Category: Brave Soul

Blessings, Brave Soul, Self-Care

Want more joy in your life? This is for you.

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One day as I was walking through the woods, listening to the birds chirping from the trees and watching my cute little dog Dino run along the forest trail, happily sniffing everything in sight…

I decided I wanted to have a summer of JOY.

If you’re not familiar with Susan Hyatt, this thought was based on her Summer of Yes. If you’d like, you can learn more about her work here.

It’s all about making your summer memorable, and saying yes to the things that light you up, or in my case, with the inspiration of the lovely Marie Kondo, spark joy.

I’ve wanted to have a Joy Diet Book Club FOREVER. It’s based on one of my favorite books by Martha Beck, The Joy Diet.

And so I’ve decided — it’s time.

It’s time to say yes to the power of joy, and summer, and beautiful forward momentum in a way that is nourishing and provides a sense of community and belonging. A summer that Sparks JOY.

Because I believe that as we follow our joy, we’re led to the ways we can make the biggest difference — and have the greatest impact in the world.

Our joy matters. Just as our stories, our mission, our experiences, and even our pain do.

Joy can be a tricky one to claim. It can often feel elusive and is one of the most vulnerable emotions, as noted by Brene Brown.

So why not do it together? And follow the steps, practices, and insights that Martha lays out in her book, The Joy Diet. Here are the chapters, or as she calls them, ingredients:

#1: NOTHING

#2: TRUTH

#3: DESIRE

#4: CREATIVITY

#5: RISK

#6: TREATS

#7: PLAY

#8: LAUGHTER

#9: CONNECTION

#10: FEASTING

Here’s how the Book Club works.

When you sign up, you’ll get:

  • Access to a private Facebook Community to connect with other Book Club goers 🙂
  • A series of 10 Live weekly group Book Club Calls on Wednesdays @ 10 am, starting on July 24th
  • And, practices and journal prompts to accompany each of the 10 chapters in the book.

As a bonus, you can also select an option that includes an individual coaching session with me, or a package that includes three sessions, all in addition to the book club itself.

I once heard a spiritual teacher ask the following question:

If all was well and wonderful in the world, and no one needed a single thing from you…what would you do? How would you spend your time? What feeling state would you bless the world with?

THAT is your mission. That is your purpose and part of why you’re here.

I’d love to know your answer!

Mine was Joy. My immediate answer was, “dancing around singing” like I did when I was a little girl.

So if you’d like to carve out some space for yourself this summer to invite more joy into your life, then I whole-heartedly and joyfully invite you to join us.

You can sign up via the links below, or click here for more information about the book itself and a more in depth description of each of the chapters, or “ingredients” in the Joy Diet.

Joy Diet Book Club
 
Joy Diet Book Club + 1 Coaching Session
 
Joy Diet Book Club + 3 Coaching Sessions


Questions? Email me at coachingwithcaitlin@gmail.com and I’d be happy to talk with you and sort out whatever you need.


Much love, and many blessings always,

With infinite grace & compassion,

And with much joy,

Caitlin

P.S. I was recently selected as one of 25 people to receive a partial scholarship to an online business school because they loved my vision and mission for my writing & coaching program! If you’d like to support the mission but aren’t available or interested in participating in the Book Club right now, you can still donate to the cause here. (Just make sure it’s set to “friends and family” since it would be considered a gift.) Even $5 makes a difference!

Thank you so much!

And here’s a cute picture of Dino for good measure. 🙂

Blessings, Brave Soul, Grief & Loss

Would You Like to Be Part of the Launch Team for My New Book?

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Here’s the scoop:

You get a free copy of the book before anyone else, and you get to connect with me, and the rest of the group, leading up to launch week — and even after, if you’d like!

And you commit to read the book (or play with a few of the prompts that speak to you), leave a review on Amazon, and help to share and spread the word during launch week —

which could look like anything from calling and telling a friend, posting on social media, or writing an email to your audience. The sky is the limit and the “how” is completely up to you!

