I recently sat down for a wonderful conversation with Lisa Gareau, host of The Connector Next Door Podcast for Planners. We had a great chat about all things connection, the importance of ceremony and ritual, and how to get to the heart of a person, story or situation. Listen to excerpts here or find the link to the whole interview!

Some moments in life beg to be marked in a meaningful way and my daughter’s 14th birthday was one of them. I didn’t want this milestone to pass us by without thoughtful intention. We chose to mark her coming-of-age by going on an epic mother-daughter road trip, which included going to the historic ‘Joni Jam’ on June 10, 2023 at the Gorge Amphitheater. Who knew a road trip could be like a ceremony?!

During a recent episode of the We Do Wedding podcast, inclusive celebrant Karla Combres talks with co-hosts, Cate Barry and Regina Burrus, about all things ceremony. The conversation begins with weddings before exploring how Karla became a celebrant, what goes into a transformative ceremony, and her passion for creating ceremonies that authentically reflect and connect the people she works with!

For the first time since 2020, graduations are once again in-person. Now more than ever, it’s important that these rites of passage be marked in a meaningful way. In this blog post, I offer practical step-by-step tips on how to plan a simple, intimate graduation gathering that honours both the graduate and their community.

One day last week I was settled in at my desk at the crack of dawn, when I would normally still be deep in slumber. I’d been invited by CBC radio to participate in a series of rolling interviews with morning shows across the country. The interviews centered around grief and mourning during the time of a pandemic. If you’re in the habit of reading the obituaries, you may have noticed that most families are opting to make funeral arrangements ‘at a later date when we can physically gather’. I was on the air to emphasize that just because we can’t physically gather right now in the ways that we normally would, it doesn’t mean we should do nothing right now.