The body knows. The mind overrides. Let's override the override. I'm holding up a mirror so you can see what your body already knows, but your mind has been overriding. ...but before you look at your reflection, some quick housekeeping. I like to work in bite-size pieces so the overwhelm stays stifled, breathing room opens up for real contemplation (because YOU need to continue reflecting beyond simply reading these words), and no matter how chaotic your day gets, you can f

The body knows. The mind overrides…and the delay starts sounding like wisdom. I usually feel it before I understand it. A drop in my belly. A low hum of inner turbulence that begins the second I think, I still need to call so-and-so and have that conversation I’ve been avoiding. And what do I do with that feeling? I move the call down the list. Tomorrow. Next week. After I finish this errand. It’s too late in the day now….I’ll do it first thing in the morning. I tell myself I

This week, the letters make space for the song. I'm back in the place where Sacred Traveler was birthed, and I feel compelled to let it breathe here. Listen to it first, then keep reading. Or read first, then listen. You'll know which one. In March of 2021, I was on this island in the colder months. I couldn't fit my guitar, so I walked into Island Music and bought a tiny travel guitar. And on Martha's Vineyard, with that tiny guitar, I finished writing Sacred Traveler. I did

The body knows. The mind overrides...because the crowd is louder. At the end of Letter #4, I asked, "What are you using to numb, distract, delay, or avoid the thing your body already knows?" There are many answers. None are right and none are wrong. For many of us, one answer can land hard, and you're not even aware you're doing it: outsourcing the decision to other people. A note before we go further. This letter is about everyday life choices. The career move. The unconven

For twenty+ years, I had something to say and I didn't say it. It came out anyway, but only on paper, and only in drawers. Lyrics scribbled on whatever was close. Melodies in my head. Words nobody else ever saw. And the noisy roommate that lived rent free in my head had a full script for why none of it could come out. "They'll talk about you behind your back." "Who are you to say you write music? You've had no training." "If you share these words, they'll think you've lost it

There is a difference between healing and treating. And there is a difference between following and deciding. I recently went to my OBGYN for my annual visit. Lovely gal. She sees me for about fifteen minutes a year. At the end of the appointment, she said, “At your age, you should be taking 1,200 mg of calcium daily.” I scribbled it down like a good little patient and went on with my life. After two weeks, I finally sat down to research a more natural calcium brand so I coul

About five years ago, I joined a program with Julie Ciardi, and she changed my life. I'm still in it. I don’t ever want to be without her teachings. One of the first things she introduced me to was the concept of the noisy roommate, the voice inside your head that runs on a loop, coaching you away from everything you actually want. The ongoing reel of old stories, old conditioning, old beliefs playing on repeat. The wake-up call wasn't just that the voice existed. It was tha

Music speaks where words fail. Playlists for the journey back to yourself. THE BLIND SPOT: Conditioning. Noise. Performance. The moment something stops feeling true and the blind spot starts breaking open. For fellow travelers learning to hear themselves again...let's override the override. Spotify Amazon Music THE OVERRIDE: The moment you stop abandoning yourself to keep the peace. The static clears. The signal gets louder. For fellow travelers learning to trust what they

Most people don't wake up one day completely disconnected from themselves. It happens slowly, quietly, and repeatedly through small moments of self-abandonment. And you don't even notice until you've lost a lot of yourself. A gut feeling ignored. A boundary dismissed. Exhaustion normalized. A relationship dynamic explained away. A dream delayed (how often do we say, "I'll do it later?"). A body signaling "enough" while the mind keeps pushing forward anyway. Over time, overrid

The body knows. The mind overrides. Let's override the override. This isn't a highlight reel. It's context so you know who's talking to you before we go anywhere together. I'm sitting on my porch in the Hudson Valley, in the sun, completely at peace. I almost didn't get here. Not here as in this porch, but here as in this version of myself. As I sip my coffee, I hear the wind chimes as tall as I am. I smell incense in the air. I see a giant Buddha head watching over the g

First, pause. Anxiety speeds everything up. Your job is to slow your body down before trying to solve the problem. Activate your senses: Name out loud: 5 things you can see 4 things you can touch 3 things you can hear 2 things you can smell 1 thing you can taste This helps pull your mind out of spiraling thoughts and back into the present moment. Lengthen your exhale: Inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Exhale slowly for 8 counts. A longer exhale signals safety to the nerv

Decision making brings order to the mind. Prolonged indecision often creates more anxiety than the decision itself. Confusion often comes from too much outside noise, not lack of inner knowing. “Silent” and “listen” are spelled with the same letters. You must carve out quiet space long enough to hear what your body already knows. You do not need to explain every instinct to honor it. Sometimes clarity arrives the moment you stop overriding yourself long enough to hear it. You

Where in my life do, I already know the answer, but keep looking outside myself for permission? Who do I ask the most? What feels heavy lately, and what feels quietly energizing? What am I tolerating that my body has already been trying to communicate to me? When do I feel most like myself? What patterns repeat every time I override my intuition? If fear, guilt, or obligation were removed, what decision would I make today? What does safety actually feel like in my body? What

The Pause Before the Override - Before saying yes, fixing, explaining, committing, or reacting, pause for 30 seconds and ask:“ Does this feel aligned, or am I overriding myself again?” Body Check-In - Your mind can rationalize almost anything. Your body usually answers first. Tight chest = contraction Heavy exhaustion = depletion Expanded breath = alignment Calm = truth The “Future Me” Exercise - Write from the perspective of yourself one year from now after finally trusting

Springtime in New York, and I still see dandelion fuzz as a thousand wishes, not a thousand weeds. How many things have we been taught to override, despite something in us quietly feeling otherwise? When did critical thinking become synonymous with being labeled a conspiracy theorist? In the 90s, my teachers encouraged us to question things, think deeply, challenge assumptions, and form our own conclusions. Somewhere along the way, many people stopped trusting their own disce