Until a few years ago I was a Master's level psychotherapist working mostly with people who were dealing with grief and/or trauma. Now I like to call myself a recovering psychotherapist (but that's another story).

I saw something wildly attractive and alive in people who allowed grief or trauma "in" - who did not run from these hard experiences of life - but walked (and, because they ARE hard - sometimes even crawled) through them.

While I worked with these folks I found myself doing something I'd done with friends ever since I could remember - recommending books! Books have always been important to me, so sharing them with others was natural.

After hearing comments like: "That book changed my life!" or "This is just what I needed." over and over - I realized that I had a bit of a gift for matching people and books.

So, I had these two loves - people who lived life deeply and books. They weren't really connected except in my therapy practice. As therapy became more and more medical-model work (that's part of that "other story") and less about helping people reflect and work with their deepest selves, I decided to quit that type of work.

Back in 2005 I was working on a book (recommending - what else? books!) and took a class called "You University" led by Marney Makridakis of Artella, hoping to get some clarity. In doing the work in the class (and working with some wonderful folks in a focus group that I got to teach) I found my "tribe".

I felt like I was handed the name "Square-Peg-People", it perfectly summed up that thing I have always been drawn to. But I learned that you didn't have to go through grief or trauma to have that wildly attractive, very alive quality that some of my clients had. It involves an openness - a way of living that isn't swallowed up by unimportant things - a way of looking for what really matters in life.

After that focus group I started Square-Peg-People.com and The Encourager newsletter, and we kept growing. I started the site with a desire to create community. I wanted to offer what I'd found - well, books of course - but also inspiration and encouragement for other people who identified with the term Square-Peg.

2 of my children (one an adult at the time, and one soon-to-be an adult at the time) became involved in the site pretty much from the beginning. Lauren's edited my writing (when she can get her hands on it - and you can TELL when I've been in a hurry and slipped things past her!) and Harry's always offered help and ideas.

When Square-Peg was about 2 years old we made a big switch in the look of the site. We'd begun the site using templates to build it (so - a somewhat bland look - this was back when there wasn't much available), but we were able to design a new look thanks to my jazz musician brother, Buzz - from Somewhere Off Jazz Street - who had some cool web tricks up his sleeves.

Then (for our 2nd birthday) we made this video to celebrate our readers:

Be inspired, Be encouraged, Be YOU!

Music by Harry S. (a.k.a. Manchild) Caterson, Photos courtesy of Lauren (a.k.a. Slightly-British-Daughter) Caterson (the good ones) and Karen Caterson (the shaky off-center ones). We loved making this and it still touches my heart. Enjoy!