It’s a chance to gather and celebrate and share the book with anyone you think might enjoy it, or benefit from a tender loving presence and safe place to write during their experience of grief. ❤ And, of course, get a free copy for yourself! 🙂

If you’d like to learn more about joining us, you can let me know here.

Brave Soul, Grief & Loss

By the Light of the Moon {+ Top 3 Title Choices — Help me decide!}

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Having returned home from a trip to Easter Island, at one point it dawned on me–

Grief is like being plunked down on a distant island in the dark — strange terrain, not knowing your way, not even with a simple street light to guide you.

There is no map. No clear road ahead.

Only your inner compass, and the light of the moon overhead.

The stars are like your loved ones, shining down on you from Heaven above.

And the light of all, a reflection, of the light you hold within you.

And as you tune in very closely and listen to this light… you’ll find that it guides you every step of the way and you never have to go it alone.

From the light of the moon you gain your strength, the courage to take the very next step. And as you step and step and step…the landscape becomes less scary.

Before you know it, you find your way, with all your treasures in your heart and in hand.

Walking as a brave new person, with a new landscape to unfold.

By then it becomes an adventure — a daring new experience by the sea.

To walk and fumble, and hold yourself in love, until you finally find yourself free.

…This was another excerpt from my forthcoming grief journal.
AND…

I now have a selection of the Top 3 favorite title options from the various writing groups I belong to…and I was so surprised by the overwhelming favorite.

But first I’d love to hear from YOU! Which one do you like best? Or do you have a DIFFERENT idea that you think we’d all love?!
Click here to submit your vote!

And if you have an extra idea, you can always email me here, or leave a comment below!

Much love, and many blessings to you always,
Caitlin
Beauty, Brave Soul

Links & Updates

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We had a brief downpour here in Portland today.

And I couldn’t help but remember the way I watched my dad stand in the doorway breathing in the scent of the rain with every fiber of his being.

And the way I shared this memory as part of a different experience with rain from a few years ago that I wrote about, called Gentle Afternoon Rain.

For the last few weeks things have been quiet on the blog because I’ve been sharing past beauties and insights via email.

If you’d like to receive posts and other surprises, and just all around inspired goodness straight from my heart, you can join us here. And I’d love to connect with you each week.

Here are the links to some of the posts, and more, I’ve shared, if you feel like a weekend Scroll-Through-And-Savor session. 🙂

Sending much love to you always. ❤

Links & Updates from the Past Month…

The Girl in the Coffee Shop {+ A Fun New Surprise}

the girl in the coffee shop

Need some encouragement? {You can do this.}

still she sings header idea circle

May Day Wishes {+ A Few of My Favorite Things}

Be kind to yourself.

Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to receive future blog posts, along with fun surprises & other beautiful things by email each week? You can sign up here.

And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.

Also, NEW! By the Light of the Moon: Grief Support Group. Check it out & join us here.

Brave Soul, Writing as Healing

Your words are powerful + {I hope you dance.}

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I have a note from my dad taped up on my bedroom wall. It is a note he tucked into a package he mailed to me while I was in college. It contained very precious cargo — a dress I wanted to wear to an upcoming school salsa dance.

I kept the note because it made me smile.

Written in his signature-style handwriting and on his new (at the time) OHSU Foundation letterhead, it reads:

 

Caitlin–

Have a terrific

time at the dance!

Love,

Dad

 

I pulled the note out again a couple years ago, and having lost my dad several years prior, I burst into tears.

But not for the reason you might expect.

I burst into tears because it felt like a message for the moment —

To live my life.

To enjoy my life.

To enjoy the dance

that is life.

The great cosmic dance and play of being human.

(Extra fitting given his love of the mantra “Carpe Diem.”)

Have a terrific time at the dance all of a sudden had new meaning and I couldn’t get over it — crying and crying at what a magnificent miracle it seemed to be. It felt like a Divinely timed message just for me, in some way, from the great beyond.

