An experiment in Joy

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I tried something new yesterday. I am working on a small workbook called The Joy Wheel and was wondering what it felt like to walk in the woods thinking only about all that is wrong in the world, with people. Me. Everything.

I wasn’t very good at it. In fact I was terrible!

And, though the experiment didn’t last long, I can confirm that in the few minutes I consciously thought negative thoughts I felt AWFUL!

I mean AWFUL.

I could feel the heaviness settle on my body pushing my shoulders down and forward as I bowed to the weight of all that negativity. My mind felt muddled, awash in a tsunami of conflicting thoughts and feelings.

And honest. I tried really hard to stay in the darkness of looking for all that is wrong, painful, disruptive and joyless but… it hurt too much. I had to stop.

So here’s my question for you. Where do you live? What do you fill you body with? Do you self- sabotage yourself with thoughts of dark clouds glowering overhead and doom looming in the crevices of your mind and the world around you?

Or, do you choose to shift your inner power balance by consciously filling your thoughts with moments of joy. Moments of gratitude and appreciation for what is beautiful, wonderful and possible in your life today?

In The ReWrite Journey we dive into the thought patterns that are keeping us stuck in ‘lack’ and ‘not good enough’ thinking to rewrite the stories we tell on ourselves to ones of epic tales of adventure, growth and possibility. Stories where you are the heroine of your own journey of discovery. The architect of your path through the forest of self- limiting beliefs that have held you back from bringing your true potential alive so that you can live on the wild side of drama dancing in all the colours of the rainbow.

If you’re curious I invite you to book a free 1:1 half hour Design Your Future call with me to learn more about the possibilities of living your dreams.

It’s easy. Fun. And there’s no pressure. Just curiosity and a wonderful opportunity to chat and get to know one another better.

To book a call click here:

I welcome the opportunity to chat.

Why be a Princess when you can be Queen?

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As young girls, we reveled in fairytales, enchanted by princesses who slept for a century, spun straw into gold, or toiled under the harsh commands of wicked stepmothers. We admired their beauty and grace, yet seldom questioned their lack of autonomy. These princesses, perennially waiting for rescue, mirrored a narrative that offered no guide on harnessing our intrinsic strengths. Just like the incomplete princess awaiting Prince Charming, the roadmap for growing older and claiming our queenly powers was conspicuously absent, leaving us to navigate for ourselves the road through dormant potential to becoming women brimming with passion, wisdom, and joy.

As women over 50, we’ve traversed the dense forests of life’s challenges and triumphs. We’ve built careers, nurtured families, and endured the relentless grind of daily responsibilities. Through it all, we’ve cultivated a formidable power—the power of experience and wisdom.

In my transformative masterclass, ‘Radiant Bold Aging,’ I delve into the incredible strength, courage, and resilience we possess. Despite hardships and losses, we’ve persevered, gathering wisdom and courage with each challenge faced.

Now, at this pivotal age of embracing our ‘Queen Within,’ it is precisely this courage, strength, resilience, and wisdom that we must lean into enrich and illuminate our path forward.

For decades, we prioritized the needs of others, often sidelining our own. But what if we shifted this balance? What if we placed our desires, our ambitions, our wellness at the forefront? Imagine the boundless possibilities when we focus on cultivating our inner sovereignty.

This journey isn’t about discarding our past; it’s about building upon the vast reservoir of skills and insights we’ve accumulated. It’s about recognizing that we have always been the heroines of our own stories—not waiting to be saved, but actively saving ourselves and, in doing so, setting a powerful example for those around us. And through this process, we chart the very map that was absent when we were children, captivated by the tales of princesses in a land far, far away. A map that will guide women, not yet at the threshold of their Queendom, navigate the road ahead.

Join me at RADIANT BOLD AGING as we explore what it means to truly rule our own lives with soul-driven grace, resilience, wisdom, and power.

To register for RADIANT BOLD AGING, tomorrow at 4pm MT click the photo below.

