Welcome to Margie's Insights and Interviews

May 09, 2023
Get comfortable being uncomfortable
After graduating from university I moved back to my parents' farm and worked two jobs for six months until I’d saved up enough to buy an around-the-world airfare. Then off I set. No cell phone. No credit card. Just a handful of traveler’s checks (remember
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Apr 18, 2023
Put your 'to be' list ahead of your 'to do' list.
I felt awash with a swirling mix of anxiety and overwhelm in late March 2020. I was living in Singapore. My husband had just been hospitalized with Covid-19. I was put into a strict quarantine with one of my children, Singapore's health department video-calling three
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Oct 08, 2022
Embracing Tears
Tears. I’ve shed a few lately. While I’ve lived a long way from my parents for many years, the miles have never tugged so hard on my heartstrings than in the last few years as the thickening fog of dementia has rolled in over my
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Aug 06, 2022
Take Courage! Beware the hidden tax on timidity.
“All right, I'll go in there for Dorothy," announced the Cowardly Lion. "Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch, guards or no guards, I'll tear 'em apart. I may not come out alive, but I'm going in. There's just one thing I want you fellows to
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Jun 01, 2022
How might you be wrong? Chances are, in more ways than you'd like to think
Which do you value more: the truth or your own beliefs? Because they are not synonymous. It’s pretty safe to assume that people reading this will have different opinions about many topics. Fiscal policy. Abortion. Parenting. Education. Climate change. Racism. Religion. Gun control. The leadership
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May 23, 2022
Shame Keeps Us Stuck
Dr Brené Brown has shared many insights that resonate with me. Yet one stands apart: "When we don’t work on our shame, we work it out on others.” Sometimes we conflate and confuse guilt and shame. Guilt is an adaptive emotion we feel when we
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Feb 25, 2022
Beyond The Middle Octave: Embracing All Of Life's Notes
It's hard to wrap words around reuniting with my parents in Australia after two years of travel restrictions. Mum has developed dementia since we last hugged. As she dried my tears she said, "Margaret Mary, is it really you? I feel like I am looking at myself,
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Dec 17, 2021
Choose Courage Over Comfort
A swirling mix of nerves and excitement coursed through me as I waved my family goodbye and the sliding doors closed behind me at Melbourne airport. I was 21 and, armed with little more than a backpack and some travelers' checks (remember those?), I was
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Nov 22, 2021
Practice Gratitude. What You Appreciate, Appreciates
We all know that it’s good to be grateful. Yet let’s face it, the gravitational pull to dwell on what we don't like or perceive as lacking is strong. Unless we consciously choose otherwise, our attention tends to get pulled toward what’s wrong and whom
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Nov 17, 2021
Give More Grace – To Yourself, To Others
The woman across from me at a dinner I attended recently rolled her eyes in annoyance when the waiter accidentally poured wine into her water glass. As soon as he realized his error, he apologized profusely. But she was frustrated and let him know as
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Oct 20, 2021
How To Thrive Under Pressure
As a kid, my dad often took me fishing in his rusty tin boat. Every now and again it would spring a leak. Dad was always creative in finding ways to plug the leak until we returned to shore. Blue tack. Candy. One time he
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Sep 15, 2021
Growth And Comfort Can’t Ride The Same Horse
While I grew up riding horses, I was never a particularly stylish equestrian. More like a pretty rough n' ready one… gutsy enough to hold on to my wild Brumby we won in a raffle for 20 cents (I kid you not!). I fell off
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Sep 08, 2021
Choose Faith Over Fear
As I’ve soaked in the spendor of Colorado's Rocky Mountains over the last week, many times I’ve thought back to this time last year when my future was mired with uncertainty. On more than one occasion I've felt like pinching myself. Not just because of
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Aug 25, 2021
Live The Life You Have, Not The One You Want
"In an ideal world we’d all be back in the office in September," a client said to me last week, bemoaning the disruption the Delta variant has created for ‘back to office’ plans. Of course in ‘an ideal world', we’d not have had this pandemic
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Aug 05, 2021
Turn Your Compassion Inward
You’re such an idiot. Seriously, when will you ever figure this out. You're just not (good-smart-together-accomplished-successful-Fill-in-the-blank) enough. You’re a lousy presenter/parent/partner/person/(fill in the blank) How often have you heard a little voice inside your head pointing out your mistakes, critiquing your conversations, or berating you
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Jul 13, 2021
Is Your Story Shrinking Or Expanding Your Future?
Growing up in the Aussie bush, my dad often teased me about being a 'bumble-foot.’ My dad is a beautiful man, but I took his words on as Gospel truth, creating a story that I was a bonafide 'non-athlete; that my legs just weren't made
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