Sometimes speaking from the heart involves telling someone close to you your struggles, feelings, and emotions. At other times, it involves being present and listening as someone speaks from their heart and tells you what is going on with them.  And other times, people will use non-verbal communication to let you know what is on their heart. So, speaking from the heart means being there for others through all of this.

Merry Christmas! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve day! It is already that time of year again.  As I love to give Christmas cards, I thought I would turn this week's post into a note of gratitude and support to all of my readers.

The holiday season brings congestion everywhere - at shopping malls, on the roads, even at the grocery stores.  People are out trying to find the perfect present for their loved ones.  This means, though, that the parking lots and routes to these major centres are packed with holiday season traffic. It may seem like the whole city is out shopping!

During this festive season, I usually try to plan to go shopping for my gifts at off hours or to order things online to avoid the crowds and congestion.  However, this past weekend I found myself in a jammed traffic lineup while merging onto the highway.

Karen Horneffer-Ginter, Ph.D. is the author of “Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit: Nourishing the Soul When Life’s Just Too Much” (Hay House).  She has been practicing psychology and teaching yoga and contemplative practices for more than 16 years. Karen co-founded the Center for Psychotherapy and Wellness in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she currently offers counseling and other classes and workshops. The aim of Karen's work is to reconnect people with the wisdom of their inner-life by reclaiming what gets lost amidst the busyness of day-to-day life: qualities such as stillness, self-care, creativity, joy, humor, gratitude, and compassion. Her intention is to support people in finding a sense of balance and sacredness in their lives.

December is always a time of reflection for me. Therefore, to gather my thoughts and reflect on what I learned over the past year, I decided to go for a walk in the forest. On my walk, I found a very tall tree and decided to stop and think. As a nature lover, whenever I see a tall tree, the term “growth” comes to mind. Growth of any kind is a process, whether it be individually or collectively.

As I said in my last post, conversations change lives. For me, one of those conversations was seeing Mo Isom being interviewed on Ellen. Watch the video here. Mo's story really inspired me and I had to reach out and connect with her.  I'm so excited that today, Mo Isom, is “Speaking From the Heart” and sharing her experiences with all of us. 

At just 23, Mo Isom is recognized as a powerful, fearless female voice rising up for her generation. Her unique personal story and athletic endeavors have provided her with a platform to inspire, empower and encourage others to live boldly, despite their circumstances. Having faced great personal tragedy—including battling an eating disorder, overcoming the suicide of her father, and surviving a horrific car accident—Mo is passionate about speaking on a wide variety of topics and is able to connect with men and women of all ages and demographics. 

When talking to people over the past few months, many have independently mentioned how years ago I was “floundering” in terms of transitioning from recent graduate to established professional; now, they love how I have found my balance.  Each has used that exact word, floundering, which means: “to make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance” (thefreedictionary.com). The reason the word was used was because I took a different route than what they were used to so they thought I was off course. However, I never thought I was "floundering," I used the term exploring instead. I knew exactly where I was going and working hard to get there.