Peddling Hope

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Peddling Hope Life is a creation. We are always growing, healing, and (hopefully) thriving! Let's create together.

I will be stepping away from the blog until the end of the year so that I can give my full attention to writing my secon...
10/14/2026

I will be stepping away from the blog until the end of the year so that I can give my full attention to writing my second book.

The book looks at grief and transition, and at what comes after them. Several ideas that came up while I was writing the transitions series were too large for a single post, and each one led me to another.

Anyone who has kept a garden knows that a garden bed needs a season of rest. From the outside, a resting garden looks as though nothing is happening. But under that, last year’s roots are breaking down, the soil is taking in what was left behind, and the ground is being readied for whatever gets planted next.

I think of this pause in the same way. I will still be working away, but I'm happy to let this form of expression rest for a season while I focus on the writing that matters to me most right now.

We tend to treat rest as something we have to earn, and many of us keep asking our own lives to produce through a season that was meant for resting.

While I'm working on this, I will still be sending out my monthly newsletter, but this time it'll only include my personal updates. Signing up for my newsletter is the best way to stay up-to-date while I'm in this season of rest.

I would also like your help with the book. If there is a topic connected to grief or transition that you want to see in it, send me a message. I would love to get more perspectives on challenges felt through the transitions within your life.

You can sign up for the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/michellemalloy/newsletter-sign-up

10/11/2026

Happy Self-care Sunday!

Many of us go into Thanksgiving with expectations from a dozen different people. Where to go, who to see, what traditions to uphold, what you can talk about, how long you'll stay, who will cook what.

Most of us learned early to agree to whatever is asked of us, so saying no to a relative can feel unkind. But setting a healthy boundary to protect your mental health is being kind to yourself and those around you.

A boundary can be as concrete as deciding ahead of time when we will leave and what we will say when someone raises a subject we have chosen not to discuss.

It is always okay to say no, it is a complete sentence, even around the holidays.

The older you get, the larger the gap between expectation and reality. When we're young, we are given a set of milestone...
10/09/2026

The older you get, the larger the gap between expectation and reality.

When we're young, we are given a set of milestones to hit at specific times. Watching my own kids grow up, I can see those milestones are no longer achievable for the next generation, given the world as it is now.

Things like: getting married by a certain age, buying a house by a certain age, having kids by a certain age. That template was handed down from our parents and our parents' parents without our permission or consent.

This is your reminder that you are allowed to grieve the life you were told would be possible.

You can grieve the milestones you expected to have, even if the expectation wasn't yours.

You can grieve the life you pictured when you were younger, especially if your current life looks nothing like it.

Grieving is a part of letting it go. Putting down those expectations and moving on without the weight of them.

What a beautiful weekend. It wasn’t quite a second summer, but we got a couple nice days. Saturday - a glass of w**e and...
10/04/2026

What a beautiful weekend. It wasn’t quite a second summer, but we got a couple nice days.

Saturday - a glass of w**e and a box a Guide Girl mint cookies, a fire, and my sister.

Sunday - a cup of tea, a fire, and my boys.

Such a great time!!
Did you do anything fun?

Resilience is not something you either have or do not have. Resilience grows the same way a garden does: what you care f...
09/29/2026

Resilience is not something you either have or do not have. Resilience grows the same way a garden does: what you care for and spend time on will flourish, and what you neglect will wither over time.

I think about that when it comes to spending time on my phone. Watching my family absorbed in theirs, even when we’re in the same room.

Every hour you spend scrolling is an hour not spent on something else.

To go back to my gardening analogy, instead of watering the tomatoes, you’ve watered the weeds. And eventually, they will leach the nutrients from the tomatoes, keeping them from growing.

Comparing your life to a stranger's highlights does not grow anything in your garden. Doomscrolling wears you down instead of giving you energy and joy.

I have been trying to replace scrolling with reading. While I make a cup of tea, when I’m in line at the grocery store, when I’m waiting for appointments, I try to keep my library app up so when I pick up my phone, a book is already open.

It’s a small choice. But repeated enough times, it changes how my garden looks over time.

Ask yourself what you do most days that drains you, and then ask what you do rarely that would actually give you joy.

When you catch yourself doing the thing that drains you, replace it with the thing that would bring you joy instead.

Try it for a few days and tell me, did it make a difference?

