Our book club just completed In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Mate. Learning about personal and cultural dimensions of addiction, I was interested in the ways we all cope and go unconscious when life is too much. The socially acceptable, legal, and gentle addictive substances and behaviors we all use in some way. Which leads to the million-dollar question: how to create a life you don't have to escape, medicate, or recover from?

It feels like this has been my project for the last 6 years, or maybe since the very beginning. Creating a life that I want to live. One that inspires and delights me, that helps me grow, and challenges my capacity without depleting me. This dynamic balance translates across dimensions of my life: home, work, social, relationships, spirituality.

So much of this depends on my own authenticity. Showing up for the people and situations in my life in a way that is true to me. Finding my voice and sharing my experience. Becoming skillful to change course when needed. Learning to take good care of myself and create a life that I love.