Where do I begin? The day was August 26th, 1980 and my mother was in labour… haha! Just kidding.

Ever since I started listening to the teachings of Abraham (as translated/channeled by Esther Hicks), I try not to focus too much on my past, though I understand that it provides a good context for people to understand where I’m coming from and why I am going in a certain direction.

For some reason, I always start introductions by saying that I am a single mother of a beautiful 6-year-old girl named Emma, although I’m not sure why. I’m incredibly lucky to be able to say that I get along really well with my ex and his new partner (which makes things so much more pleasant). I work hard to make sure my child is not a spiteful, spoiled little monster whom I’m embarrassed to take out in public. So all-in-all, daily struggles aside, I feel like I’m doing rather well in that department.

Ever since she was a baby I’ve always called her my little ray of sunshine. Generally speaking (that is to say, when she’s not grumpy and forgetting who she really is), she spreads sunshine and happiness wherever she goes. She’s truly a pleasure to be around and I’m quite proud of the person she is and is becoming. In fact, I often say that I want to be just like her when I grow up. 🙂

So let’s create a timeline here. I finished my undergraduate degree in Psychology in 2003 and immediately started working for the Federal Government, here in Ottawa (Canada). The only reason I did that was because it was easy. During my summers off from school, I took temp contracts (it paid better than getting a job at Subway – which I tried and royally sucked at) and so when I graduated, it just felt like another summer and it was an easy routine to get back to. I just wanted to get paid. So that summer, I worked as an Admin in our Transport department and was fortunate enough to work for an amazing Director who saw something special in me and fostered my strengths. Although I don’t work with him anymore, that man will always be my favourite mentor. I would have followed him to the ends of the earth. I learned a lot about Leadership by watching him.

Two years later, he pulled out all the stops to get me a permanent position. Yes! A steady paycheck and a pension! Unfortunately, a career as an Administrative Assistant was NOT what I had studied to become and soon, I had to move on.

Fast forward 12 years. Though I spent many years as a Project Officer in a different department where I got to work on actual projects instead of taking care of someone else’s calendar and activities, I was “mapped” through an Agency re-organization, back into an Admin position.

I was devastated. Not only was this a demotion, it went against everything I had worked towards. I had left my favourite mentor to get out of this type-cast admin work. The last thing I wanted was to go backwards!

After panicking, crying, and screaming “WHY ME!?”, I sat back down, listened to some Abraham audios, and slowly started remembering that everything happens for a reason.

You see, ever since I graduated, a part of me wanted to continue my studies. I loved the subject of Psychology but it was just such a broad field. I was never able to figure out which direction I wanted to go… or rather, I never ALLOWED MYSELF THE TIME to figure it out.

So, as I eased back into a meditation practice, and began journalling regularly again, it became clear that this new boring job was my opportunity to re-evaluate my career. The fact that my job didn’t require any of my brain capacity was the perfect opportunity to think about and plan my next move.

Slowly, synchronicity began showing me that I already knew what to do.

An old friend who completed her Master’s degree in Counselling through an online program, came to town for some training and a long overdue visit. After chatting with her, I realized that an online Master’s degree was a possibility now. I decided to apply and got accepted. Although I loved my first course, I remembered that I had never actually wanted to be a therapist. But through my academic research, I had found Positive Psychology, and coaching. Both resonated with me deeply.

Around the same time, Scott Dinsmore’s TED talk showed up in my Facebook feed. He had just passed away in a tragic accident and TED had featured his talk as a tribute. His message resonated so powerfully within me and I was hooked. I am now one of Scott’s Living Legends and started this website and blog as part of one of his Challenges. This is how The Feel Good Soup was born.

Why start a blog?

Writing has always been a part of me. I remember receiving my very first journal on Christmas of 7th grade. It woke something up inside me and from then on, I faithfully kept journals for most of my life. I have a whole treasure chest of them! I actually attribute surviving my teenage years to journaling. It was the one place where I could share every part of my true self without fear of being judged. I’ve always carried some form of notebook with me and if by chance I don’t have one, I use whatever computer or piece of paper I can access whenever thoughts, ideas and/or emotions inspire me.

I also remember having a passion for writing stories. At the age of 15, I loved writing short stories. It started one afternoon at a friend’s house, playing a game. We said “Wouldn’t it be fun to write a story by each taking a turn to write one sentence, and see where it leads us?” We had it start with “It was a dark and stormy night…” and we thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Once again, a different facet of writing was awakened inside me. I still have a copy of that story stowed away in an old filing cabinet.  After that fun game, I couldn’t stop writing; and my “short” stories started getting longer and longer. Unfortunately, at around 17 I stopped writing because I thought the process had gotten too time consuming and my story required too much research (I actually thought it should all just come straight out of my head!). So the desire to write, that NEED to write has always called to me, no matter how hard I tried to silence it.

Why “The Feel Good Soup”?

Influenced by the teachings of Abraham, and by Live Your Legend, I’m trying to figure out how it all fits together. So far, I see that the one thing that connects it all, is the importance of feeling good. The word “soup” is from the Abraham soup (if you listen to Abraham, you’ll get this little inside joke) but it’s also from a book I read as a child: “The Button Soup”. Mine was a Disney version of the Stone Soup story. Basically, after convincing Scrooge (yes, the Duck) that one could make soup out of a button, random individual ingredients are added to a pot of boiling water, slowly, one by one, to eventually end up with an amazingly delicious soup. And that’s one of the ways I see life. It’s all one giant pot of soup, and the ingredients we choose to put in it will make it taste good or awful. It’s our recipe.

I hope that over the coming days, weeks, and maybe years, you’ll learn a little bit more about me and what I’m about, and maybe even take something positive out of the thoughts I have to offer.

Thanks for being here. It means a lot to me!