Like a lot of other people out in the world, I have always worried about what people think of me.  I think it stems from the fact that I grew up in a small suburb of Chicago where a lot of people knew each other and where it was difficult to go unnoticed....

A few times a year my husband and I pick up and relocate to our apartment in the French Alps – I know, lucky us, right?  It has often surprised me, however, how coming to a place which is supposed to be so wonderful and relaxing doesn’t always work out that way. As a c...

I am in the middle of a course which centres around building my coaching practice.  After three and a half weeks of introspection, however, I realise that the course is more about taking a stand for what I believe in and thinking about how I want to put myself out into...

A few months ago I posted an article written by Ann Patchett on her year of no shopping, which really got me thinking about my own spending habits.  After about a minute of reflection, I decided to give myself a similar challenge.  However, while I loved the idea of ab...

Given that spring is rapidly approaching, I have been thinking about what I might need to clean out of my life of in order to make room for whatever is around the corner.  To me, this type of clearing out comes in two forms.  The one I think we are most familiar with i...

I had one of those nightmare travel situations recently.  My husband and I were sitting on the Piccadilly line just about to arrive at London’s Heathrow airport when my husband pulled our passports out of his bag. I instinctively knew something was wrong but I couldn’t...

The first thing I saw when I opened my mailbox this morning was a link to an article in the Financial Times about how loneliness is contributing to tribal politics, and it got me thinking.  Not about politics as I will leave that issue for someone else to ponder; my th...

I’m not sure how others feel this time of year but personally I find it a huge challenge.  The buzz of the holiday season is long gone, most of my family and friends are miles away and the hours of daylight are scarce.  No matter where I have lived, warm or cold, I hav...

If you have ever travelled extensively or lived in a country where you don’t speak the language well, you are undoubtedly familiar with the feelings that go with the inability to communicate effectively – anticipation, frustration, self-doubt – the list goes on. 

My fun...

I remember the first time I went abroad.  I was 13 years old and I was off to Northern Ireland with my best friend and her family for five weeks. I was sitting at O’hare airport in Chicago waiting to board my first transatlantic flight thinking, ‘wow, I’m really doing...