I have been fascinated by the concept of Purpose for as long as I can remember. The lure that there is more than meets the eye. I’ve always had big ideas, big dreams and creative visions that would leave me eager to start but unclear on where I stand. I would often say: “I know where I want to go, I just don’t know how to get there.”

Sometime after high school the curiosity, wonder, and hope that I am here for “more” felt too big, too unpredictable, too vulnerable, too messy. And I was not willing to look a fool for the sake of finding out. I allowed my fear and doubt to guide me into decisions that took out the guesswork, kept me in my comfort zone and made sense “on paper.”

But this did not give me the sense of purpose I was longing for.

No, it gave me a version of life to endlessly chase and try to keep up with. Eventually, the gap between my outward life and my inward truth felt like standing on two trains- one foot on each as they increasingly drifted further apart. I had to either shift to stand on one or the other.. or fall through the crack.

In 2010, I fell through the crack and landed in a chair in a therapists office, stating: “I read your credentials, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” She half smiled and with understanding eyes replied: “Oh, Leah, that is not how this is going to work.” My head and my heart were so disconnected from each other. My body was sitting in the chair but everything inside of me was dissociating (later the therapist named that as my “going to the ceiling.”)

The rebuild did not come quietly, overnight, or without consequences. It was not pretty, but it was holy. Some of my worst fears came true and I’m alive and well to talk about it.

Later, in 2021, I tidied up an old barn loft and created a retreat space for those who sought quiet time- a place to just be. The barn was called Gokotta Studio, based on the Swedish concept of “Gokotta" (meaning, “to rise early in the morning just to hear the first birdsong.”) It was a safe haven- a place that begged you to come as you are, slow your stride, tend to your heart, and see what is waiting for you in your stillness.

The sanctuary I created was an outward expression of an internal need. It was a place that held me while I was becoming the person who could hold the fullness of all I dare ask for.

After realizing much of what I was seeking and wanting to create already had a name: spiritual direction, I took part in a practicum learning and training experience in the art of spiritual direction from Kairos’ Listening People to Life (LPL) Certificate Program and graduated in 2025.

Now, it’s my great honor to carry through my original mission by means of Clarity Coaching and Spiritual Direction.

I will not tell you what you should do, but I will sit wholeheartedly with you in both the storm and the sunlight- I will not look away or leave the room in spirit or in body, as we discern and discover what only God can do.

I shared in the beginning that I used to say: “I know where I want to go, I just don’t know how to get there.” Well, all these years later I have found that I actually don’t know where God is taking me. And that feels both exciting and grounding because I can finally say: “I know how to get there.”