And I cried with the perfection of it all. The grief. The loss. The glory. The grace.

Crying not because I was happy. Crying not because I was sad.

But crying because I was so moved by the power of it all. The epiphany, the grace, the metaphor, the love…

The perfection.

It felt absolutely perfect.

And in that moment, I realized the true power our words hold.

Whether you write a letter, a text message, a bestselling novel, or an entry in your personal journal…

They all matter.

Those words — your words — have the power to transform lives long after you’re gone.

Let alone the healing they can bring to your own life while you’re here on earth.

So if you’re at all curious to do a little writing of your own — to take a closer look and explore some of the stories you have about a loved one you may have lost, I’d love to have you join me for The Heart-Mending Wordsmith this spring.

The course came about because of a writing class I took one summer while I was teaching first grade.

The writing I did held such potent healing power that once I found myself in life coach training years later, I knew it was a process that could help others too.

It includes 8 weeks of live coaching calls and writing exercises that all fit together to help you create a narrative about your loved one — a treasured story that you can bring to life on the page and hold in your heart forever.

Allowing some of your most treasured memories and experiences to be brought into the light of day through writing is one of the most priceless gifts there is.

Say yes to yourself. And yes to your memories.

YES to the power of your words.

I’d love to have you join me. The course begins on this coming Thursday, April 25th and registration is now open! You can sign up here.

 

In the spirit of flowing forward with this metaphor of dancing, I’d like to share an old blog post with you called: I hope you dance. (Which you’ll find below.)

I’ll also include some journal prompts for you to play with this week if you’d like.

I hope you enjoy!

Journal prompts…

What would it look like for me to show up and dance in my life this week?

If I could do anything — if I had unlimited resources to do whatever I wanted to do this week, what would I do? Who would I spend time with? And who would I be?

I hope you dance

I hope you dance.

(Original post from March 9, 2015) — happy to say that I am physically dancing again now, too! 🙂

I love to dance.

And for a year and a half now, I have not been able to.

So Lee Ann Womack’s song that goes, “And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance,” even as just a metaphor for life, somewhat breaks my heart.  That’s because physically, I’ve been doing a lot more sitting than I’ve ever done before or ever thought I would do–especially at 28 years old.

Literally sitting, not dancing.

But by sitting, I’m playing my part right now; stepping up to do what my body and soul have asked.  Which means that what I’ve been doing IS dancing.  That’s right, I am dancing even though I physically can’t dance.  How cool is that!?

Dancing is living with courage. 

Life is calling us to take a leap in every moment; each one unique in its shape, size, manner, and purpose.  But having the courage to show up, THAT’S dancing.

Sometimes that might be going for a run along the river, when at other times it means staying still and curling up in your favorite chair.

Sometimes it might mean opening up a flower shop because it’s always been your dream or it might be appreciating the beauty of a single flower sitting on your coffee table.

Sometimes it might be speaking up and sharing your message with a group of people, and sometimes it might mean quietly acknowledging and accepting your own truth.

Each of us has the power to recognize which kind of leap we’re being called to next.  And when we feel that pull, we have a decision to make.

Did you notice that in the song she doesn’t say IF you get the choice, but WHEN you get the choice?

That’s because we always have a choice.

We choose.  We decide whether to walk toward life or turn away from it.

I choose courage.  And I choose stepping out onto the dance floor of life, whatever form it takes.

So let’s dance.

May you dance in exactly the way life is calling to you right this very minute.

***And if that means signing up to join us for The Heart-Mending Wordsmith, then I’d LOVE to dance with you!***

Love,
Caitlin

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And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.

Brave Soul

You can do this. {Reflections from past regret}

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Trust yourself.
Go slow.

You don’t have to do what others expect. This is your life, and you get to live it the way you choose.

You do not have to follow the crowd, or others’ expectations of you.

