July 15, 2026 Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Building an Internal Compass In the past two weeks, I have been on two camping trips. Both ended with one of my children asking to go home. Once we stayed. Once we packed up the tent and drove home. Looking back, I think both were the right decision. This newsletter is about bravery—but perhaps not in the way we usually think about it. It's about learning to tell the difference between discomfort and distress, why our brains don't...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
The Monthly Dispatch: July Upcoming events & features Welcome to July ☀️ After that heat wave, I'm very happy to be enjoying the cooler temperatures, a enjoying the new summer routine. This month, we're continuing our interview series with providers from The Directory — short conversations designed to answer the questions people are often too busy, overwhelmed, or simply curious to ask. In this edition, prenatal yoga teacher Sol Alonso explains why pregnancy-specific movement is about far...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
July 1, 2026 Adaptation I can still picture the sweater. It was bright blue, and by the end of my speech there were dark sweat marks under both arms that stretched almost to my belly button. I was fourteen years old and had decided to run for president of my class. I gave that speech everything I had. And then I lost. Later, I cried into my teacher's beautiful silk blouse, leaving sweat, tears and probably a fair amount of snot in my wake. Maybe that's why hot flashes make me a little...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
June 15, 2026 The New Porsche My grandfather loved telling stories about how things used to be. I loved listening to them. Lately, I've found myself reflecting on childhood before smartphones, university before AI, and a world that felt just a little different. And occasionally wondering: Am I becoming my grandfather? I recently read an article arguing that visible abs and toned arms have become the new midlife status symbol. What used to be the Porsche, expensive watch or designer handbag is...
2 months ago • 5 min read
June 1, 2026 Beautifully Complex There was a feeling I struggled to explain after becoming a mother. It wasn’t that I worried more.Or loved more.Or became more emotional. It was that I started listening to myself differently. More. I became more aware of environments.More sensitive to tension.More attuned to risk, emotion, overwhelm, timing, energy, safety. I could sense when something was “off” even if I couldn’t logically explain why. Not off for me.Off for the collective “us.” The magic of...
3 months ago • 3 min read
May 15, 2026 Publish or Perish In science, there’s a saying: publish or perish. Not because scientists are particularly obsessed with writing, but because unpublished work is invisible. You can spend years running experiments, collecting data, refining hypotheses, failing, repeating, discovering. But until the work becomes language, a publication, a paper, something documented and shared, it barely exists beyond the walls of the lab. Last week, I was at a recurring medical meeting I’ve been...
3 months ago • 5 min read
May 1, 2026 Before it Breaks “The flashing blue lights polluted the somber night.” That’s how I started one of my college admissions essays. I became an EMT at 16. It checked a lot of boxes. Volunteer hours, pre-med exposure, time outside of my parents’ watchful eyes. Yes, yes, and yes. But it was also real life. Consequences. Possible futures on display. I was the lowest-ranking, least trained member of my squad.I took patient details, checked vitals, and restocked the jump bag. And I felt...
4 months ago • 4 min read
April 15, 2026 Follow the Money It’s April 15, which means I’ve just filed (for an extension on) my US taxes. My original idea for this newsletter was simple: what we spend money on shows us what we value. And maybe your inflows and outflows are top of mind after labouring through your bank statements so why not learn something about yourself along the way? Someone shared a framework with me a few months ago: if you look at how we tend to spend, most people allocate the most to things, then...
4 months ago • 4 min read
March 15, 2026 The Sweatpants Rule The Limp Last week my son walked to school with a limp. Not because he was injured. Because of jeans. To be clear, this is not the school’s rule. It’s mine. In our house, sweatpants are only allowed on sports days. Days without sports require “normal clothes.” Halfway to school he began exaggerating this dramatic limp, insisting he couldn’t bend his knee properly. Let me clarify: the jeans weren’t even skinnies. He could absolutely walk normally. The limp...
5 months ago • 4 min read