I finally quit "should"ing on myself.  What a concept.

Hi. I'm Kathleen Mavity, founder of Inner Diamond Academy.

Here's my story.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Oh, wait; wrong story.  Here’s the one that led to Inner Diamond Academy.

One of my most vivid childhood memories is of me at age six, when I was the flower girl at the wedding of my cousin, Ruth.  I felt beautiful and was really excited to be part of this big celebration.  At the reception, the band started to play, and my cousin and her new husband began to dance.  It was so wonderful that I went spinning out on the dance floor myself, twirling and smiling…

…and getting yanked off the floor.

My mom and my aunt (Ruth’s mom) were very unhappy with me.  They explained that the “right” thing to do was let Ruth and John do that very first dance by themselves, and that I had somehow hurt / disappointed / insulted them by stepping into their spotlight. This resulted in my learning a two-part Big Honkin’ Life Lesson:

1. There are rules – often  unspoken – to be obeyed.
2. 2. You’re not okay if you don’t follow the rules.

Yikes.

Fast forward six years to Mrs. Hickman’s sixth-grade classroom and an eye-opening assignment: Read an article in the middle-school “newspaper” and give a 10- to 15-minute report on it.  While most kids struggled to force out a four-minute talk, mine ran twelve.

Talk about a mixed bag!  The good news about this was that I discovered I love making it fun and easy for people to learn and apply new ideas — and I’m really good at it.  But the bad news was that my “A” grade reinforced the belief that the only way to get approval is to follow the rules.

Fortunately, I eventually (read: decades later) got whapped upside the head with a lesson that was actually helpful.  I learned you can choose to ignore what you learned in the past and ditch the old habitual thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are keeping you small.

Who knew?

This was an amazing, liberating Aha! for me, and I came to realize I’m powerfully drawn to share it with others.  I have a special soft spot for mid-life women who have spent way too long thinking that they’re just not enough, believing that they have no choice but to settle for what they’ve got, and acting as if external demands and standards are more important than their own heart’s yearnings.

It’s really past time for that to change.

My goal with the courses and programs of Inner Diamond Academy is to show you how to tap your inner strength in ways you may never have explored; to release keep-you-small lessons and build on empowering ones; to rinse off any gunk that’s covering up the inner diamond each of us is at her core; and to shave a couple decades off your learning curve.

If that sounds like a bulls-eye, I’d love for you to add your energy to that of others who are ready to kick butt and start creating a life that makes their hearts sing.