This is your life. How do you want to live it?

How do you want to feel? What do YOU want to be doing, right here, right now?

Follow that wave.

Allow one little seedling of an idea to expand into a mighty oak tree.

You have not gotten anything wrong. And you are infinitely and abundantly loved.

You cannot get it wrong here. Tune in and ask, what does your heart want to do?

Just like the Lady and the Tramp, or Aladdin, and the magic carpet ride…

When did you last let your heart decide?

Compromising what you know to be true for yourself with the belief that it will somehow help others, serves no one.

It does not help anyone to shine brighter or feel more filled up with peace and love and joy, all of the very things you are hoping to bring to this planet, yes?

You are infinitely and Divinely blessed as you follow the steps from your heart that you are guided to take each day.

Follow your heart.

Let your heart decide.

Allow your heart to lead the way, and follow in the magic and the mystery and the love of it all.

Everything will be okay in the end. Have no doubts or fear here.

You are enough.

All that you want is destined to come to fruition.

How can you be easier on yourself in the meantime?

How can you bring yourself feelings of sweet surrender and deep peace?

What brings you feelings of deep peace — the things that help you sleep better at night, relaxing into the unknown, this is where your heart’s treasures are waiting for you.

It only takes the courage to look — to take a peek deep inside and see what your heart wants to share. What pain needs to be healed. What scars need to be allowed to mend. What treasures you are here to find. What gifts you are here to bring the world.

All is right here within your very own heart center.

Allow yourself to breathe into this space within your heart today with the knowing that you’ve already won. That there’s nowhere to get to. That there’s no battle left to win. You have found your way home, inside your heart. What’s next is purely Divine.

Allow yourself to drink in the freedom that is yours. The freedom to live. The freedom to feel. The freedom to make your own choices and decide what you want your life to be.

You can do this.

I have no doubt. You are are stronger than you know. More brave than you can possibly imagine. And I am with you.

I am with you every step of the way.

You can do this.
Namaste.

And if you’d like a personalized blessing to help you remember your strength or help bring guidance to your path, you can get all the details here:                                              (and download a free copy of my blessings-filled ebook, Delicate Grace.)

personalized blessings

Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to receive future blog posts, along with fun surprises & other beautiful things by email each week? You can sign up here.

And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.

Brave Soul

Walking through fire.

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​The quotation in my planner today reads:

“If you’re going through Hell, keep going.”

Winston Churchill

I used to love this quotation.  A lon​​g time ago it made me laugh, it gave me a way to approach my life and the huge challenges with a bit of humor. And it was a way for me to, even if only subtly at first, recognize and acknowledge, and then accept my pain.

You see, the only way to make it to the other side of our pain, is to walk straight through it.

Not to ignore it, deny it — but face it. Head on.

Now this is more difficult to do than it might seem. It sounds simple enough.

But like so many of the simple tasks in life, the simple lessons, the simple actions or habits — they’re often not so easy.

Simple and profound. Easy? Maybe.

Maybe not.

Either way, it is by walking into and through the fire that we find the peace and freedom that getting to the other side of our trial brings.

And I would argue that it isn’t so much about getting to the other side — being in a place without the fire — that brings us peace.

But it’s who we have become by walking through that fire that gives us the peace we crave.

When we get to the other side, it is in knowing that we can do it. That we can face whatever life throws our way.

That no matter what we can always look to the light. And that God and the Angels will be there for us and guiding us along the way.

No matter what.

It’s about facing the things we can’t change. And allowing them to transform us. So that when we make it to the other side, we have freedom.

Not the freedom of peace. Or absence of trial.

But the freedom of fire. The freedom that comes from allowing the fire to burn away anything you don’t need — all the layers of who you thought you were and who you used to be, in order to make room for who you become.

Because who you become, that beautiful golden seed within you now, as it begins to blossom, will only sprinkle out little bits of confetti and love in celebration as you shine.

