I’d like to tell you that I’ve completely stopped procrastinating, but that would be a lie. However, I’ve made incremental progress and, as they say in the program, the goal is Progress, not Perfection.
So let’s get caught up. It’s been a season of massive change over here.
June was spent on the island of Lesbos, Greece in a seaside village called Skala Eresou with new and old friends from around the world.
We started the week with a writers retreat led by an immaculate trifecta of amazing women: Sarah Bullen, Emma Dhesi, and Liz Bullen Casanova, with amazing story-telling sessions from Maria Panagiotou. Spending time with my phenomenal business coach, Kate Emmerson, as well as all the attendees spanning geos from New Zealand to Capetown, South Africa to Iona, Scotland to Vancouver, BC was a gift of immeasurable value. (For those who aren’t aware of this part of my backstory, I first met Sarah during a writers retreat she held in 2022 in Shela, a beautiful town on Lamu Island, Kenya. It was at that exotic location where I first broke ink and began writing my memoir, The Bad Girls Club: Promises of a Spirituality-Based Recovery, which launches this coming January, 2025. More on that to come!)
July was the month where I completed one of the most radical acts of my life. On the 9th, I submitted my resignation from Salesforce, wrapped up things there by the 23rd, and fully leapt into the unknown realm of solopreneurship. What did that involve? What does that look like now? It involved so much acceptance, a huge embrace of reality, big, BIG courage, facing all the things I thought about much of myself, my life, my purpose, my framework of belief systems, as well as practical things like mortgage and insurance payments and food and all that goes with leaving a corporate bubble. I’ve never worked outside of that comfortable bubble of security, predictability, and in some ways, safety, but it had become clear that my time in that system had come to completion. (And more on that to come!)
August opened with a rush of activity and a real acknowledgement that my corporate paychecks were a thing of the past. I created my own infrastructure and support team, began work to redesign my website, grew my private coaching practice, prepared to join a boutique leadership development practice, Humessence, and embraced a new approach and flow to my work week. In the midst of this activity I was fortunate to travel a few times with my family to celebrate my Aunt Phyllis’s 100th birthday as well as my mother’s birthday in Bethany Beach. Thank goodness I was grateful to be able book a 6-day silent, tech-free, mindfulness meditation retreat in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest at the end of the month. Following the retreat I had a lovely visit to Seattle with some of my former Salesforce colleagues and my dear friend and adopted sister, Kasey. Just what I needed to integrate some of this massive change and feel loved and supported as I enter this new phase in my life.
September brings more spaciousness, focus, and a more manageable cadence for me after that very filling August. My last bit of scheduled travel for the year ended in Dallas and Marfa, Texas, visiting my son and extended family and taking in some world-renowned art. The remainder of my September days have seen the completion of some major projects, the start of my work with Humessence, new coaching clients, new workshop development, and more writing, which is my true love.
Please stay tuned for more, much more coming this fall beginning with next week’s relaunch of my website. There’s more articles coming here, more news about my book and the journey I’ve been on with it, and general insights about a multitude of things including how having the most Calvin of all Calvin & Hobbes cats reminds me to slow down and appreciate the feel of his soft fur against my cheek.
