Abigail Whitney

04/17/2025

Lately I've been finding refuge in poetry. Love falling over poems that make me go huh. Or wow. Or even just a giggle. For a poem (or a few actually) in the last camp check out Brian Bilston. (He's on FB).

04/17/2025

What if the question is not
‘Why am I so infrequently the person who I really want to be?’
But ‘Why do I infrequently want to be the person I really am?’
How would this change what you think you have to learn?

A reflective poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. What if there was no need to change? What if our essential nature is all we need to live a compassionate life?

03/26/2025

Was introduced today to this lovely poem by Julia Fehrenbacher (found at this link: https://www.juliafehrenbacher.com/my-poetry)

The Most Important Thing
​
I am making a home inside myself. A shelter
of kindness where everything
is forgiven, everything allowed—a quiet patch
of sunlight to stretch out without hurry,
where all that has been banished
and buried is welcomed, spoken, listened to—released.

A fiercely friendly place I can claim as my very own.

​I am throwing arms open
to the whole of myself—especially the fearful,
fault-finding, falling apart, unfinished parts, knowing
every seed and w**d, every drop
of rain, has made the soil richer.

I will light a candle, pour a hot cup of tea, gather
around the warmth of my own blazing fire. I will howl
if I want to, knowing this flame can burn through
any perceived problem, any prescribed perfectionism,
any lying limitation, every heavy thing.

I am making a home inside myself
where grace blooms in grand and glorious
abundance, a shelter of kindness that grows
all the truest things.

I whisper hallelujah to the friendly
sky. Watch now as I burst into blossom.

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01/31/2025

And I just completed my level 2 in IFS centered on addictions and eating disorders! It was a grand 6 days of connection and deepening and learning. Cece Sykes is an amazing instructor.

04/18/2023

Love this. That is courage!

02/12/2023

This is a FASCINATING article (US-based but a lot of spillover to what happens here in Canada as well). Exploring what makes parenting hard/less hard depending on socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and other factors. They really get into the w**ds but in a good way.

Everyone could be suffering less

11/03/2022

I know I’ve been quiet for a long time. Lots going on and the world always feels a tad too busy for my liking. But isn’t that how we’re trained to feel? What would it be like if we all just STOPPED. Yeah. Imagine. A very different one that is for sure. So … I was going to share an article that recently had me all riled up but in the interest of self and other care I, instead, am suggesting that we all take a pause. Like Colin Kapernick (hope I got that name right?) but with a pause instead of a knee. Love the world, love each other, love ourselves - quietly. Calmly. With compassion and an awareness of the boundlessness of who we are when we aren’t afraid, small, pinched, rushed, or all the many ways we shut ourselves down.

My dogs are good at this. Let’s be more like them.

08/16/2022

These people do very good work! By men for men.

Book your group therapy assessment today! https://menandhealing.ca/start-now-enroll-online/

08/08/2022

This blog by Esther Perel spoke to me about some of the challenges we all are struggling with as we navigate this "post-truth" world we live in (not that I agree we are post-truth just that it feels that way sometimes).

Her suggestion - that we step away from the content of an argument or a disagreement and instead explore form by using respectful communication, be curious and empathic for their position and look inside at why you are trying so hard to "win" the argument - is it maybe because everything around you feels out of control?

My monthly newsletter and workshop is meant to inspire you to reflect, act, and develop greater confidence and relational intelligence in all of your relationships. This month's focus is on clashing with your partner around values.