When you reclaim your voice. When you reclaim your place. All of Heaven smiles.

Just like I am smiling for you now.

So whatever challenges or trials you face today, know that whatever the fire is burning away is only to help reveal the most magnificent being that you already are.

Hold yourself close in the pain. Whisper kind words of compassion to yourself in your suffering.

And know that you are being created, molded, into something far greater than you could ever imagine — the purest essence of you.

And you, my darling, are the most radiant soul in all the earth.

And I’m so proud of you.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep walking through your fire, so that when you reach the other side, you will smile, with peace and satisfaction with how you have emerged — transformed.

You can do this.

You are a brave soul. I’ve got you and I believe in you every step of the way.

Much love to you always,

Namaste.

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And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.

Brave Soul

The girl in the coffee shop.

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She sits, on a small bench with a little patch of sunshine shining through.

She sits with her journal, with her cup of Chai — and she reflects.

Thinking about her life, her loss, pondering all the moments gone by. Wondering about her future, wondering what it will be, what it will bring — more fearful now than ever before. But she doesn’t know this. She just sips her tea, and she writes what she’s grateful for.

 

She always focuses on the light, you see. Always focused on bringing in positivity, harmony — grace. She’s convinced it can always be found, and she finds little bits of it everywhere.

In fact, it is one of her strengths.

 

It’s one of the things others admire about her. But what she doesn’t yet know, is it is in part, a challenge, that one day she’ll overcome.

 

To face her fears, her sorrow and tears — the despair so heavy and alone.

 

And that she’ll rise again, her face in the sun. One day walking back into that very same coffee shop, this time ordering water instead of tea, and a healthy bar instead of the chocolate scotcharoo.

 

A girl brave with new understanding.

A girl with new tenderness she never could have foreseen.

And this tenderness gives her strength.

This tenderness gives her fire.

 

From this tenderness a new life is born. One that honors her every need.

And with this her life expands, into a beautiful expression of grace — filled with joy, and laughter … and the smiles of dreams coming true.

 

There’s nothing like the feeling of a dream coming true.

And this girl, yes this girl — she lives for it.

 

The feeling of accomplishment, the knowing she’s helped.

It puts a smile on her face and helps her relax with ease — or she jumps up with a scream and a shout, thrilled by the very experience of being alive.

 

She is worthy. She doesn’t always see it.

But just wait — you’ll see her shine.

 

And her shining will set the world aglow — and in it you’ll find, you know,

That you’re just a masterpiece in shining also, who out of fear or shame is hidden…

 

And you’ll find the courage, little by little, to take off your mask and reveal —

The angel that lives inside

To spread her wings and fly

 

Leaving raindrops of love and rose petals of joy.

Blessing every soul you meet.

 

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And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.

Brave Soul

You can do anything.

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My wishes for you today — boldness, confidence, grace.

My darling canaries~

You can do anything.

And your life is divinely blessed, like a sunflower reaching up to allow the sunlight to grace her face.

You can do anything. And all that you desire to create and be is for a reason.

When you write, you let freedom flow through your fingertips. And that freedom has the power to open Heaven’s door.

One could even say that that IS Heaven’s door.

As you create from the heart, you allow a wellspring of knowledge to bubble up to the surface…sometimes with insights and information you didn’t even realize you had within you.

What a treasure it is to be one with the inspired ideas and creations that come to you —

You can do anything that you put your mind to…

Or perhaps I should say, put your heart to. 🙂

Because your heart is one of the most wondrous creators there is.

Allow yourself to be in the wondrous flow of whatever it is you are creating.

Whether is it a simple journal prompt, or a bit of poetry that comes to you as you’re sitting outside, gazing across your backyard…

THIS is the infinite space through which creativity is born.

And all human beings are creative.

How could we not be?

We were created by a creator and we were destined to create.

As part of Creation, we too create, with every thought and deed, word and breath.

