Gearing up: a challenging year's ahead

My life is (finally) moving in the direction of "balance" - between personal and professional. It feels incredible.

Workaholism has been such a big part of my life - because I love what I do so much, and I think because my creative work is such a safe haven for me.

But over the past year I've pushed myself to find other ways to share that love among other healthy activities and people.

And I know it takes effort to maintain that harmonic flow.

Passion flows in both directions when there's balance - the passion for work flows into the passion for one's personal life (and back again).

It's in the awareness. I'm always talking to my coachees about awareness - doing things awarely is a great way to empower ourselves. Buddhists say that whatever we do awarely generally leaves us free from regret.

Having four pets helps a lot - three Pomeranians and an Allie Cat remind me there's much more to life than work 24/7, as much as I adore my work. A session of frolicking, playing fetch, taking a walk, snuggling and napping wrapped in my arms is a perfect play date for them, just as it is with kids.

Spending many hours of quality time with friends over the holidays has been incredibly reinforcing to my new balancing act.

At this point, work-wise, I've committed myself to writing six feature scripts next year (including my first animated feature), producing and directing an actor's reading for the feature I wrote with executive producer Chris Koruga, The Herbalist (Got Chi?), at a Seattle theater next month; I've limited my coaching practice to 10 people; singing and other projects are in the works, but as the old saying goes, I'll have to take it one day at a time - taking care of myself and my relationships with equal zeal and zest!