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I have a LOT of blog posts to look through! If you’re looking for something specific, like “shadow work” or “text mapping”, I suggest using Google with your search words and “ubu skills”.
3 Tips for Reintegration (into In-Person)
I’ve been talking about it with friends, I’ve been talking about it with clients and I’ve been thinking about it. A lot.
How weird is it going to be when we start to do things in-person again?
I think it’s going to be weird. Really, really weird…
3 Things You Learned in High School Can Help Land Your Dream Job
If you’ve ever done any kind of theatre class in your life (high school on up), you’ll have a basic understanding of how to breathe and speak using your diaphragm, how to play the “Yes, and” improv game and what it’s like to play a character in a costume.
And you’ve likely never thought about that stuff beyond your high school play. Right?
But you should!
10 Things You Need to Stop Doing in Your Videos
First of all, this post is created WITH LOVE because a) I know how vulnerable it can be to even try to make videos, and b) I want you to use video in a way that will work better for you. Whether it’s Instagram Reels, IGTV, Instagram Live, TikToks, Facebook videos or lives, or even training videos, you are building a relationship, and getting all of your ducks in a row means the difference between somebody watching your entire video, and somebody tapping “next” after the first 2 seconds.
How To Deal With Mistakes
What’s the hardest part of making a mistake?
Owning it.
Right?
I don’t know about you, but when I screw up, the first place my brain goes is “How do I cover this up?”
But that’s the worst thing you can do. For several reasons.
Confidence Vs. Bravado
I couldn't hold this topic in any longer. I've been sitting on it for months (if not years). It has to do with leadership and it has to do with how we see others, and how we see ourselves.
And it's difficult. And it's going to piss some of you off.
But honestly, I'm walking straight into my fears this year. (I'm still working through wanting everyone to like me.)
There’s No Shadow Without Light
We’re two days away from leaving the most unexpected year we’ve ever experienced.
I’ve spent quite a lot of time exploring shadow work the past 6 months. Building my Digging Up Your Roots: Using Tarot for Shadow Work course, writing the Me and My Shadow free workbook, creating blogs with extra journal prompts, and doing a lot of shadow journaling myself.
For now, I want to leave that darkness...
Shadow Work to Close 2020
You know that period between The Holidays (whichever you celebrate) and New Year’s Eve? Those few days where the party is over, you’re letting your kids play video games as long as they like while you finish off the last chocolates in the box (the strawberry and orange flavoured ones) and finish off all the cheese for lunch?
That’s the perfect time to let go of the old shit to make space for the new.
Just Breathe
When your conscious mind decides when you will breathe in and out (as opposed to the autopilot that usually happens with breathing), it sends a signal to your brain that you’re not in danger (fight/flight/freeze mode), and automatically stops your brain from sending the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol into your blood stream.
Why You Should Journal
I know. No, really. Trust me - I know. I have resisted daily journaling for 25 years, ever since I learned about The Artist’s Way and morning pages.
All of my friends (most of them actors, at the time) were doing morning pages and noticing huge results.
I resisted.
10 Shadow Work Questions
“These are tall promises, Megan.”
Yep, I know. I don’t fuck around with words or with actions.
The reason you’re afraid to tell your boss to stop belittling you in front of your coworkers is because you have deep rooted fears that you haven’t confronted that work inside, in the shadows, to keep you from growing. It’s the same reason you can’t tell your partner what you really like in bed, why you feel ashamed loving certain things that you love, and why certain words can spin you into a depression.
Let’s Take Care
Well this could be a week to remember. And there’s something safe feeling about being on the Monday side of what’s to come, because whatever it is, it’s probably going to have some big ramifications that go along with it. (We know it likely won’t be easy, at the very least.)
So I wanted to focus this week on softness. On being gentle - with yourself and with others. Regardless of what country the election is happening in, it affects us around the world. And like the pandemic, we all feel it.
Pandemic Goals
And here’s the thing: we’re all responsible for this shit. And I think we know that. And I think where it used to be hard to talk about certain things, now it’s crucial. We need to speak up about racism, sexism, homophobia, human rights, money, our health. We need to have these difficult conversations that we’ve been avoiding.
Because, we’re seeing what happens when we don’t.
I’m Not a Public Speaking Coach
I’d been struggling for years with what to call myself. Public Speaking Coach didn’t quite fit, but seemed fine enough. People understood it right away, and knew whether or not it was something they wanted.
Or, did they?
Why I Love Tarot
For my 23rd birthday, my best friend gave me a Tarot deck. It’s a traditional Rider-Waite deck (which doesn’t mention the illustrator Pamela Colman Smith, so now is referred to as Rider-Waite-Smith decks, or even Pamela Colman Smith decks). When you think of a deck of tarot cards, the images that come to mind first are probably this deck.
Music As A Tool
It’s pretty incredible. Just like that whiff of something or other that brings you back to your Grandmother’s house, or your favourite childhood stuffed animal.
If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll now have some tools in your toolbox that you can use for presentations, office meetings, difficult conversations, general interactions.
And now I want to talk about the ways that you can use music, especially at this point in history.
How to Set Boundaries. And Stick to Them.
The problem with allowing other people to treat you like shit, is that it erodes your self esteem, and as time goes by, makes it even harder to push back.
You need to make some boundaries.
Balance.
The Autumn Equinox occurs at 9:30am on Tuesday, September 22 with equal amounts of daylight and nighttime, and signifying the beginning of our descent into six months where darkness reigns.
Yesterday, I pulled The High Priestess, which is my absolute favourite tarot card. And it seemed like such a perfect card to pull right before the Equinox. She lives between the black and white pillars, and has a mastery of the subconscious and intuition.
9 Tips to Do Hard Things
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how we’re told we should do stuff that’s hard. Like giving a speech to a group. Like speaking up when somebody’s being racist. Like being authentic. Like building a business in the middle of a global pandemic.
But what’s missing is the how. The steps. The examples.
You Need a Plan.
My friend Marilyn used to say to me “You need a plan, or else you’ll just become part of somebody else’s.”
Planning can be really hard for a lot of people because they get hung up on a simple, but actually true premise: Anything can happen.
And hey. It’s 2020. I think we’re all preeeeeeetty aware that anything can happen.
Big Voices for Kids
Fast forward to 2020. I was recently asked to develop a series of presentation skills and public speaking lessons for a network of kids across various countries in Africa. And then, out of the blue, a friend (who’s keeping her daughters home for now) asked if I ever worked with kids, as she felt like that would be a good enhancement for her online component.