Writing Wisdom Archives

A Lesson from the Feminine in France

After a full day on the TGV from Biarritz to Paris and Paris to Nice followed by a local train to Menton. I find myself at the easternmost end of the French Riviera, just east of Monaco and just on the border with Italy. My Airbnb was a 6 block walk from the train station…

Lovely Biarritz

Happy to finally be in Biarritz I found the taxi queue. I took it all in, there were families arriving on holiday, there were groups of college age kids and everything in between. The train station was a buzz from the train’s arrival. My taxi driver spoke no English so it was my first real…

The City of Lights

Today, I booked a flight to Paris. This trip is part healing journey, part future reconnaissance mission and part letting my inner gypsy stretch her wings after a year of staying put! It has been two years since I have been to the city of lights. The last time I was in Paris I was a wife, celebrating a 10th wedding anniversary with a husband. This time I go as just, Renee, a woman desiring to reconnect with a place that she loves. I also go as a woman stepping into her future.

Memories and Self Compassion

Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny day in San Diego. As my Sunday went by with intentionally less things on my to do list, I found myself early this afternoon debating, do I stay in perhaps enjoy a good book on my balcony, watching the sailboats elegantly glide the waters of the bay or do I leash Blue (my Great Date) up and take him down to the car and get out.

Freedom, exciting or scary?

I have always wanted to live in a foreign country, primarily I have always wanted to live in France or at least it has been on the top of my list. Now it could be the romanticizing of the French approach to life, that whole joie de vivre (aka the joy of life), sure or it could be the fact that I spent my entire life hearing about France and the French blood that runs in my veins and how that in and of itself made me somehow unique or different.

Did I fail so I could create something that was me?

In December I had an idea, I wanted to change the format of my writing class. I have been taking this program that looks at my numerology, astrology and my Human Design to ensure that the things that I have in my life and the things that I am building toward are in alignment with who I am as a person. In that program I could see my need to go deep, ask probing questions and get to the bottom of understanding.

Is the answer to just be happy?

I remember in my early 30’s picking up my very first self-help book. I was a mother of two children under the age of five. I was working full-time. I was exhausted and I was beginning to wonder what had happened to me. I had done all of the things I had been told to do, get a degree, get married and have children. All to end up living a life that didn’t include any of the dreams that I had had growing up.

A journey thru motherhood

This past weekend I drove to Phoenix to visit my adult daughter Courtney, it had been almost a year since I had gotten to see her in person. Weekly zoom calls, while a great replacement had just not been the way I wanted to be with her on her birthday!

Creating room for the feminine

I have worked for close to three decades in the business world, when I started in the mid-eighties, I was given messages that I needed to work twice as hard to stand out from the men around me. I was told to emulate the successful men around me, work harder, achieve more that is what would bring success in the business world.