How to Make a Move When You’re Terrified
Watching my dog is so helpful sometimes. This morning I watched our dog, Max, make his way EVER so slowly down the stairs. He gave a slightly anxious exhale at the top, and then—one step, by one step, by one step—he made his way down, low and tight to the …
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The Difference Between Change and Transition
“Lael helps people to be brave.” A kindergarten teacher once introduced me to her class with these words and twenty-five pairs of little eyes looked up at me from the circle carpet like Big Bird had just walked into a henhouse. To be honest, teenagers are more my jam, but …
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A Flock of Women Leaders Leading
I hear these themes among my clients and I literally start to salivate. Why? Because this handful of topics I’m about to share with you under this new moon feels symbolic—like geese flying in a distinct V, they work together to point in a particular direction. What direction is that, …
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How to Lead When the Whole House Feels Upside Down
Doesn’t it feel like we are perched between two worlds right now—the one we’ve been living in and the one we want to live in? I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership these days. And if you’re wondering how I define that, it’s quite simple, actually. I’m not talking about …
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The Other Way: Women Leading with Our Full Power
When I was a little girl, I used to loll on my bed looking up at the ceiling when I was supposed to be getting ready for school. I used to wonder about things, looking up at that blank expanse of nothingness, untainted by nail holes, fingerprints, or scuff marks. …
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Pockets Full of Vignettes and Gems
I vote for life imitating art. You know that chicken-and-egg question we’ve asked ourselves throughout time—does art imitate life or life imitate art? I choose art. I know it’s not a forced choice and that technically we don’t need to vote…but I’m here to take a stand for art. So …
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The (Re)Birth of a Nation
Years ago, as I rapidly approached the birth of my first child, I started to wonder (panic, honestly), “How the $&%$ is this all going to go down…exactly!?” My wise midwife gave me great counsel. She said that nature would run its course. She reminded me that my body was …
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A Letter To Myself in 2019: Of Course You’re A Racist
Hey there. It’s me, Lael. I’m writing to you from December 2020 to prime the pump for where you’ll be headed in the next year. This is the letter I wish someone had given me a year ago. I think it might have helped on all those dark nights of …
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Tuesday’s Instructions
The morning wakes me before the alarm. Eyes open, the bluebird sky fills the windows. My body exhales and a smile forms under my ribcage. Winter sun. A welcome sight after the cold gray steel of yesterday. Warm socks. Hot coffee. My favorite chair in a patch of sun. Silence …
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Daily Verse 11.30.20—The Opposite of Dangerous
This fall I started to refer to myself as “dangerous”. I don’t know that it was conscious, but it was more of a consistent mumbling I started to do out loud to those that know me well. Ordinarily outspoken and opinionated, it was like I had entered a new realm, …
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