The Key to “Happiness”
Did you know that before I was a life coach, I was a classical educator?
I don't think I've ever told you about this side of me!
It's true. In a “former life,” I actually homeschooled my own children; and I also taught workshops, wrote articles, and even did a podcast about literature and the importance of stories.
In college, my minor was in psychology (which IS helpful in coaching), but my actual degrees are in religion and education.
I've studied comparative religion, comparative mythology, historical theology, educational philosophy/practice, depth psychology, symbolism, and the physiological & psychological workings of the brain and the body. (It's ok if you're yawning!)
In short, I've spent my whole life gathering insight and wisdom into what it means to just be a HUMAN, having a HUMAN EXPERIENCE in this world.
So, naturally, when I saw the book, The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, I knew I had to read it. It was the tagline that got me: “Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom?!?!” Yes! Sign this girl up! 🤓
I don't agree with every conclusion the author came to, but I do agree with him on the BIG thing:
“Happiness Comes From Between.”
Throughout all time, cultures, religions, societies, and stories, there is a common theme that emerges over and over: fulfillment—”happiness”— comes from living in harmony.
“In harmony with what?” you might be asking.
Between the body and the mind.
Between the physical and the spiritual.
Between desire and duty.
Between passion and purpose.
Between the masculine and the feminine.
Between the Self and the Other.
The Greeks called this kind of harmony or alignment eudaimonia, which is roughly translated as “human flourishing.”
It has been my life's work to understand this balance and to put it into practice within myself. And now it is my passion to share that work to help others. Because what I can see now, after all of this immersion in the world's wisdom, is two-fold:
When something in my life is not going the way I desire it to (i.e. when I am dissatisfied, discontented, or otherwise experiencing negative emotions or experiences), it is usually because I am out of balance in one of these areas. And
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US on this planet experiences this misalignment, simply by nature of being a human in this world. None of us is getting out of life unscathed by this process. In fact, so much of life IS figuring out this process and learning to work WITH it instead of against it.
So often we think that we are broken. Or inadequate. Or unworthy.
Or that the problem is too complex. Or that solutions, answers, or relief is too far away. Or that we are wrong for even wanting the relief/circumstance/thing in the first place.
But I want to share with you an exciting truth: when you are able to see where the misalignment is happening, and then also have the tools to realign or reintegrate the parts that are out of balance, then….voila!
You come back into Harmony. Fulfillment.
Often even Happiness.
Eudaimonia.
It sounds so simple. And in many ways, it really is. (All of the world's wisdom through the ages saying this same thing can't be wrong!)
But HOW can we see where we are out of harmony? And where can we get the tools to come back into harmony? (Because, really, if it were THAT simple, we'd all be walking around constantly flourishing as our highest selves, and…well, we can look around at the world we're living in and know that we aren't doing that!)
That's where my coach training steps in—knowing where to look for the misalignment and having the tools to make the changes. Those skills then integrate with all of this knowledge of the human condition I've been collecting for decades, and the result is a simple process for people to follow to help them see where they are out of balance, correct it, and come back into wholeness and harmony.
And this combination of those two aspects of what I've learned—the understanding of the human condition and desires, as well as knowledge of the actual science, psychology, and processes necessary in the human brain to enact change (plus maybe a little bit of intuition and heart), drilled down into a simple, easy-to-follow process, is proving to be MAGIC for my clients (and myself!).
We're settling into our optimal bodies and thriving in our health.
We're envisioning, building, and massively scaling businesses.
We're healing relationships, deepening connections, and venturing into new partnerships and communities.
We're finding deep and authentic faith in new places, or returning to ancient roots.
We're peeling back the layers of ourselves and finding deeper places of self-love, self-trust, and self-worth.
In other words, we're BECOMING OUR WHOLE AUTHENTIC SELVES.
We're humans learning to flourish as we were created to.
Eudaimonia.
Won't you join us?