No. 12 What Wedding Planning Taught Me About Sustainability
"Change starts when someone sees the next step." I came across this line from William Drayton while listening to The Magic of Imperfection, the new book by Jason McLennan (founder of the Living Building Challenge), and it stopped me in my tracks.
No. 11 Change Begins When We Can See the First Step
"Change starts when someone sees the next step." I came across this line from William Drayton while listening to The Magic of Imperfection, the new book by Jason McLennan (founder of the Living Building Challenge), and it stopped me in my tracks.
No. 10 What Yayoi Kusama Taught Me About Regenerative Futures
I'm wrapping up a relaxing vacation in Central Canada; I went to Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto. One of my highlights was visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario to see the Infinity Mirrored Room – Let's Survive Forever by one of my favourite artists, Yayoi Kusama. As I waited in the long line for my 1-minute turn, I watched the artist process video. She said something that hit me like lightning: "As an artist, my job is to glimpse the vision."
No. 9 Three meters (10’) made all the difference
Today's theme: how can we set ourselves and our projects up for success by paying attention to our environment?
Environmental cues play an important role in reminding you to do the things you intend to do. If you're setting an intention to regulate your nervous system (aka entering a healthier relationship with your fear response), environmental cues can support that.
No. 8 What Forests, Fungi and Shadows Have to Teach Us
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is well underway. I spent the weekend surfing in Tofino, soaking in coastal forests and salty air, doing my best to catch some waves. And somewhere between wipeouts, it hit me: I haven't talked about how profoundly nature regulates our nervous system.
No. 7 The willpower myth (and what actually works)
In some personal and professional development circles, growth is treated as a solo exercise - something that comes down to willpower and discipline alone. I take issue with this. Hyper-individualism creates the illusion that we're separate from each other, and it frames every shortcoming as a moral failure.
No. 6 When Good Change Still Feels Scary
Everybody wants transformation, but nobody wants to change.
I didn't fully understand that until one of the best days of my life: my partner proposed and I got a raise on the same day. I was ecstatic! And then I woke up the next morning feeling anxious.
No. 5 Surge Time: Staying Steady When Life Speeds Up
“Surge time” is a busy season when we face more demands than usual, either personal or professional. Sometimes you see them coming, and other times you don’t.
I like to surf, so the analogy of a wave is apt here. How do you ride the wave of surge time, rather than be taken over?
No. 4 Loop-de-Loop: Becoming aware of burnout patterns
I’ve been exploring the neurobiology of burnout. While we often focus on external pressures, deadlines and demands as the main contributor to burnout, research shows that burnout is frequently driven by "unclosed loops", which is the lingering mental and emotional stress cycles we carry through the day.
Thinking of your incomplete to-do list or that performance review with your boss can impact your stress response.
No. 3 Acceptance: Doing your best and still growing
I struggled to write this newsletter.
The past two weeks have been busy with work, and I’m also in the middle of planning a wedding with my fiancé, so our weekends are fuller than they used to be. I’m grateful for it all, and yet when I sat down to write, I felt restless. I changed the topic three times and wasn’t sure I’d finish.
Therefore, the theme I ended up choosing is acceptance.
I chose this theme because whenever we step outside our comfort zone, discomfort is part of the deal. Our nervous systems are wired to respond in familiar ways, and change is scary for most of us, myself included.
No. 2 Sustainable success starts with a regulated nervous system
What happens in our nervous system when we’re under pressure?
Whether you’re coordinating complex details with consultants, keeping the LEED points from slipping away, or trying to keep your inbox from eating your soul alive… sustainability work can stretch our limits. The more we understand our internal stress responses, the more skillfully we can show up in our work.
No. 1 Finding Your Sweet Spot in Sustainability
Who this newsletter is for and what it’s all about.