Blog

Have you been chasing after something--maybe it was research result, or getting your MSc or PhD, or a grant or a journal that you wanted to get published in...once you have completed it, how does that feel? Does the feeling last or does it fade faster than you expected? What I hear from my clients … Continue reading Letting Go of the Chase

Have you ever wondered why it seems like you need a lot of time to get into the groove of writing? You are not alone. I have often heard researchers say that it takes at least an hour or more to “get into” the mood for writing. This is part of why it feels like … Continue reading Get Started Writing with More Ease

There's a part of us that wants to write (pre-frontal cortex part of our brain that makes us human) and there's a part of us that doesn't want to write (primitive brain that makes us the relatives of reptiles). When I am getting into the flow of writing, sometimes I feel like it’s a conversation … Continue reading Sometimes when I’m writing my brain just wants jelly beans

In an episode of "Mozart in the Jungle" a young girl describes what it’s like to play her flute to the free-spirited Maestro of the New York Symphony Orchestra (paraphrasing): “When my teacher is watching me I am worried about what mistakes I am going to make but when I am on my own and … Continue reading Who’s watching you while you write?

When I shared that I have a blog that I write for weekly with a colleague who had considered blogging herself she asked: but aren't you afraid you are going to run out of ideas? This is a good question. It reminded me that I had this same fear when I started blogging...again…last July. I … Continue reading Questioning our Wellspring of Ideas

When we sit down to write it may be the first time in a long time that we have slowed down our bodies and stopped moving. What happens when we get still? Have you noticed it? All of our thoughts start coming up. And, it’s not just the thoughts that may be serving us about … Continue reading Stillness reveals what’s between you and your writing

You may or may not be starting to realize that when you sit down to write there are all sorts of thoughts and  questions that come up for you in your mind. These thoughts act like a filter between you and getting started in your writing. If you are asking, will anybody care about this? … Continue reading If you can write down your thoughts, you can begin to make writing easier

You may generally think about being vulnerable as how you might feel when we are sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings with a friend or when sharing a creative expression in a painting, music or dance.  Could academics also feel vulnerable about sharing their research? What I've noticed for my clients is that there may … Continue reading Vulnerability? That’s for arts not science.

A colleague asked me today - how do you find time to have a full time job, and your own business and take care of two kids? I surprised myself with my answer which was: we are all in process with our relationship with time and it is constantly changing depending on what our priorities … Continue reading Creating time for your writing priorities

As a researcher, you practise uncertainty. You have a question and you don't know the answer. You design an experiment that tests a hypothesis, you gather data from the experiment and interpret the information to create a result. The researchers that I see that consistently move their research forward are those that can take the … Continue reading Practising Uncertainty