09/27/2026

Have you noticed your breath today? I can go a whole day without noticing that I’m breathing. I don’t pay attention to the pace of it unless I’m winded. I don’t notice my lungs working to keep me tethered to the present. I don’t pay attention how cleansing it is to take a long drawn out sigh.

But our breath keeps us grounded. It’s our anchor to the present. We can’t breath in the past or the future, we can only breath in the moment we’re in right now.

Let’s breath together for a moment.

Starting with 4 second in, 4 seconds holding, 4 seconds out, 4 seconds holding. And then moving our way all the way up to 8 seconds of each.

Tell me in the comments if it changed how you feel in your body.

I sat in front of a camera earlier this month and it was uncomfortable.Recording video does not come naturally to me. My...
09/24/2026

I sat in front of a camera earlier this month and it was uncomfortable.

Recording video does not come naturally to me. My work has always happened across from another person, reading a face, adjusting to the feelings in the room, letting silence linger as long as it needs to.

Talking into a camera takes that away.

Comfort is not a requirement for doing something. Being able to sit in discomfort and do something anyway is a part of building our resilience.

I ask my clients to sit with discomfort. It wouldn't be fair if I asked that of them and refused to do it myself.

You might be wearing a shirt that’s too small. One you’ve outgrown, but haven’t noticed. Maybe the shirt is a job that g...
09/22/2026

You might be wearing a shirt that’s too small. One you’ve outgrown, but haven’t noticed.

Maybe the shirt is a job that gave you a title you were proud of once. Maybe it is a relationship that fit who you were five years ago. Maybe it’s behaviours you built to please people who just don’t carry the same importance in your life anymore.

You keep wearing it because you’re attached to it, it’s comfortable and familiar.

Attachment does not change the fit, though.

The shirt does not fit you anymore, and no amount of avoiding the mirror will make it fit again.

I have walked with enough people through that realization to know the discomfort of putting the shirt down is not a warning to put it back on. It’s just information, telling you that you’re making a change and you’re growing. And underneath it is grief, even if nothing has technically ended yet.

We rarely let ourselves grieve a job we have not quit or a relationship we have not left. We assume grief needs an occasion, like a funeral or a layoff, something we can point to and say ‘this is the end.’

But you can grieve the poor fit of something before you ever take it off.

Naming that grief out loud, saying "I am losing something here, even though I am the one choosing to lose it," is the first step toward whatever comes next.

That’s a part of building resilience. Grieving what you are leaving comes first, before you decide what to wear instead.

Sunday is the perfect day to turn our attention inwards and focus on our energy. To observe how we’re feeling and identi...
09/20/2026

Sunday is the perfect day to turn our attention inwards and focus on our energy. To observe how we’re feeling and identify if our feelings are ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ so we can shift our mental state before the beginning of the week.

Today, I want to explore moving our energy from slow to fast.

Slow energy isn’t a bad thing. It can be comforting and healing. But there are times when we need our energy to resonate higher. Like on a Monday morning when the start of a brand new week is in front of us.

Start with awareness.

Sit quietly for a moment and just notice you current state of mind. Acknowledge where you’re at and how you feel.

Next, breath deeply.

Begin to deepen your breath, inhaling fully and exhaling completely. With each breath, picture drawing in bright, resilient energy.

Then move your body.

Stretch, do some yoga, or dance around your room. Movement is a powerful tool for shifting energy from slow to fast.

Then observe how you feel. How your energy has changed. Take this refreshed, faster energy into your week. And use this exercise to shift your energy whenever you need it.

Here we are. Autumn 🍂. My favourite time of year. I’ve set myself a goal to write with my second book coming out next ye...
09/19/2026

Here we are. Autumn 🍂. My favourite time of year. I’ve set myself a goal to write with my second book coming out next year.

This book will be a deeper look at trauma and the grief that accompanies life’s transitions. But, as a peddler of hope, it will also include tools for recovery.

Post-traumatic growth is possible, even after a long journey through a dark valley. The question is ‘how’ so I’ll be sure to include a road map.

I invite you to follow my progress. (I’ll keep you updated!)

My guess is the season will unfold as it started:
cozy corners for thinking
empty pages for writing,
warm drinks for comfort, and
furry friends for support.

What does Fall look like for you?
Is it a time when you feel creative?
What are your favourite things for inspiration?

Let the season begin!

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