What brings you joy? Did reading that question cause your heart to skip a beat? Do you find yourself holding your breath? If this is you, you're not alone. Take a deep exhale and keep reading. When I ask clients this question, I usually hear crickets. Many can’t immediately tell me what brings them joy as they’re often operating on autopilot from a place of stress. Joy is a state of being often tied to feelings of pleasure and happiness.

Some people create clutter in their homes. Other people create clutter on their calendars. Some people do both. Me - I’m guilty of cluttering my calendar. However, when our calendars become so cluttered with “stuff” it’s often hard to see how full our lives really are, let alone find gratitude in the busyness of the season. As the season changes and nature naturally begins letting go of old blooms to make way for new growth, I invite you to do the same.

Marie Kondo has become the organizational guru with the launch of her new Netflix series. So I jumped on the bandwagon this past week to see what all the hype was about. I immediately loved this show not only because I purged everything when I chose to travel the world and it felt SO freeing, but also because it brings about 4 important points for living the life you crave.

Reduce stress? Yes, please! Find more joy? Sign me up! Time and time again, my coaching clients say they feel at peace and find the most joy when they do the things that light them up inside. However, many choose not to take time for themselves because it’s selfish.

News flash - taking quality time for yourself is not selfish!

Last Saturday, I sat at the breakfast table telling Nat, the owner of my guest house, that I planned to go ice sating. The look on his face as I said this confused me. Without saying a word he got up from the table, ran to a closet, pulled out some old hockey skates and brought them into the dining room. Little did I know he used to skate and loved it! When the skating rink in Chiang Mai closed down, he’d often travel to Bangkok to visit his aunt and skate. Then she moved. Eventually, he stopped skating altogether.