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We have always loved to dive down the rabbit hole of philosophy and psyche. I hold a degree in Conflict Resolution studies, and have over 20 years experience in the field of mentoring and coaching.  My life has been spent loving, writing, learning, and grieving. My career has been spent studying human relationships, questions & dialogue, and the nature of our storied lives. 

Since 2012, I have emersed myself in the field of narrative approaches to community work, and am fortunate to have studied under David Epston. David is my constant inspiration in my quest for better questions. I am a member of the Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy's Therapeutic Conversations online community and have been enriched by the work of Kathryn Mannix and Bright Morning coaching. But what of all this learning if it can't be, in some way, of service to others?

My core values in this work are compassion, authenticity, and tenderness.

I am particularly interested in working with people who feel a little lost when they are called to tell a story about another person's life. I know how incredibly daunting this can feel. I want to support others as they are called to write unique words for those they love, miss, mourn, and celebrate - in both life and after death. 

(W)rites of Passage was created to offer a very personalized and professional service to people during some of the most intense times of life, from the vantage point of someone who has lived experience and a lifetime of learning. 

The "right words" don't intend a Pulitzer.

While there is a particular poetic to appreciative writing, it's important to understand that on this journey we are not aiming for perfection. In fact, the very idea of perfection often paralyzes us from writing anything at all. We are also paralyzed, at times, by naturally complicated feelings one may hold about the person we are meant to pay respects to. How do we make all the messiness and contradiction of life fit into mere sentences? How do we avoid reducing people in concision? How can we honestly speak about someone we may have had a difficult relationship with?

The "right" words are simply those that fall into a pattern of resonance. Every person spoken to/of, and every relationship involved, will take on a different sound and language shape. The "right" words are only right because they are unique, personal, move from experience to meaning, and meaning to feeling, To tell a rich story, and one that may resonate with others, requires us to be vulnerable in a safe context. 

In order to land on the 'right words,' it may require you to let go of other words and wishes. It may involve remembering the details of long ago and far away, or something recent and terribly painful. It may require the empathic leap to see a person from the vantage point of themselves and others. There will always be a space left for things unspoken, an ellipse that covers all the things we are not ready to say. What we can do, together, is to reduce the regret so many people express for the things they didn't say, even imperfectly. while they had the chance; it may even provide solace for you at the same time.