To link readers to my registration page for Radiant Bold Aging

Dare to Claim Your Right to be Your Own Queen

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There comes a time in every woman’s life when dreams of being a fairytale princess evolve into the realization that to fully embrace their potential, they must step into the next chapter and claim their right to be queen in their own lives. It’s time to reign over their Queendom and sit upon the throne of their own design.

Yet, too often, we hesitate. We stall and forestall. We tell ourselves we can’t step out and shine brightly or sing loudly—just in case others take notice. Just in case they talk, mock, or shun us.

Enough.

We are born to shine. We are born to cast off the limiting beliefs that push us into the shadows, dimming our light and our capacity to make a difference.

It’s one of the many gifts of aging. The realization that only we hold our unique gifts, and holding them tight denies the world the possibilities that open up when we share them.

Recently, someone asked if I feel self-conscious when speaking into the camera. “Feeling self-conscious is a form of false humility,” I replied. “I do it to inspire other women to do the same. Why feel self-conscious when what I’m doing is modeling bravery?”

Years ago, I wrote a story for my daughters called “Princess Iwannabe.” At the time, they were preteens, and I wanted to inspire them to cast off the need to fit in so that they could carve their own paths.

Princess Iwannabe resisted taking up her Queenly duties, preferring instead to sit around eating bonbons, waiting for her Prince Charming. When told she had to learn the duties of a Queen, she ran away from the castle. She had many adventures and ultimately discovered that the Prince Charming she was waiting for was never coming. Instead, she was waiting for herself to wake up to her own power.

Awakened, I am standing in my power and claiming my right to be Queen in my own life.

What about you?

Are you ready? Will you dare to cast off self-doubt and fear to step beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone into a whole new era of living wild and free in the land of your own Queendom?

Are you ready?

An Ode to the Eclipse (collaborative poem with Bandi Photography)

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I started to write this piece in a 2 minute writing process during yesterday morning’s meditation. —. It drifted in and out of my day, through a lunch with three friends of my sister Jackie. She used to have a semi-annual lunch with them before the fall that lead to her death last November. It was a beautiful time together that felt even more potent with the pending eclipse almost upon us. And then, during lunch, the moon passed in front of the moon but from where we sat, its happening was barely physically noticeable despite its energetic force. And still, it’s power lingered in tendrils of thoughts of the energy of the eclipse that kept slipping in and out of my mind’s eye. A late afternoon zoom interview with a woman for my upcoming 6 month course, ReEnvision Your Journey, that lead into an evening sharing dinner with my beloved, sitting back at my desk overlooking the river flowing with energy towards a distant sea. Effortlessly I slipped back into the quiet and the words spilled out.

And then, after penning it and searching for a photo on Unsplash, a photo appeared on the wonderful Bandiphotography.com ‘s FB page and I sent the poem to him to ask if he would be willing to collaborate.

I am grateful he said yes. ❤ Thank you Bandi for being such a beautiful creative soul and friend.

An Ode to the Eclipse 
by Louise Gallagher

Tapping in
to align
energy flowing
pregnant
with potent wholeness
calling
    Let go
    Welcome in
darkness
light
    Don’t be afraid
    Open up
    Become
shadow turning dark to light
    Become
the all you’ve dreamt into being
possible
    The all that has been holding
space
for you
to awaken
to your own potency
giving birth
to your dreams.

The Pie of Our Humanity (A poem for April- Poetry Month)

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I told a friend on the weekend that I believe the muse is always flowing. She does not discriminate. She does, however, pass on by if we do not turn towards her whisperings to let our creativity flow in whatever form we wish to express it.

I awoke this morning with an image of a pie and a memory of a description of how community is like a pie. The challenge is, often, there are some who want their piece of the pie who do not leave any pie for others.

Throughout the day, I kept coming back to the pie image, amidst a zoom and working on the marketing materials for my six month, ReEnvision Your Journey course I’m launching in May and a delightfully long and rich lunch with three women I haven’t spent a lot of time with but whose company I enjoyed immensely, I kept feeling the muse’s urgings that I write it out.

And so I did.

The Pie of All Humanity
by Louise Gallagher

In a world bent on othering,
we divide ourselves into slices,
forgetting, humanity is formed of one whole pie
born from a single human race.

