I introduced someone to the term “kill your darlings” the other day. I shared how it is a term common among writers and “your darlings” are those clever, beautiful, provocative, and brilliant words, passages or chapters you write that, upon review, do not fit into your overall work. You must get rid of these words for the greater good of your creation.

This is a necessary process for any writer. While it may feel painful to trim your work, it is okay! Less is often more. Using more words does not mean the reader will be able to understand you better nor will it necessarily drive your point across better.

“Kill your darlings” may also sound scary because it feels like we are rejecting a part of us and we are scared that if we reject that, we will not ever have any more! However, more brilliance will come from wherever those words originally came. If nothing else, writing this daily blog has taught me that I will never be short for content, and neither will you no matter what industry you create for.

A few weeks ago, I did a big thing. I spoke in front of a couple of hundred people welcoming them to a meaningful event I helped plan over the course of 7 months.

I was a bit of nerves but more than that, I was amped. The energy coursing through my body reminded me of my theatre days except this time, I wasn’t acting – I was me! The congruency I felt in those moments speaking on stage are the culmination of many layers of personal work and healing.

As I tried to sleep that night, my brain was lit up with ideas processing everything that happened that day. Out-of-the-norm experiences tend to bring new ideas to me. But I realize that this time, it wasn’t so much that it was “out-of-the-norm” but that it was the congruent feeling I had.

When we are in congruency, we are in flow. We waltz through our actions and are fully seen and heard. We are in our genius and power. Feeling that way reminded me what I am working towards and what I help my clients work toward. An authentic and aligned life is a congruent one, and I believe it is a right for everyone to live such a life.

A revolution lives within me.
Battle cries to the rhythm of my favorite fight song.
A burning fire of reclamation,
Grounded in healing and love.

Forward and together is the way.
Victory is not mine to win.
As this is not just my revolution,
but our revolution.

After attending a gym class together, a friend remarked on my ability to hold my balance. I attribute much of my ability to balance to the yoga I’ve done over the years. Balancing poses are my favorite things to do in yoga.

While I had decent balance pre-yoga, yoga taught me how to truly hold my balance – to allow various parts of my body to stretch outwardly in their own direction while maintaining a center. For instance, in half moon, one of my favorite poses, you have your standing leg pressing down into the ground while the arm on the same side is reaching towards the earth barely brushing the ground and then the other leg is stretching back with the foot flexed almost pushing into an invisible wall and the hand on that side is stretching upwards to the sky and lastly, the head is stretching towards the front. All of this active outward action along with centering my middle body allows me to hold the pose.

Balancing is not just staying centered and it is not just stretching out. It is the ability to do both. If my appendages were rubber bands, I wouldn’t be able to stretch them without something to anchor them to. There needs to be something in the middle holding all those rubber bands.

When seeking balance in life, perhaps we can do the same. Balance is not about keeping to oneself and not interacting with the world. And it is also not being out in the world, running mindlessly from one thing to the next, stretching out in random ways. It is about putting ourselves out there in the ways that feel good, natural while also keeping a solid core. As always, it comes back to the self and being anchored in who we are.

My favorite analogy to addressing our issues and healing is skimming the fat off chicken broth. Like skimming the fat off broth, you have to be gentle during the process. You can only address what is coming to the surface. When the fat rises to the top, it is ready to be skimmed off. Then when more fat rises to the surface, it can be skimmed again. You cannot rush the process as the fat rises in its own time.

The goal is not to get perfectly clear, fat-free broth. In fact, broth can be enjoyed with various amounts of fat in it. The goal is to create harmony between the contents of the broth.