Thou Shalt Not Play Small   Dear Love Pies, So, just this morning, a friend of mine sent me a link to a video with this quote in it. I piped up and said “That’s Marianne Williamson. It hangs in my house.” She’s going through a dark time, some of her creative pack has turned on her in jealousy, and is trying desperately to take her down mean-girl-style through gossip, criticism, falsehood. You don’t have to be the subject of a smear campaign in order to shrink. LOTS of things make us want to hide, but […]

      Your Box of Darkness   Dear Love Pies, I had a very difficult conversation last night with a deeply connected soul friend. The conversation involved a dark time in our lives, when hearts were broken and spirits crushed. We hung up the phone at 4:44 a.m. and I couldn’t help but think on Mary Oliver’s quote. “”Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” There’s no way to avoid the dark. The dark is a part of life. But if we can […]

      Weirdiotomy   Dear Love Pies, If I had dreamed up a tribe in my wild imaginings, it would have fit within the confines of Jack Kerouac’s quote: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.” I love that we’re a hot tribe, full of kindred souls and soul kindling, mad […]

  Show Me Your Soul Dear Love Pies, Yesterday we used songs to show a piece of our soul. Let’s take that a step further and add an image to it. Show me an image that captures the essence of you. Your heart, your love, your purpose. Something outside of your roles in life (mother, brother, employee, president, volunteer, wife, friend etc.) This isn’t so much about what you do, as who you are. Unless what you do IS who you are! Doesn’t have to be a photo; the image can be anything. Think of it as the image you […]

    Music as Muse   Dear Love Pies, So yesterday, Dave suggests that we share music within the tribe. YES! Music is such a gorgeous language, and so wildly inclusive. There are SO many places we could go with this challenge. And I think we’ll delve more into music as the experiment moves forward, but today I’d like you to introduce your soul to the group with a song. Let us see inside YOU, past the surface, to who you really are. Share a youtube video in the comments, and if you can’t figure out how to do that, […]

    Fanning the Flames   Is it hot in here or is it just me? No, it’s really hot in here. ‘Cuz we’ve been fanning the inspiration flames for a couple of weeks now. It’s not surprising the soul’s temperature is rising. When you get excited about something, they say “you’ve got the hots” for it. I got the hots for sharing depth and meaning and friendship. I got the hots for truth, vulnerability and creativity. I got the hots for this tribe. And, because I am a muse, I got the hots for your dream. Not just your […]

  Shine Like a Boss   Whether we realize it or not, we’re all connected. Consciously or unconsciously, we all carry the light inside us, and we’re exchanging and reflecting (and sometimes dimming, sometimes hiding) it with one another. Always. Today I’d like you to consider how you shine. How have you been someone’s lifeboat or ladder? Someone’s firework? It’s easy for us to play games of gratitude and list all we’ve received from mentors, muses, family and friends. It’s harder for us to talk about ourselves: how and when and why were are light bearers who help another, help […]

Stories: A Legacy That magic you felt as a child when you opened your favorite books? That longing stirred up when, as a teenager, you explored new worlds and bold ideas between the pages of a tale? The feeling, even now, when a story opens up a space in you that you felt long ago passed into obscurity? This little 15 minute film captures it all. It is a priceless gem. The pure magic of books. The life-giving essence of story. The authors and voices that came before you, that sit on your shelves, and lay under your pillow, keeping you […]

            Snapshots Once upon a time there was a dog named Izzy. Once upon a time she was diagnosed with an enlarged heart, which would eventually kill her. Once upon a time I had to live with the shadow of death, every day, all day, and decide how to REALLY live, befriending the shadow but choosing the light. This is a snapshot from that story. _____________________________ “All of life is saying goodbye.” I’m musing on that quote, and Izzy’s nebulous prognosis, as we climb into the car. We’re headed to the park for our ritual […]

  The Lottery When Silas and I need a pick-me-up, when it seems to be raining crap and we’re feeling particularly uninspired or disappointed or gloomy, we play a little game. It’s called Who Won the Lottery. After we’ve slogged through how upsetting something is, or how terribly hurt we are, of how many things just aren’t going well at all, one of us will turn to the other and say “Who won the lottery?” That’s the cue. The other person’s eyes will go all soft focus and start talking about love, in one way or another. “The day I […]

The Conversion of Conversation Hi. My name’s Angi. I’m your friendly neighborhood muse and shameless tribal ring leader. I just wanted to check in with you, those who have been with me for the past 9 days and those who may be new. Let’s pretend we’re all in my living room. Sit on the red velvet couch. Prop your feet up on the Emu. Have some chai or limoncello or fireball whiskey. We’re gonna play some Bohemian Rhapsody. And let’s talk. This TRIBE EXPERIMENT? It started because I was curious about connection: how we share it over social media, what […]