The breath is what gives wings to our dreams and lets our hopes soar high up in the sky — like a bluebird, or a dove…or an eagle soaring with the tops of the trees.

What type of bird do you feel like today?

What energy resonates with you the most?

Now imagine that you are this bird, about to tackle the events of your day…

How would this bird respond?

Who would she be? What would she do?

What energy do you feel as you see her flying in your mind’s eye?

You have this same freedom within you, and it’s singing–

I can do anything!

And I’d love to hear in the comments below, what helps your heart feel like singing?

How did you like the bird visualization exercise? What did you find or discover imagining yourself as a bird?

Sending you much love & many blessings always,

Caitlin

You can do anything

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Brave Soul

A new take on ribbon dancing.

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I woke up this morning with an old blog post on my mind…a draft from a few years ago about ribbon dancing in the chaos of life that never got published.

February always feels like kind of a funky month. It has always felt like a strange limbo land to me…not quite spring, and often times, there seem to be new gusts of unexpected winter.

So I thought it would be a fitting time to share this with you…

May we dance in the ribbons, the chaos of life and find new strength and joy peeking through!

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In a conversation a few months ago, I was describing how I felt when an image popped up in my mind, a perfect picture of how I felt. There were shoe boxes with the lids off and ribbons overflowing out of each one.

Each shoe box represented the upheaval in a different area of my life. And since that’s what’s happening in pretty much every area of my life, you can imagine the number of boxes!

Even with the lids put on them, the anxiety remained, knowing what a mess all the ribbons were inside.

If you’re an organized person, like me, you’ll understand what a disturbing image this is (probably even more so for me right now with my physical symptoms and the way my brain is processing information) and why it matched how I was feeling inside.

Complete overwhelm and overstimulation. Frazzled to the max and completely out of sorts.

But somehow just having this image, this metaphor for how I felt seemed to have a soothing effect. I gave myself permission to dislike them.

Then one morning, in my mind’s eye, I saw those same boxes of ribbons but this time, instead of feeling the need to figure out how to get them cleaned up and back in order, I started picking the ribbons up by the handful, throwing them into the air with joy, and dancing around in the mess.

I’ve always been someone who likes things to be clean and organized; and still do. But if you haven’t noticed, life doesn’t often work that way. Life often feels like more of a mess, agonizing over unknowns and getting blindsided by the unexpected. Life has bigger plans for us. Life knows that there’s an order to the mess. And maybe this, this learning to dance in the mess, is the highest order there is.

If I hadn’t known the mess of ribbons, I wouldn’t have learned to dance in them–to dance with them. Same goes for life. It is in knowing all of the messy things that we don’t like, that we come to surrender our wishes for what we think life should be, so we can dance in harmony with the order that was there the whole time.

But it often doesn’t feel as easy or blissful as it sounds.

Even though I’ve made peace with some of these other boxes, right now I’ve got one in particular that’s overflowing and driving me crazy. And I really hate it. And that’s okay.

In the same moment that I allow myself to hate this stupid box and all of its maddening ribbons, I dare to trust in the order that is the mess. And maybe, one morning, (hopefully someday soon) I’ll wake up and be ready to dance with those ribbons, too.

But until then, there’s nothing to do but take a few deep breaths and allow our frustration with the mess to have its turn, until we’re ready to dance.

And I promise, your turn to dance will come.

Sending grace for your days with the icky feelings and blessings for the ribbon dancing that awaits you, just around the corner.

Or if you like Pocahontas…just around the river bend. 🙂

 

I’d love to hear from you!

How are you dancing with the ribbons of your life today?

Let me know in the comments below…

 

I’m sending so many blessings and so much joy your way, always.

Much love,

Caitlin

 

Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to receive future blog posts, along with fun surprises & other beautiful things by email each week? You can sign up here.

And to follow along with daily love notes & journal prompts, and other inspired goodness~ you can Like the Caitlin Sanders Facebook Page Here.