Insight – Page 2 – Kayla MacArthur

September 8, 2020

Butterflies & Spirit Whispers: How I’m Using Travel & Relationship for Growth

On Saturday, I was biking to the Chedraui when I saw a giant butterfly trembling in the street. I pulled over to scoop up paper wings in my palms. I knew death was near and I couldn’t bear for this magnificent creature to be torn to shreds by the bustle of life. I carried her to the forest, where I laid her to rest and thanked her for blessing the world with beauty, if only for a little while. The next morning, I saw the same kind of butterfly, not once, but twice, on my ride to the playa. Giant wings shimmered iridescent blue and brown as they floated, very much...

August 18, 2020

The Power of Choosing

Create, Explore

July was a slow month. Time crawled and blurred together. Day after day looked the same—wake up, work out, work, watch Netflix. The ruts of routine grew deep and I forgot the feeling of being alive. When this happens; when I fall into a rabbit hole of living a life less than what my heart deeply desires, my emotions spin out of control. I become a twister of confusion and exhaustion until I make something different occur. In a particularly sullen session with my Coach, she pulled this out of me—my own internal alarm system that screams: “WAKE UP! It’s time to course correct!” …“But Leighann, I can’t do what...

June 17, 2020

The Three Gods

Create, Explore

One sunny morning in Canggu when Mark and I were waiting for his surf instructor, a Balinese woman appeared in the open space next to us and began blessing her storefront with the day’s offerings. She laid out colorful woven baskets, filled with flowers, incense, and bits of rice. Curls of smoke danced through the air and tickled our noses. As she bowed her head in silence, I wondered what she was praying about. When she opened her eyes, she dipped a small bristled brush in holy water and sprinkled each offering three times. Mark turned to me and said: “She does it in threes. Once for each of...

April 11, 2020

On Becoming Her

Explore, Reinvent

Towards the end of my trip, I was walking to the Green Window for breakfast when a little Balinese man slowed his motorbike and came to a full stop in front of me. He greeted me warmly, like we were old friends. He said: “You love your life. You love your life so much. I see it here.” {Pointing to my third eye}. “You are wide open. Your heart is wide, wide open.” Taken aback by his astute reflection, goosebumps prickled on my skin. Why, yes. I did love my life.And my heart was more open than the sky. If only my new friend could see me two weeks later—home...

March 8, 2020

Bali Silent Retreat

Create, Explore

Mist hangs above the jungle in delicate swathes of silver. Beyond my narrow, single bed and the mesh canopy that fans around it, darkness is beginning to fill the cracks between the trees. The jungle and its night time noises grow louder. And I—I grow lonelier. I’ve spent two days with a group of people I do not know, and can not. We share space, hovering like ghosts at meal times, sitting in circle for meditation, resting soundlessly on cushions and couches that scatter the second floor lounge. We’re here, but we’re not. We’re not here for each other. We’re here for ourselves. Typically, this would be a dream for...

February 17, 2020

How Whole Are You?

Explore, Reinvent

“How whole are you?” I leaned back on the motorbike, as my sixteen year old Balinese driver pressed on with increasing speed through the winding jungle roads of Nusa Penida. When I didn’t answer, he repeated his question— “How whole are you?” “I need a moment to sit with that, Echo.” Surely, I thought, this must be a Balinese get-to-know-you question. In my own culture, it’s unusual to explore the depths of one’s wholeness at first acquaintance. But, however nonchalantly he asked, it had an impact. How whole am I? After a few moments of contemplation and gripping the back of his bike for dear life, I said, “I am...

February 9, 2020

Bali: A Lesson in Presence

Explore, Reinvent

I thought I was coming to Bali to work. It turns out, this couldn’t be more far from the truth. Here in Bali, life is different. “Ati ati” is a phrase I learned from one of my Balinese drivers. It means “slow ride” {according to his translation}. When he taught me this phrase, we were on our way to Canggu and he was referring to road speed, but I took it to mean something deeper. “Ati ati,” I repeated to myself, looking out over the vivid green of the rice fields rushing past. Slow ride. Slow ride indeed. Here in Bali, there is nowhere to get to—there is only THIS...

November 27, 2019

Do This One Thing And Your Life WILL Change

Create

When I was in fifth grade, I decided to play the flute. The first “composures” I learned were not composures at all. Rather, they were half notes and whole notes, sometimes strung together to form a tune. Next, it was the scales. Oh god—the scales. As I grew into middle school and private lessons, it was all about the scales. Up and down, my fingers flew. Memorizing this one and that one and this one again. In sixth grade, I advanced to second chair and soon after that, I passed an audition to play in the Worcester Youth Orchestra, practicing Tchaikovsky and Bach for the stage at Christmas. In seventh...

November 13, 2019

What Are You Committed To?

Create

Here’s what I’m committed to right now: Waking up by 7:30am.Meditating.Journaling on possibility. Starting work by 9:30am.Writing.Sharing my writing.Inviting all kinds of people to connect.Inviting people who inspire me into coaching conversations.Inviting people I vibe with to work with me.Astonishing my Clients. Doing my own inner work. Going to the gym. Tracking money.Paying for things in cash. Reading.Going to bed by 11pm. Notice: Everything on this list—it’s inside of my control. Too often, we attach our sense of accomplishment to results we have no control over. Then, when the results do not occur, we feel we failed and hopelessness replaces happiness, worthlessness shatters confidence, and fun fades to frustration. We...

June 21, 2019

What If You Made a Mess?

Reinvent

It’s been 40 minutes since our call started.And I still don’t see an opening to support you. I know what you want to create.You’re clear on that. You know how to get there.You’re confident in the path. Most Coaches would leave it here and declare you complete.Most Coaches would say, “Great! You know what you want, you know how to get there, now go off and get it done!” I’m not like most Coaches. Instead, I reflect what’s going on within me: “It sounds like you’ve got this. We’ve been talking for 40 minutes and I still don’t see how I can support you. I’m wondering why you raised your...