December 2021
Dear Friends,
After much consideration, I decided to come out. It’s hard to confess how horrible 2021 was for me. The world, too, seemed to shine with a particular horror as I coached highly sensitive, creative, soulful leaders. Even for those with great healing gifts, play, and love, it’s just been hard. Maybe that’s why at the end of the year I called in the pink fairies, elves, and god-us-ess. Horror warrants its winsome opposite. How else can I make it?
What I am about to share is held alongside a multitude of graces! For instance, I successfully left my Executive Director job as the cofounder of InterPlay with supreme gratitude and satisfaction. My creativity, joy, and family remain intact. Christmas morning brought blessed serenity. My daughter and son-in-law decided to legalize their marriage.
Still—-Six months ago my daughter nearly died from heroin. Her opioid use started with a prescription in her teens for a back injury. Addiction runs in her birth family and my family tree, too. People with the genetic predisposition need forms of pain management other than addictive substances!
Sadly, our journey is not unusual, especially for the one-in-five humans who are highly sensitive. Neuro-sensitivity leads us to feel more, sense more, notice more, and care more. In the face of danger, we move toward mastery and when that doesn’t work to deaden or lift our spirits, we may transform into healers and activists who raise the flags in times of trouble. Too often, we overdo, over-adapt, and overextend. We isolate. We fight too hard. That’s why we’re the ones who also teach and find solace in meditation, contemplation, art, and play.
Sensitivity is a blessing and curse….(Continue to full letter here.)