We were camping in the mountains with a group of 20 kids and their parents, when the ground began to shake. The first things I noticed were quivering leaves on the trees around us, followed by a soft rumbling that can only mean one thing in SoCal….there’s an earthquake. The children had all kinds of reactions. Some were excited, some were curious. Some screamed and asked to be picked up. We soothed them, gathered them, and came together to find out what we could, to plan and to connect.

I’ve been in my share of earthquakes, having always lived in California. This one in particular though, is one that I will never forget. I know that the children who were there won’t either, simply because we were together. They were surrounded by adults who cared for them, processed with friends who were standing beside them, and told the story again and again with the group.

While the earthquake may have been the most dramatic moment of this camping trip, it was only a tiny example of many examples of belonging. From CEOs creating annual “Framily” traditions, to women’s groups that have lasted over a decade, I heard example after example of people creating belonging in the communities they’re a part of. This single effort, is at the heart of what drives us all.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How every opportunity to increase belonging starts with a single idea
• Why unique opportunities for connection strengthen communities
• Examples of long-term friendship formats
• The value of longevity in group connection
• Two questions that can increase belonging in your own life

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!

Have you ever stood behind someone in the grocery store thinking they should put the divider between your groceries and theirs?

Or thought someone should turn off their fanny pack music blasting down the hiking trail right behind you?

Have you ever thought someone was watching too much TV? Not spending enough time with the kids? Following too closely behind your car on the freeway?

Yeah, me too. We all have.

These are all examples of the “Manuals” that we are all walking around with, inside our heads.

A manual is an instruction guide that we have in our heads for how other people are supposed to behave in order for us to be happy. The really wild thing about this manual business is that although our brains tell us that everyone around us is supposed to be living up to the rules in our heads, we never show the manual to them.

We are holding them accountable to it…but they never get to see it.

Another wild thing about all of this is that the premise of our manuals is that we think we would be happier if someone else changes their behavior. This just isn’t true, or when it is, it’s true for a hedonistic hot minute.

This causes us a ton of suffering, because we’re handing over the power of our happiness to someone else. But we can learn to see the manual for what it is, and we can learn to let it go.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How ridiculous manuals can be, via a pretty ridiculous morning story
• Examples of the manuals we have for people we don’t know, friends, and even our very closest relationships
• Why manuals suck your creative energy
• How different brains interpret the same interactions in oppositional ways
• The single best thing we can do to increase happiness for ourselves (spoiler: it has nothing to do with how young you look or how much money you make)
• A four step process to releasing your manuals for the people around you
• Choosing compatibility in friends and lovers makes manual work lighter
• How laughing at our own manuals for other people can help us let them go

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!

Let’s go back to emotions 101. Your emotions ARE your superpower.

There are three ways that we naturally deal with them; we stuff them down, we act them out, and we buffer (put something else on top of them like work, sex, tv or scrolling, food or booze, or even thinking a lot!). All of those things make our feelings expand and deepen- like pushing a beach ball down underwater, so that eventually it pops out with a lot of force.

The only thing that actually works to move through a feeling, is to get curious, and allow the feeling to exist.

So that’s feelings 101.

In today’s episode, we’re going way beyond feelings 101. Today we’re talking about expanding the limitations of what emotions we’re capable of feeling, and willing to feel.

That’s what happens when we increase our emotional capacity.

Because here’s the deal.

Sometimes, we SIGN UP for increasing our emotional capacity.

We do that because we want to put ourselves out there in the world.

We have an idea we want to make real, a change we want to make in ourselves. We want to grow or expand. When you’re doing that, you’re on two parallel roads of growth.

In one lane, you’re taking new actions. But right there next to it. On the other parallel track, the other growth is happening. You’re expanding your capacity to feel.

What you’ll learn on today’s episode:

• The two new skills you’re building anytime you do something new and different
• Why expanding emotional capacity is essential to forward momentum
• The external signs that will tell you clearly when you need to expand your capacity to feel
• What the payoff is of doing the work to learn to process deeper, harder, darker emotions
• The one question that will reveal the capacity expansion that you need next

Mentioned on this episode:

• Your Feelings Are Your Superpower
• Be a Time Whisperer

How to connect with Marie:

• On the Web | The Local Bloom
• Instagram: @the.bloom.coach
• All Things Marie on LinkTree

JOIN THE BLOOM ROOM!
We'll take all these ideas and apply them to our lives. Follow me on Instagram at @the.bloom.coach to learn more and snag a spot in my group coaching program!