Most of us grapple with knowing who we really are. We were not, after all, born with an instruction manual that lays out how we function, what our optimum features are, and how to make everything work. Rather, our life, if we choose to embrace the mission, is to go exploring and uncover the grace and brilliance that IS who we are. For much of my adult life, I did not understand this. I thought there was a rule book and if I could master all the measures of success – good grades, high degrees, respectable job with abundant pay, raising self-confident and secure children, sustaining a stable marriage – then I would arrive at the pinnacle place where all would be well.

(By the way, one of the very best illustration of this life paradigm is reflected in one of my favorite picture books – not really for kids – called Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulis.)

By the time I was 43 I had achieved everything that is on that list and while we can always desire more of any of them, I was there. I was at the place that society had labeled “success.” But if I was there, if I had followed the rule book and attained these things, why did I feel persistently incomplete?

It took tremendous courage to truly get curious about this both because I didn’t really know how to get curious in this way and because questioning the paradigm that had been the guide for my life was terribly scary. If this wasn’t the path, then what was?

Choosing to let go of the only paradigm I had ever know to go in search of another that I was not even sure existed was terrifying in many ways, but, like a true explorer, exhilarating and energizing as well. With Courage and Curiosity as my ‘go to’ inner resources, I have discovered that there is a different paradigm. Again, Trina Paulis’ book offers a beautiful depiction of this ‘other paradigm,’ but suffice it to say that when we access our truth and come to know intimately who we are and begin living on purpose and in alignment, life flows much more easily and our inner light glows.

I founded Courage to be Curious to provide guidance and resources for other courageous explorers who either sense, know, or simply hope that there is another paradigm and a path to discovering and living their personal brilliance.

I often get asked what my background is that qualifies me for this work. I have a pretty impressive background on paper and we can say that all of it and none of it prepared me for this work. Every degree and certification I acquired was a stop on my winding path and contributed something to the inner canvas that is me. Every job I held and leadership role I took on produced artifacts and contributed evidence about who I am and who I am not. All of it has contributed to my discovery of my capacity to do this work, but the most important asset that I have to do this work well is the inner wisdom that I have come to discover inside of me.

Whether you are a subscriber to the podcast, you consider coaching, you join a curiosity venture, or we meet at a speaking engagement, it is my sincerest hope that Courage to be Curious offers you just want you need to enter into a dialogue with your own courageous curiosity. Where this conversation will lead, nobody knows. But – as my mother always said about me – I guarantee that it will not be boring!