To forgive yourself is to love yourself. I used to forgive people who hurt me, mostly because it was practical. I could see i was usually more upset about what happened than the other person—and if I decided to let go of all the drama and move on, I could meet better people or choose better ways to respond next time. Often the person wasn’t even aware because they had a different moral code or had their own demons to face. The way people act often has to do with their own internal dialogue than with anyone else. It’s hard work forgiving (but someone’s got to do it)—and the hardest…

My dad took me out to the seaside one weekend when I was doing my Masters in Psychology. He had ocean wisdom for me—he thought I was in the “doldrums”, this period of still sea and no wind that a ship has to wait out before its sails fill up again. I was half annoyed and half amused, as I usually am after my dad shares his thoughts on my life. But I’ve been studying the winds in my life since. My life’s twisted and turned a lot, and I like it like that! We are a part of nature, with our own internal rhythms to discover and tune into.…

Sometimes life hands you an opportunity—a job, a relationship, a project—that feels bigger than you can handle. I’ve often felt like running in the opposite direction from what’s in front of me. But whatever my fears or insecurities, I’ve been met by unexpected windfalls, and when things have capsized, I just had to look around to find the support and resources to deal with it. If you have the part, you can handle it. I’m not talking about situations that involve abuse or harm to others or yourself, of course, but opportunities that may have us wondering about our worth or where we think our strengths lie. We all need…

My neighbours are belting out karaoke as I write this; their gold standard for the last week of the year is to call in the brood, cook up a feast, and sing all the oldies out loud. We’ve all felt the energy of a home lift when we throw a party, I always feel the light fill mine when friends gather. The vibration of celebration switches up all that we attract into our lives, but most importantly, celebration is an honouring of life and what you bring to it. There is no one quite like you, no one who experiences life or expresses themselves the way you do. Whatever this…

“As you move towards the dream, the dream moves towards you.” In one of my favourite bits in The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron talks about letting creativity gush through us without restraint. Even God, she says, doesn’t stop at just one flower, but goes on to fill up fields, meadows, valleys! There are profusions of wildflowers even by the wayside, where only the wind and stray goats may pass by. There is no canvas too little to fill with the joy of the dream. — Saumya Ancheri

It can take a lot to be willing to be seen for who we are, to accept ourselves and what we really want, and to stand tall in the light. And it begins here, in Rumi’s field, out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing that we’ve grown up believing to be the only truth. If there is something you really want, so much that you’re almost too scared to have it, make that your priority in 2019. 2018 is a #11 year in numerology, a master number. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an intense year for you, if it shook your beliefs and made you see…