Family life Archives - Allison Evans Coaching

Small Investments that Pay Big Returns in Relationships

Family life can be a lot of work.Although I admit that’s not a super helpful thought – I wrote about that kind of thinking in “Marriage as Serious Play” – it sure feels true sometimes. I have peeled a lot of carrots, washed thousands of dishes, paired up countless freshly…

Allison EvansMay 24, 2024

Love & Relationships Parenting & Family Life

The Spiritual Path of Motherhood

There are many paths to transformation, all of them hard and none superior to any other. I labored industriously as a student, relentlessly as a military officer, and tirelessly as a schoolteacher. But nothing changed me like motherhood.I recently wrote admiringly about the French approach to mothering that I encountered…

Allison EvansMay 9, 2024

Stop Suffering, Start Living

Holiday Stress?

My client is a mom of three under seven – a big job on top of her big job. As we coached, she was surrounded by piles of outgrown clothes and toys, the detritus of a seasonal decluttering.“And now,” she announced incredulously, “we have to do presents!”I was supposed to…

Allison EvansNovember 22, 2023

Getting Things Done

How’s Your Work-Life Balance?

I was surprised to discover (in my early 20s) that I didn’t like being in the Navy. I had looked forward to serving in the military for so long. What was going on?I knew it wasn’t my colleagues. I loved them. It was the culture: aggressive, black-and-white, fast-moving, demanding, pitiless.…

Allison EvansAugust 29, 2023

Communication Love & Relationships Stop Suffering, Start Living

Underground Desire, Mangled Request

Dining room curtains recently taught me how complicated my relationship with desire is and how bad I am at asking for what I want. I bought the curtains a month ago, to complete our kitchen and dining room renovation. But it was another month before I bought the rods. I…

Allison EvansOctober 7, 2022

Parenting & Family Life

Something to Wrap My Empty Arms Around

"The ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the self, nor the other. The ultimate touchstone of friendship is witness." - David Whyte Anytime I have the opportunity to listen to the poet David Whyte, I take it. He looks deeply at ordinary life and finds wonder and…

Allison EvansMarch 19, 2021

Stop Suffering, Start Living

Put Away Childish Thinking

Last week I wrote about a miscommunication between my daughter and me. It happened years ago, but she brought it up recently in conversation, referring to it as a time I had “crushed a dream.” I call it a miscommunication because, at the time it happened, I had no idea…

Allison EvansMarch 4, 2021

Love & Relationships

Limping Along in a Relationship? How to Make It Strong Again

At the School for The Work, Byron Katie, the originator of The Work, was sometimes asked, “How do I know when I should do The Work? How do I know when I’m done?” She answered the question with a question: “Do you love it yet?” She didn’t say, “You’re done when…

Allison EvansFebruary 10, 2021

Getting Things Done

It’s Not an Interruption, It’s Life

Last week was unusually busy with meetings. I had a high number of client meetings, a couple of appointments, and two church committee meetings. I was also getting ready for the visit of my brother and niece, who timed their visit to be here for my son’s 16th birthday. So,…

Allison EvansOctober 30, 2020

Family life

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