Some Gifts Don’t Come Wrapped In Ribbons…

Core Article: Some Gifts Don’t Come Wrapped In Ribbons…

Paragraph I’m Pondering: “I admired my mother in some ways…”

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire: “I create spaciousness in my schedule…”

Cool Stuff: What exactly is pumpkin spice???

AI Info & Resources: AI-driven browsers are all the rage, watch out, Google

Some Gifts Don’t Come Wrapped In Ribbons…

Most of us carry stories from our mothers, some wrapped in love, others tangled in contradiction. However your story looks, you’ve probably inherited something that still echoes through your life today, a memory, a pattern, a lesson you never asked for yet somehow needed.

Interestingly enough, my mother’s story was full of contradictions. She had a deep thirst for knowledge — how the mind works, psychology, and helping people and she impacted so many lives through her insight and care. Yet, sadly, for all she understood about human behavior, she couldn’t turn that same wisdom inward. She never learned to give herself the compassion and insights she offered others.

And that contradiction? It became one of my greatest teachers.

It taught me one of my earliest mindset shifts — that wisdom and limitation can coexist. That sometimes, the people who can’t show us the way are the ones who push us to find our own.

Since she moved into assisted living a few months ago, I’m reminded of that truth from my infrequent visits and phone calls. She’s still focused on what’s wrong and rarely sees what’s good. Her identity has long been tied to struggle. And I’m still baffled how someone can live to be 86 years old and not find gratitude for anything?

That question used to make me angry. Now, it just makes me curious because it’s so easy to see in others what we can’t yet see in ourselves. Maybe that’s why her story stuck with me. Maybe that’s why, even in her contradictions, she gave me the courage to choose something different.

So when I dug deeper, thinking about my mom, I had this memory that stuck with me from my childhood… I was the third child in a family of 4. I was the invisible child, the one who kept quiet through all the craziness of my parents’ constant arguing. I was labeled in my family as the “shy” one.

Fear was my constant companion, and my parents’ attempts at “tough love” to push me out of my shell usually ended in tears or early bedtimes.

Then one day, something shifted. I remember it so clearly because it sparked something inside me to this day.

My mom, while working toward her Master’s in Psychiatric Social Work, handed me a book. “Shyness: What It Is and What to Do About It.” It was 1977, long before self-help was mainstream. It was one of the first “self-help,” now aptly called “personal development,” books I ever read.I still have it today. Dog-eared, underlined, and falling apart.

That book became my anchor. My first real mirror and badge of courage.

If I could face this part of myself at 12 and change to be the most well-liked student in school, I figured I could do anything. And in that moment, her quest for learning and psychology, the one she couldn’t fully live, became mine.

I studied psychology in college because I was fascinated by how we think, feel, and make decisions. (My dad convinced me to switch to Journalism and Advertising, minoring in psychology, still one of the best detours of my life.)

Even now, I’m still driven by that same curiosity to understand people, their choices, and what drives them to change. It’s where my fascination with messaging began. Because when you understand yourself deeply, your words shift. The way you communicate in your business stops feeling like a performance and starts to come from a place that’s real and authentically aligned with who you are.

Looking back, I can see how much her contradiction shaped my path and my work today. We both loved learning and helping others. The difference was, I used what I learned to change myself first.

That’s the foundation of everything I teach now, whether it’s mindset, messaging, or marketing. It has to start inside you. Because Soulful Marketing encompasses the 3 M’s: Mindset, Message, and Marketing. And in messaging, it’s the art of understanding your own story and using it to connect with others from a place of truth.

So I wonder… What about you? What spark shaped you? What lesson did you inherit or rewrite that quietly guides who you are today or who you’re still becoming? What story are you finally ready to own and share?

Because sometimes, the people who couldn’t change are the ones who give you the courage to change yourself, much like my mom did for me.

And maybe that’s the gift.

If this resonated with you, leave a comment. I’d truly love to know how this lands with you 🙂

Paragraph I’m Pondering

I admired my mother in some ways, although things between us were never easy. She expected too much from me, I felt. She expected me to vindicate her life for her, and the choices she’d made. I didn’t want to live my life on her terms. I didn’t want to be the model offspring, the incarnation of her ideas. We used to fight about that. I am not your justification for existence, I said her to once.
I want her back. I want everything back, the way it was. But there is no point to it, this wanting.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

Powerful Affirmations to Inspire

I attract opportunities that multiply my income and impact.
Every dollar I circulate returns multiplied, enriching my life and others’.
I create spaciousness in my schedule for what truly matters

Book Review

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential

~ by Carol S. Dweck

Cool Stuff

What exactly is pumpkin spice? It’s Halloween and pumpkin season, inquiring minds want to know.
Did you watch the documentary on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous polar tale of survival and heroism? This is an interesting article about his ship, the Endurance, that sailed to Alaska in 1915.
How the island of Anguilla is making a killing because they own the domain “.ai” Whaaaattt? This is kind of fascinating. It happened right when the internet began. Interesting read.

AI Info and Resources

AI-driven browsers are all the rage, watch out, Google… They’re all trying to topple Google from its throne. I’m trying one called Dia.ai, fascinating what it can do inside the browser pages and tabs. Here’s an interesting article on Perplexity’s new browser called Comet, which is now free. Check out more here.
Is AI really changing the way we travel? Hmmm….
Interesting stats from Zendesk, a helpdesk platform in the background of many business websites. It claims its AI Bot solves 80% of customers’ issues. Hmmm. Then why am I always the problem child, and my issue is different, and I have to wait to connect to a live agent? Heavy sigh….

Weekly Photos

Fall is definitely here, with some early rain that made for some terrific cloud cover and photos.
Love this red heart right there in the street that I came upon on my daily walk. 🙂
Yeah, Emma, she’s still here in spirit. That dog got so tired sometimes that she couldn’t even hold herself up and asked me to do it for her. xox
The Sundial Bridge in all her cloudy glory.
The moon this week – just bam – it was huge – thank you, super moon, got this lovely pick from my phone.
And yeah, one more shot of the happy pup in her favorite place, wherever we were. 🙂 This shot was taken of her favorite corner spot in my office. It’s so empty without her here most days… Yeah, it’s been two months, and it doesn’t feel like it….
I’ve shared pics of this hike before. It’s such an interesting terrain. It’s where the big Carr fire raged through here in 2018, the year I moved here, funnily enough. (Not so funny then, though.) It has its own kind of beauty in the new growth and the burnt trees.

P.S. Whenever You’re Ready: Here are 3 Ways I can make an impact on creating greater success in your business using marketing that’s aligned with your mission and values without feeling like you’re selling your soul.

1. Make Money Now Sheet – It’s one of the bonuses in my 7-Step Soulful Marketing System. I wanted to give it to you for free to help you create more success.

2. Love Books Like I Do? – I’m always reviewing the best nonfiction books – Where Buddha Meets Business.

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It’s a simple system, especially if you love to read like me. There’s no video or audio. Plus, you get my proven templates, tools, and worksheets, all with tremendous value. And I’m pricing it incredibly low so it can be more accessible to more people. 🙂

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I appreciate your sharing. Thank you!

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