We slice and dice,
casting aside pieces of the sumptuous whole
onto a refuse heap marked "unfit,"
discarded by those who claim the feast
is reserved for the few
deemed worthy
to sit at their table.

Fighting to keep the many from their feast,
they wield their knives 
with well-manicured hands,
hoarding the best parts
to preserve the richness of a banquet
laid out for an exclusive few.

Yet, in their quest to savour
only the choicest cuts,
they miss the pie’s true flavours:
its beauty lies in sharing,
in mingling tastes, aromas,
colours, and textures—
a masterpiece far surpassing any single slice
reserved for only those invited to the table.

We have sat at separate tables long enough,
heeding the few who decree
the pie cannot be shared by all.

It is time—
time to rise up from disparate tables,
to set a larger One
laid out with the beauty of all humanity
coming together
to enjoy the pie in its entirety,
where every slice enriches the many,
leaving none to feed on the crumbs 
left by the few.

Thank you Lady M (a poem for April Poetry Month)

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For the last few years, the gifted and soulful Brian Pearson has been the guide of an online community, The Mystic Cave, which offers sanctuary to those searching for spiritual depth beyond conventional religions.

Brian describes The Mystic Cave podcast as “a haven for seekers—narratives, dialogues, and musings on the spiritual quest beyond the boundaries of church land.”

Our paths crossed when I was organizing an annual Christmas benefit concert, to support formerly homeless veterans, at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Calgary. As the head pastor, Brian not only opened the church’s doors for the “Christmas at The Madison” benefit concert but also graced the event with his soothing voice and masterful guitar play, captivating everyone, including my daughters.

With time, Brian ventured beyond the church to establish The Mystic Cave and, in doing so, has become a cherished friend and mentor.

Today, as I listened to Brian’s conversation with the luminous Meredith Heller—poet, educator, musician, songwriter, and a woman of incandescent spirit—on his podcast, the muse stirred and whispered her melodious urgings into my heart.

In the stillness of the morning, with my beloved asleep beside me and Beaumont the Sheepadoodle stretched at our feet, I lay immersed in the quiet, attuned to the breathing that filled the room, a lullaby of presence.

I listened. I felt. I heard.

The words beckoned.

With the exquisite silence of dawn wrapped around me, following the tender gratitude in Brian’s sign-off and the lingering echo of Meredith’s poetry dedicated to Lady J, the words surged within me, spilling forth with fervent ease.

Thank you Lady M
by Louise Gallagher

Love found me
    broken
pieces scattered without
rhyme or reason
    lost
in the darkness  
of knowing
the way home
    was through  
the pain
    of having been
      broken
        open
           to Love.

May we all find the courage to surrender to the call of the creative flame within us. May it compel us to rise and fully experience this transient, stunning life in all its fleeting beauty and ephemeral joy flowing in the enduring nature of Love.

And may this April Poetry Month awaken you to the poetry of your life.

Namaste

Awakening – April Poetry Month

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April is Poetry Month. A month to create and celebrate words that rhyme, words that flow on gentle wisps of promise, words that stir hearts to dance and cry and spin about.

This is the third poem I’ve written this poetry month. It arose unbidden, like a memory awakened by the sound of a laugh, a retreating figure, a voice on the phone, as I sat down to journal this morning.

It seems to pair well with this image I created as part of my She Dares series.

I hope you feel the call this month to read a poem, share one, perhaps even cast one to a page in the hope the words will flow into images that make your heart want to dance as you come alive to the poetry of life.

How’s the Weather?

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I expect to receive an influx of photos of cherry blossoms bursting and daffodils rising their sunshiny heads towards clear blue skies from my family and friends on the west coast today.

It’s just the way it goes.

The weather here on the windward side of the Rocky Mountains is always entertaining and, for some reason, seems to bring out gleeful expressions of ‘so sorry it’s snowing’ from the west.

It’s okay. Whether I like it or not, it’s the weather. I still get to go outside and frolic and savour nature’s beauty.

Especially because Beaumont does not let me rest, no matter the weather!

How’s your weather?

