KELLI YOUNGLOVE

Hi Beautiful! Do you see that Lion? He represents your THOUGHTS. The horse, on the other hand, is your nervous system—and right now it's in a full state of alarm. All those feelings—the dry mouth, the racing heart, the clenched muscles, the anxiety, the terror, the rising panic—those are your body's reaction to DANGER. It's you, responding to your own scary thoughts. Pay attention for a moment and you'll probably hear a version of this in your head: I'll always be strugg

A lot of times it feels like we just need to vent to a friend. The client didn’t pay. The kids are acting up. The guy who promised he’d call didn’t call. We meet with a buddy for drinks to get it all off our chest. And it helps, doesn’t it? We feel better when we tell a friend what’s really bugging us deep down inside. Sometimes, just saying it out-loud brings relief . . . And I'm all for that. But here’s the thing about venting: It can strengthen an old story that actually n

I was cleaning my office a while ago and found an old letter. Not a love letter (I can feel you leaning in), but a query letter addressed to John Nash. Do you know who he is? He’s the mathematician who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was also the subject of the film, A Beautiful Mind. You know . . . the guy from Princeton who suffered from mental illness. (Which is the only reason I was reaching out.) I not interested in numbers or game the

See that picture? That’s me when I’m not taking care of myself. Or when I’ve been putting myself last on the list. Of course, it’s not really me. It’s Kathy Bates, playing the role of Annie Wilkes in the 1990 movie Misery. You remember Annie, don’t you? She was that big-hearted gal who pulled a man from a car crash during a terrible winter blizzard—then took him home to care for his two broken legs until the roads cleared up enough to get him to a hospital. She was just so ni

Welcome to the first edition of TalktoTree. If you don’t like the name, it’s okay. I get it. But there’s a story behind it you may find interesting. It begins with one of those Fairy Godmother moments of possibility—a turn of events that allowed me to quit my job so I could write a book based on my childhood. One swish of the magic wand and PING! Suddenly I had the freedom to write, a supportive network of writers, and the encouragement of all my family and friends. It was a