Pluck the Day
One of my favourite pieces of life advice comes from a (perhaps) unexpected source. A baseball player. Look, I do have some inner tension about loving baseball –– especially around how much money is thrown around for what is, or at least should be, just a game. How is it, for example, that someone can […]
Walking the path, II
“Paths are the story of humans journeying on foot. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. They point forward toward the journey’s goal but also behind to all who have traveled this same path before us, including those who created the first track.” ~Torbjørn Ekelund Last time, we talked about walking. This […]
Walking the path, I
Have you noticed the increasing interest in walking? Articles, books, medical research. Did you know 11 minutes of walking very well may decrease your risk of heart disease, many kinds of cancer and overall mortality. How about 150 minutes of walking a week? Even better. Cut that risk of premature death by 20%. […]
An in-person, outdoor retreat … at last
For months now, the Inside Outside Retreat Centre has been, well, inside. Lots of online retreats, some in-person and hybrid offerings, but outside? Not so much. And so, we are very, very excited to invite you to: Paths through Time and Nature Sunday, June 4 10:00 am – 2:30 pm EDT in Toronto’s beautiful High Park This will be […]
Deepening Our Engagement with Nature
April 27, 2023 We’re excited to offer: Wildness, Enchantment & Hope: Deepening Our Engagement with Nature. This six-session, online series begins May 17 and will be facilitated by Leslie and fellow Courage & Renewal® Facilitator Mardi Tindal. Listen to Leslie describing the inspiration for the retreat and her hopes for participants: Two things inspired this retreat. The […]
Living with Paradox
April 20, 2023 Living with Paradox If you’ve attended one of our retreats, you’ll know we almost always begin with a Land Acknowledgement. You’ll see it on our website, too. Leslie and I reside on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa and the Mississaugas of the Credit and the ongoing home […]
Is it just me?
April 13. 2023 Lately I’ve been feeling like there is a lot of noise out there. Seems like everywhere I turn someone’s offering a product, a service or expertise to solve a problem I frequently didn’t know I had. Maybe it’s just me? But did you know, approximately 15,000 self-help books are […]
Self-care
March 23, 2023 If you’ve been following us for a while you may have heard us talk about self-care, that it is never selfish, it’s simply looking after the only thing we have to give the world: ourselves. It follows that if we are wanting to care for the earth, for each other, we’ve […]
Spring Cleaning
March 16, 2023 For a good part of my adult life, I have been pretty grouchy about the arrival of spring, vibing more with T.S. Eliot’s declaration that “April is the cruellest month” than Robin Williams’ idea that “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’” All promise, but only slush and cold wind. Not […]
Solitude
March 11, 2023 I don’t often listen to audiobooks, but I’ve been listening to Solitude: A Singular Life in a Crowded World, by Michael Harris. There’s so much I’m liking about this book. There’s lots about the psychology of solitude and what brain research has to say about it. And there are some terrific, honest, intimate […]