Witness. Speaker.
The writer of 10,000 thank-you notes.
I'm Ellen
Not literally—but that suffocating sense that life is pulling you under and you can't quite catch your breath. Where every day feels heavy. Where you've powered through on faith and fumes for so long that when you finally look in the mirror, you barely recognize yourself.
That was me twelve years ago.
My son was recovering from brain surgery. The court battles were exhausting. I had moved multiple times in the wake of an ended marriage. I was caring for two children, one with severe medical needs. I was bone tired.
And I was sinking.
Have you felt like you were barely treading water? Out of sync with life?
The Lifeline
I needed to find my way back to what mattered. I needed meaning.
That's when I picked up a small book called A Simple Act of Gratitude by John Kralik. He wrote about how writing one thank-you note every day for a year changed his life.
Something in me said, "I want that."
So I set a goal—not one note a day, but 10,000 handwritten thank-you notes over the rest of my life. It sounded glib. Almost ridiculous. But it became the thing that saved me.
You see, that first thank-you note wasn't for someone else. It was really for me.
The notes became my life preserver—one card at a time, pulling me back to the surface. They shifted my attention from what was crushing me to what was holding me. They reminded me, again and again, that I could notice what was good, steady, generous, and human in the world.
What began as survival became a practice. What began as private became a whole new way of seeing. And eventually, it became a way of living.
Over the course of 11 years, I hand-wrote 10,000 thank-you notes. They were lifelines.
The Path That Led Here
These paths were stepping stones toward the work that finally feels true—a path that does not pull me out of myself, but returns me to my heart.
Looking back, I can see now that everything I've done in my life prepared me for this work.
I started in communications and journalism, learning to listen, find the story, and dig beneath the surface for what actually matters.
I trained in biodynamic craniosacral therapy in my fifties—discovering how the body holds wisdom we often ignore.
I served on the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Wyoming—and came to understand what it means to truly see people.
I became certified in HeartMath® and the Connection Practice®, studying the science behind how emotions create rhythms that ripple outward—and how hearts, quite literally, speak to one another.
For years, I taught heart-based communications at places that included Homeland Security, Unity churches, One Spirit Seminary in New York City, businesses, and to individuals. I worked as a coach, first helping parents navigate life with medically-challenged children and later supporting women in later life to find and retain purpose and joy.
All of that taught me to sit with emotion, hold complexity, and stay present. Essential training, as it turned out.
But through it all, the notes kept calling me back. Writing them had a meditative quality that brought me home to myself—time dissolved, my breath slowed, and the world felt worth loving again.
I just kept writing. Year after year, note after note. I never saw the wave coming.
The story caught the attention of The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, NBC, USPS, Maine Public Radio, and more. What I kept hearing from people I wrote to was: “I feel seen. I feel like I matter.” Turns out, that’s what love can do when it arrives in an envelope.
That's when I understood: This isn't a gratitude project. It's a witnessing practice.
And witnessing meets one of our most fundamental human needs: the need to matter.
WHAT I DO NOW.
Everything I've learned—the journalism, the body work, the diversity work, the heart science, the coaching, the teaching—now lives inside a single practice I bring to stages.
I’M A SPEAKER.
My keynote, What Lights Your Heart? Is the story of how 10,000 handwritten notes became my way back to connection—and a map for finding yours.
AUDIENCES DON’T SIT AND LISTEN.
THEY PARTICIPATE.
Through brief guided heart practices, partner exercises, and live moments of recognition, audiences experience what it feels like when hearts align in a room. In a space of trust and care, they practice saying to each other: “I see you. I appreciate you. You matter.”
SOME WILL LEAVE MOVED.
THE READY ONES, FIND A PLACE TO START.
One intentional pause.
One recognition.
One moment of truly seeing.
This work addresses what most organizations can't quite name—the quiet epidemic of people feeling invisible. When people feel seen, everything shifts.
Now, let's "dive" into my presentation.
AS SEEN ON
