It is a wonderful pleasure to invite my lovely friend and co-author @Valerie Beyer to the Sacred Writing Skool. AKA The Language Portal. Please give Valerie a Portal Pal welcome! Wellness Advocate / Yogini 🧘‍♀️💛✨ Life-long Learner / Knowledge Seeker 🤓📚 Intrepid Traveller 🥾✈️ Valerie is an Intrepid Traveler having walked El Camino many times. Her chapter, The Power of Pilgrimage: All Who Wander Are Not Lost, takes us on her adventures and challenges of a pilgrimage. She offers insights for us to confront our fears, doubts, and judgments not only for El Camino but life in our book, Sacred Wisdom, An Inspiring Journey to Reconnect with Self and Discover Your Truth. What might you discover about yourself if you took the next step before you felt ready?

Let us shower @Karin Davis with wishes of love, joy, and cake (lots of cake). Dearest Karin, A lightworker, an old soul, an empath, and a visionary. An artistic spirit who finds meaning in solitude and sees possibilities beyond what is immediately visible. You are here to make a difference, guided by a higher purpose and a heart that understands the importance of love, compassion, and light. May this next trip around the sun bring you peace, beautiful inspiration, and the joy of seeing your light make a difference in the world. Thank you for being uniquely you, Karin, and for the love and light you bring to those whose lives you touch. Wishing you a beautiful birthday and a year filled with magic, meaning, and possibility. ✨💜 Love, Your Portal Pals

It was 1980, and I had traveled from Toronto to Vancouver for my sister’s wedding. My husband at the time had wanted to come with me. I’d already left him once, but in my heart I knew we wouldn’t be together when August rolled around. I could hear my mom rustling around in the kitchen, while my grandmother and I sat alone at the dining room table. She reached across the table, touched my hand, and whispered, “Pamela Lee, are you happy?” I smiled and said, “Yes, Grandma, I am.” "That’s all that matters.” Her response has carried me through many moments, reminding me that my choices are mine to make, and she smiled proudly, knowing I made the best decisions for my happiness. My happiness is all she cared about. Not the details. Not why I left him. Only was I happy? Years later, as I was in that space between falling asleep, she came to me. Again, she used my full proper name, “Pamela Lee.” I shot up in bed. “Grandma, what is it?” “I came to say goodbye. To let you know I am happy, and all I ask of you is to be happy.” The next morning my Dad called and said, “I have news.” “Yes, I know. Grandma died last night.” Curious, my Dad asked, “Who called you?” “No one. Grandma came to say goodbye.” "Impossible," he said. He didn’t believe me for years, but that’s okay. My Grandmother knew I would receive her presence. This spring I’ll be gathering stories like this one into Wisdom from Our Grandmothers, a collection of two-page stories from our community, each one lovingly edited and in print in time for Mother’s Day. My grandmother asked me one question in 1980, and I’ve been answering it ever since. What question did yours leave with you? 💜

People travel from around the world to visit the incredible gardens in Victoria. We're visiting Butchart Gardens again today. I thought you might enjoy this video from July 2025. Where is the most beautiful place you've ever visited?

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday, and it’s my Dad’s heavenly birthday. Six years ago, on October 11, 2020, I wrote a reflection about my relationship with him. At the time, I was recognizing how much of my life I’d spent seeking his love, approval, and acceptance, and how my own inner work had helped me see our relationship differently. My Dad married my Mom and adopted my sister Margot and me when I was three. Because of him, I also have my brother Greg. There are so many layers to a life together, and not all of them are easy to understand while we’re living them. One thing I’ve come to appreciate is that love doesn’t always arrive in the form we expect or wish for. Sometimes it takes years, distance, loss, and a willingness to examine our own stories before we recognize what a relationship has taught us. Today I’m driving to Vancouver to celebrate Thanksgiving and another family birthday. My cousin’s wife shares this date with Dad. On Tuesday, my Aunt and I will travel to Vancouver Island to visit my brother and his beautiful partner. There is something lovely about spending four hours driving and remembering traveling these high mountain passes with my parents. And feeling grateful for the people who are no longer physically here, like my parents and my sister, while celebrating the people who are. What if gratitude isn’t about being thankful only for the moments we cherish? What if it is also about recognizing how the complicated ones have shaped our capacity to love, understand, and appreciate the lives we’ve been given. Happy heavenly birthday, Dad. Thank you for loving me in your way, and for being part of the woman I’ve become. As you think about the people who have shaped your life, whose love have you come to understand differently over time? Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends. 💜 Trust what’s yours, Pamela