Less Noise. More Joy. The Journey Back to Yourself

I’m exceptionally good at carrying things…

My things.

Other people’s things.

Things no one actually asked me to carry.

Things I invented at three in the morning.

A conversation that hasn’t happened yet.

A problem that might never happen.

A responsibility I picked up because I knew I could handle it.

If you’re smiling in recognition, we probably have a few things in common.

I know that woman!

I’m preparing to speak at a women’s conference to a large group of women business owners. These are women who build businesses, lead teams, care for families, solve problems, and make things happen. They are capable, resourceful, and accustomed to being the person others count on.

I know that woman. I am that woman.

And I know how easily being good at carrying things can become a habit of carrying too much.

When the question changes…

For much of our lives, the question is: What do I need to accomplish next?

We build careers. Raise children. Support people we love. Set goals, meet expectations, and move on to the next thing that needs our attention.

Then, somewhere along the way, a different question begins to surface:

What do I want my life to look like now?

It can be surprisingly difficult to answer.

We may know exactly what our clients need, what our team needs, and what everyone at home needs. Our own wants and needs can take a little longer to find beneath all that responsibility.

My Less Noise. More Joy. journey lives in that question.

I love creating, leading, and imagining what’s possible. I also know my tendency to fill the space, carry the responsibility, and keep going because I can. I’m learning to notice when those strengths begin to crowd out the life I want to experience.

This is work I practice alongside the women I coach and the women who join my retreats. The journey unfolds through four invitations: Awaken. Reconnect. Clarify. Create.

Awaken: Notice what no longer serves you

Before we can make a meaningful change, we have to notice what’s happening.

The noise isn’t always loud. Sometimes it sounds like:

• I should say yes.

• It’s easier if I just do it myself.

• I’ll rest when everything is finished.

Sometimes it’s an old definition of success we’re still working to satisfy, even though our priorities have changed. Sometimes it’s a commitment that once felt right and now leaves us depleted.

Awakening begins with an honest pause.

What am I tolerating? What am I carrying out of habit? What is taking more energy than I want to give it?

Those questions deserve some kindness. Many of the patterns we’re reconsidering helped us build the lives we have today. We can appreciate what they made possible and still choose differently now.

You can’t quiet what you haven’t noticed.

Reconnect: Make room for your own voice

Once we notice the noise, we need enough space to hear ourselves again.

For me, that space often includes travel, beauty, a good conversation, or time away from the demands that automatically organize my day. It can also be a quiet morning when I resist reaching immediately for the next thing to do.

Reconnection asks us to consider what feels nourishing now.

• More laughter?

• More rest?

• More adventure?

• More time with people who make us feel fully ourselves?

• More room for work we love?

In my presentation, I invite women to complete two simple sentences:

I want more __________ in my life.

I want less __________.

The answers don’t need to be impressive. They need to be honest.

Understanding my natural strengths through Kolbe has been part of my own reconnection, too. It helped me move from asking, “What’s wrong with me?” toward asking, “What’s right about me – and how can I create work that uses the best of who I am?”

There is so much energy available when we begin trusting ourselves.

That reconnection is also at the heart of my retreats: having enough breathing room to remember what brings you alive, and enough support to begin honoring it.

Clarify: Decide what matters most now

We can want more joy and still give every available hour to something else.

That’s why clarity matters.

• If I say connection is important, does my calendar make room for it?

• If I want more rest, what am I willing to change?

• If adventure brings me alive, am I giving it a place in my life or leaving it for someday?

These questions help us see where our daily choices support our priorities – and where they need attention.

Our next chapter may involve a change in work, a different pace, deeper relationships, a creative pursuit, or simply more freedom in the life we already have. We don’t have to know every detail to find a direction.

We can begin here:

What matters most to me in this next chapter is __________.

That answer becomes a North Star. Something to return to when another request, opportunity, or obligation comes along.

It can also help us recognize when an opportunity is something we truly want – and give ourselves permission to choose it.

Create: Make one small, courageous choice

A meaningful next chapter takes shape through the choices we make…

• Have the conversation.

• Ask for help.

• Say no to a commitment that no longer fits.

• Protect a morning.

• Explore an idea.

• Take the trip you keep postponing.

Small choices matter because they begin changing how we live.

They also require follow-through. It’s possible to experience a moment of beautiful clarity and then return to the same calendar, the same expectations, and the same automatic yes.

I know how easily that happens…

The familiar pulls us back.

So I ask women to choose one action they can take in the next seven days. Something specific enough to do, meaningful enough to make a difference.

Sometimes that choice is putting something on the calendar for yourself – before every available space fills with what someone else needs.

Joy becomes more available when we make room for what brings us alive.

The thread running through my retreats.

This journey is at the heart of my coaching and everything I create through Retreat to Tuscany™.

The beautiful places matter to me. The food, the culture, the adventures, and the people matter. They invite us to become present, curious, and open in ways that can be difficult when we’re surrounded by our usual demands.

Within those experiences, there is room to notice.

• To hear a thought all the way through.

• To remember something we love.

• To say aloud what we want.

• To be cared for.

• To consider who we are becoming.

That is the thread woven throughout my retreats: awakening to what no longer serves us, reconnecting with ourselves, gaining clarity about what matters most, and choosing how we want to live.

And the journey continues after we come home.

What will we carry forward? What will we release? What small choice will help the life we return to reflect what we discovered?

Those are the questions I care about most. Because I want the experience to stay with you – in the boundaries you set, the time you protect, the relationships you nurture, and the possibilities you begin to explore.

An invitation to make room for yourself

As I prepare to stand in front of a room full of extraordinary women business owners, I keep coming back to the woman who is so good at carrying everything.

I want her to have space to hear her own voice.

I want that for myself, too.

If you’ve been reading this and thinking, I need that space, I invite you to join me.

Come Wintering in Sedona,

February 25–28, 2027, where we’ll slow down among the red rocks, rest, reconnect, and consider what we want to carry into the season ahead. The theme of Less Noise. More Joy. will guide our time together, with room to simply be.

Or join me in Italy for my signature Tuscany Fall Harvest Women’s Retreat,

September 5–11, 2027 – a week of beauty, culture, connection, and discovery. A chance to step away from your usual responsibilities, experience something wonderful, and listen to what’s calling you forward.

You don’t need to arrive with a plan for your next chapter. You can come with questions, a little curiosity, and a willingness to give yourself the time and attention you so freely give everyone else.

I know how easy it is to think, Maybe next year. When things settle down. When fewer people need me.

But your desire for more joy deserves a place on the calendar, too.

Explore the retreats at RetreatToTuscany.com⁠,

or reach out to me. I’d love to help you choose the experience that feels right for you.

Perhaps we begin by setting down one thing we’re ready to release – and making room for one thing we want more of.

Less noise. More joy.

Your next chapter can begin with one small, courageous yes.

Ladies, if this is your time to find your way back to you,  you can contact me for more information by:

clicking on this link