Brilliantly Resilient

I try and bridge the world between the visual and tactile worlds. You must touch the artwork. It's a way to physically engage with the art. My artwork allows you to chat with it, chat with strangers next to it, and have a conversation. ~ Clarke Reynolds We humans love to talk. It's our primary means of communication, and one specific to us as living beings. Yet so many of our conversations in this...

The goal is to provide support for the workforce. The pandemic really forced this to the forefront from a mental health and employee retention standpoint. We were taking care of everything and everyone and there was no way to hide that anymore. You can sustain a healthy work/life balance and we shouldn't have to hide that. ~ Margaret Guerrette, Reliance Matrix Co-Chair of the Women's Employee Reso...

If I don't ask, I have a zero percent chance of getting what I want or need. I had to keep trying. Through persistence you can solve problems. ~ Judy Chinitz Have you ever tried to get a point across to someone but couldn't find the right words? Most of us occasionally struggle to find the right words to communicate our thoughts. But what if you couldn't communicate at all? What if you were trappe...

Long story short, I was a disgruntled cubicle monkey who followed the rules believing they would make me happy. Spoiler alert: They did not. ~ Shereen Thor Did you have a life plan? Most of us did. We thought if we chose an "acceptable" career path, did the "right" things and followed all of the rules, life would be grand. Except it doesn't always work out that way. For many of us, "acceptable" ca...

When dance was taken away during Covid, I had to say, 'Who am i?" I realized dance was external, so I had to dig deep and realize what I loved about dance and see how I could put those things into myself and put them into other things. I've transferred those skills over and do one thing at a time. Ask yourself 'What am I made of? What else do I have?" ~ Paige Leigh DeAngelo Did you lose anything d...

We have to change the idea of menopause as a four-letter word. Who do you trust? Where would you go for care? Take care of your mental state. Do whatever it is that makes you feel good. For me it's meditation, being in nature, exercise. Eat well. Be mindful; be aware. Talk to your doctor. Find the resources that are right for you. ~ Catherine Grace O'Connell The "M" word. If you're a woman, menopa...

I went to Ukraine thinking I'd find victims of war and recipients of humanitarian aide. What I found were civilians creatively, consciously engaging in what was going on around them. ~ Dr. Greta Uehling Can you imagine life in a war zone? The residents of Ukraine have lived amidst devastating war and crisis for years, first with the invasion of the Crimean Peninsula and now with Russia's further i...

Don't pre-plan a negative experience for yourself. Stop yourself within 17 seconds to keep a negative thought seed from germinating. Stop the negative thoughts and don't attract that negative vibration. ~ L.A. Williams How often do you look towards an upcoming event, goal, work or personal situation, and think, "This isn't going to go the way I want?" Most of us are guilty of sometimes assuming th...

We need to slow down our conversations and not just say, "I'm fine," when people ask how we are feeling. ~ Nick Jonsson How often do you respond, "I'm fine" when someone asks how you are feeling? It's almost automatic–partly because it's a standard greeting, but also because many of us believe that sharing our feelings, especially if we don't feel like rainbows and sunshine, is a sign of weakness....

Be seen, heard and remembered. I had a whole period of my life where I was afraid to use my voice. I was afraid to be visible. I could have done so much more if I hadn't been afraid to be visible. Start being visible. ~ Mildred Talabi Have you ever found yourself wanting to speak up about something but you remained silent? Whether it's because we lack the confidence to speak up, we think our opini...

Having the hard conversations with a loved one and then sharing what we've learned can be a gift to others who love that person but can't have those conversations. The Five Wishes helped me start those conversations. ~ Yvonne Caputo How much do you enjoy having hard conversations? If you're like most of us, you'd rather go to the dentist than have a difficult conversation with a loved one–or anyon...

Nobody told us we couldn't change the world, so we thought we could. ~ Lynn Cummings What would your ideal world look like? Lynn Cummings and her husband, parents of 3 adopted children (all abused) are a mixed race family. For Lynn, a diverse neighborhood full of welcoming people, regardless of race, was the dream. Yet, when people of color began moving into Lynn's suburban neighborhood years ago,...

