Welcome to “The Lantern”, a newsletter designed to bring to light wisdom, ideas, practices and tools for purposeful work and living. |
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It's the week before the holidays and for a lot of us, it's all we can do to find the focus we need to make it to “winter break” and call it a year. Based on my coaching sessions the last two weeks, a lot of us are real tired. If this is you, that tired feeling is well earned, the world has been a lot this year. Whatever state you find yourself in, I'm wishing you some pockets of rest and moments of joy and ease over the holidays. As I reflect over the last year of launching Amberwood, one of the greatest gifts for me has been diving into new ways of connecting and sharing my work with you. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your path. It is a true honor to explore living and working with meaning and purpose together. This month, you’ll find 4 “sparks” to uplift and bring a bit of lightness to the end of this year. You'll also find three strategies to find focus even when you just want to take a nap, and a practice to see sparkle + find delight this season especially if you're feeling a little “grinchy”. |
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A collection of favorites I've been reading, seeing, listening to, trying and loving with the hope that a few of them might illuminate something for you too. |
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A quick read showing off some new research that being connected to a sense of purpose correlates to living longer, whereas life satisfaction doesn't seem to have much of an impact at all. This is true across demographics. It's always a good time to get connected with purpose. I've got exciting things coming in 2025 to support you in connecting with your purpose, so stay tuned! If you're ready to start working on purpose now- reach out and let's get to work. |
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NPR's “Books We Love" site is genius and gets all the gold stars. Check it out to explore awesome book recommendations using the filters you want. I use this to find often to find my next books, and to find gifts for people on my list. It's visually appealing- giving browsing the front tables of Borders bookstores back in the day. If you know you know. |
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‘Tis the season for Christmas music everywhere. It’s festive and lovely for a while, and when you need a break, might I recommend the ultimate yacht rock playlist? I've got no shame in my yacht rock game, and this list hits all the yachting high notes. I love the nerdiness of the distinctions made in this article of what is an isn't yacht rock. You can keep that nerdiness going with the new “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary,” streaming on Max. It's on my watch list for the winter break. Let me know if you'll “come sail away” with me into the depths of the genre. |
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This is the first podcast episode in a new series Hidden Brain launched this fall exploring our emotional lives. I've really enjoyed listening to a few of these episodes that match fascinating interviews with researchers with the how and why we experience certain emotions. This first episode focuses on how we experience collective emotions. And then moves into exploring the power of ritual, which I've been thinking a whole lot about lately related to how we experience meaning. |
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Tools + tactics for purposeful leadership |
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Three ways to find focus even when you just want to take a nap |
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Some days (ahem, can we just put a wrap on 2024 already?!) staying focused feels impossible. Maybe you didn’t sleep well, your to-do list is overwhelming, there’s pressure to wrap a whole lot of things up before the holidays, or you’re just having an off-energy kind of day. No matter why focus feels hard to find, you're not alone. I've been coaching so many leaders lately who are feeling frustrated with how hard it is to focus. If this is you, let's get you a plan. Click below for three strategies to help, even when all you want to do is grab your sweats and crawl under the covers. |
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Wisdom + ways to nourish yourself + your gifts to contribute your best |
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See sparkles + name delights |
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Every month in my She Navigates membership program, we gather to learn together, and share where we are in our paths of work and life transitions. We always end with a small practice to take forward into the next month that supports connecting with meaning and purpose. This month, we are tapping into a simple practice inspired by Ross Gay's Book of Delights and it's been so wonderful, that I thought I'd share it here too. The idea is to notice small delights or little moments of “sparkle” in your every day. I've been taken with the idea of “re-sparkling” lately, as the dark and cold of winter have made themselves known. When we intentionally look for and seek little moments of joy, of trying something small that's new or different, of looking for a bit of beauty, something starts to shift the tiniest bit inside. Going a different route to work, trying a new coffee shop, testing out a new recipe, shaking up your day with a short walk or a call to a friend, signing up for a class or workshop, listening to a new piece of music, picking up a different kind of book than your usual, offering a helping hand to someone you run into who could use it, lighting a nice candle… small, little moments that create small little sparkles out of the ordinary. Here's how it works: - Every day for the next month, notice one thing that brings you a glimmer of delight or sparkle.
- Write it down in the same place (notebook or digital) OR do what we're doing in She Navigates, and find a friend or two to do this with, and text each other once a day with images or words about the small delight you found. What's great about that is that we experience each other's delights, and it doubles the sparkle.
- Notice what happens.
In our “delight crew” group text, we're finding that even in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and on days that feel exhausting, delight still makes itself known if we're paying attention, and that has been powerful to witness. Let me know if you give this a try, and what happens for you. |
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Thanks for being here. As always, I warmly invite you to reach out with questions, to share what you're learning + to explore working together. Have a question or a favorite tip to share? I’d love to hear from you. Hit reply or connect with me anytime!
Wishing you a really good month and a happy, healthy, purpose-full New Year! |
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Cleveland, OH 44106, US |
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