Better yet! How’s your attitude? 🙂

There’s no age-limit on dreaming

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While strolling along the river’s still-frozen shoreline with Sir Beaumont the Sheepadoodle, a thought struck me with the suddenness of the squirrel that had crash-landed on our deck this morning, scrambling for an escape. This thought – “Why are you so concerned about aging, Louise?” – whirled through my mind, refusing to settle despite my efforts to focus on the present.

It was relentless. As if possessed a life of its own, operating independently from my conscious self. Ever experience that? When your mind feels detached, a whirlwind of thoughts you can’t seem to control?

Right. And there I am wandering off topic. Back to the present…

The crux of my concern isn’t so much the personal fear of aging. It’s about our societal attitudes towards aging and how these collective perceptions shape not only our individual beliefs but our experiences as we age. They influence how we see ourselves, our abilities to contribute and find meaning, and our place within families, communities, and society at large.

Society’s view on aging deeply affects our personal viewpoints, beliefs and actions.

But there’s more to it than societal perceptions. The frequency and tone of portrayals of aging in advertising, movies, social media, and other media forms often diminishes as we grow older, making us feel invisible or irrelevant. This invisibility, this sense of being wrong for aging, is deeply concerning.

In my time working in the homeless-serving sector, I strived to change narratives individuals experiencing homelessness, our perceptions of homelessness and how we support those living it. I made an impact.

Now, as an older adult, I’m dedicated to altering perceptions around aging. My mission is to rekindle a sense of wonder and power in living and aging, encouraging individuals to embrace this journey fuelled by the knowledge they are not irrelevant or without agency. Our wisdom, experience, contributions make a difference.

So yes, I do ponder on aging a lot. Not out of fear, but out of love.

Aging comes with its set of unknowns and changes. However, I’d rather meet these changes head-on, actively participating in my own aging process, than hide away, passively awaiting the end.

I aspire to live each day fully, infusing every moment with wonder, awe, and curiosity. To keep unfolding my dream of a world where every life has value, no matter their age, origin or fairth. Let my every breath be a testament to a life lived beyond the confines of complacency, striving always to create better.

Let my every act inspire others to take action to engage with their aging in love with their dreams unfolding and their life well-lived.

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If you are interested in learning more about how to age with passion, purpose and pizzazz, join me on April 12 at 9am MT, for my 90 minute free masterclass, Radiant Bold Aging. (Click on image below to register)

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“Joy transcends age; it’s not confined to youth. It’s a universal treasure that spans all ages, reminding us that to experience joy we must embrace the journey of life with love, laughter, gratitude and compassion every day.” Louise Gallagher

As I sit before my computer navigating various sites to launch thep of unveiling another chapter of the Radiant Bold Aging Masterclass, and transforming my two-month ReEnvision Your Journey program into a six-month quest to champion women in crafting the life of their dreams, age notwithstanding, my journal pages have blossomed with musings on JOY.

What essence it holds, whence it springs. What, if anything, fills its void when it gently slips away? In its absence, where do I seek refuge? And why, oh why, does joy hold such paramount importance?

These existential ponderings, to me, are not just intriguing—they are essential quests for understanding.

Today, merrily working in my studio, with the melody of birdsong heralding spring to the barren branches of the trees that line the riverbank, and sunlight dancing on the snow-blanketed earth of our backyard, I found myself cradled in the sheer joy of the present.

Joy—like an ocean wave—envelops me, washing away the remnants of turmoil. It saturates my being when I cease to engage with joy’s thieves: resentment, regret, anger, sorrow, and the mundane grievances against the world’s bad drivers and the monotony of customer service scripts. Ah, those familiar foes.

I’ve come to realize that irrespective of age, emotions crash upon the shores of my consciousness, uninvited. To truly know Joy, I must allow these feelings to be swallowed by the temporal tides, and in their stead, embrace love, self-compassion, mindfulness, and the endless possibilities each moment holds.

In such moments, my heart feels lighter, my thoughts as clear as the rainbow stretching across the sky after a storm, and I am embraced once more with Joy.

Such a profound, exquisite blessing.

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Click image to register