If you're only subscribing to someone else's version of success, it's not going to make you happy because it's not your version; you never really wanted it. We have to take time on the front end to figure out what that success means to us. ~ Matthew Turner How do you define success? For most of us, the word "success" is tied to professional recognition, money and some level of prestige. But do tho...

You have to trust yourself. If I didn't trust myself when everything went wrong, I wouldn't be where I am. Even if you trust yourself though, you also have to have someone else trust you. It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to feel what you feel. Keep talking and someone will eventually listen.  ~ Gabi Drobot No sleep. Lousy diets. Stress and continuous overwhelm. Feelings of failure. Sounds awful...

I just wanted to say that I really needed to hear this today. I'm going through something and I really needed to hear that I can do it. Thank you. ~ Attendee from Soroptimist "Dream It, Be It" Conference for Girls  It's not easy to be a young person today. Conflict is the norm, uncertainty is the future, and Covid has wreaked havoc on every aspect of life, particularly affecting young people, for...

  Don't operate from a fear mindset, operate from a growth mindset. Look at life from a Brilliantly Resilient lens. ~ Kristin Smedley and Mary Fran Bontempo Happy birthday to us!!! We can't believe it, but this week–March 7th–marks the 3rd birthday of Brilliantly Resilient! When we started Brilliantly Resilient, we planned a "world tour" of speaking on stages, sharing our process to Reset, Rise an...

I had a very successful fitness business, but I had to get away from the toxic expectations of the fitness industry. I couldn't sell six pack ab products anymore. I had to shut it down. ~ Katie Bramlett Have you ever had something that's supposed to be good for you end up feeling bad for you? Many of us feel that way about exercise. We know it's good for us, but it doesn't always feel that way.  K...

Alternative pathways to learning and education are really the key to educating today's students. So, how are we interconnected to businesses? How are we connected to the community? Everyone has that buy-in. How can we get businesses and the community and non-profits involved? ~Carlos Aponte Do you remember what you learned in Geometry class? Philosophy? Chemistry? Much of what we learned as studen...

Emotions are indicators. If we see the red on a battery, we don't shame our computers. We see it as something we have to take care of for optimal performance. Imagine if we gave these human vessels…that same grace to say my emotions are indicators, not inconveniences. They let us know that if you want me to operate optimally, you need to acknowledge that I feel this….We need to ask ourselves, "Wha...

When we're betrayed, our self-trust is totally shattered. There is a breakdown of body, mind & worldview. We need to regain and relearn our trust in ourselves. Our gut is so much more perceptive than our mind. ~ Dr. Debi Silber Have you ever been betrayed? Betrayal sounds like a soap-opera word–too dramatic to apply to everyday life. Yet, almost everyone has experienced betrayal at some point,...

It's about doing it. It's not about anything else. It's not about the goal. Pick a goal that you will never achieve but start putting into place each step and focus on the ladder rungs. One action at a time. ~ Jeremy Grater "This is the year."  How many times have you told yourself (especially at the start of a new year), that this would be the year you would…lose weight, get a new job, start your...

"I really think that none of us has to be as scared of ourselves as we are. We don't have to be worried that we're going to turn into monsters." ~ Ashleigh Renard Are you married or in a long-term relationship? Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you weren't in that relationship? If we're honest, most of us have had moments where we fantasize about being free of obligations–and...

There's a perception about what nurses do and there's what nurses actually do. Nursing needs to start talking about itself. Every healthcare consumer should understand what nurses do. Visibility is key. ~Donald Bucher Do you feel safe and respected while doing your job? Most of us would say, "Of course." While we might not have the perfect working environment, we don't go to work with the expectat...

I needed to understand why this happened to me and think about what was next. Life is all about what you do on the second climb  ~ Jeffrey Abramowitz Have you ever made a mistake? One that changed your life, and not for the better? We all make mistakes, but usually, we do so without ill intent. Mistakes, by their nature, aren't intentional. We don't mean to screw up. That's why Jeffrey Abramowitz,...

Your home is a tool. If your home is cluttered, it's not working for you. De-cluttering is not about being perfect. It's about making your house work for you as an asset to make room for happiness. ~ Tracy McCubbin We're just a few days into 2023, and if you're like us here at Brilliantly Resilient, your brain is already racing with goals and to-do's for the coming year. Like most people, we're ra...