Happy Solstice Everyone!!!
As the daylight now begins to lengthen, collection of seconds by collection of seconds, I smile. The light is returning to the World again, preparing us to emerge out of the dark for another trip around the Sun.
It is no mistake to celebrate so many bringers of Light in this darkest of seasons! And as the tide of daylight turns once again toward longer moments of bright and sunny, we ride the building momentum of Joy, Happiness, and Merriment into a New Year, a fresh layer, a virgin exploration of the World.
May the Solstice Fox (Thank you, Sue!! All credit to you!) bring each of us many gifts and blessings as we spread the cheer and good news that once again the light of the day is lengthening!
Wild Blessings to Everyone!!
Yours Truly and in Joy,
Alex
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
"The Paradoxicality of That"
The Paradoxicality of That
Miles and Miles
Years and Years
of Desert to Walk
There is land here that no human foot
has ever touched.
There is walkable land here that no human foot
has ever touched,
nor animal.
You are so small, so insignificant
And yet,
You are the most significant thing
In this time and place.
And the paradoxicality of that
is what puzzles you the most.
That
and the spiders with their webs
Drifting by on the evening breeze;
the deafening silence through which
even the raven in flight does not make a
Peep.
© Alex Mitchell
Miles and Miles
Years and Years
of Desert to Walk
There is land here that no human foot
has ever touched.
There is walkable land here that no human foot
has ever touched,
nor animal.
You are so small, so insignificant
And yet,
You are the most significant thing
In this time and place.
And the paradoxicality of that
is what puzzles you the most.
That
and the spiders with their webs
Drifting by on the evening breeze;
the deafening silence through which
even the raven in flight does not make a
Peep.
© Alex Mitchell
Monday, November 23, 2015
Slow Re-emergence: It is Fall after all...
Song of the Wave:
The Anti-Shadow
Waves bring Light.
It is inherent --
It being
the Nature of the
Wave
rather --
the Nature
is to
Be a Wave
and
Bring The Light.
The Light comes
Through
to the
Depths
the
Floor
the
Ground Beneath
the
Body
of Water.
Waves allow the
Light to be
Seen
to be
Observed
to be
Experienced
not just omnipresently shining through.
Rather
Experienced,
Visible as an
Anti-shadow
Moving through the
Depths
across the
Floor
along the
Ground Beneath
the
Body
of Water.
Waves are the
Anti-shadow
the
Bringers
of
Light.
Always in motion
Always a wave
Always at least two things at Once
A wave and
An Anti-shadow, a Bringer of The Light.
© Alex Mitchell
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
On the road to Full Authenticity
Before I round the final bend, here is one last percolation:
If you believe in the illusion of safety long enough, it will take you to the Truth of You.
Deep in Your Heart of hearts, witnessing the Truth of Who You Really Are, Who Mystery will really have you be as a Gift to World, you want nothing more than to be, and live, this Truth.
And in the paradoxically magical way of the Great Mystery, you will live this Truth of Yourself; You will be the Truth of You, at All costs, at all risks to your safety.
The illusion of safety vanishes, becoming only the mirage that it is as your Truth emanates into Form and Realness, a Realness beyond real. Shimmering as the One True You, You journey forth in the safest way possible -- Embodied, Initiated Truth. Boldly broken open to Mystery and the mystery of You.
Riding the Wind with my Heart today, Galloping into my Truth with Reverence and Abandon.
And so it is.
If you believe in the illusion of safety long enough, it will take you to the Truth of You.
Deep in Your Heart of hearts, witnessing the Truth of Who You Really Are, Who Mystery will really have you be as a Gift to World, you want nothing more than to be, and live, this Truth.
And in the paradoxically magical way of the Great Mystery, you will live this Truth of Yourself; You will be the Truth of You, at All costs, at all risks to your safety.
The illusion of safety vanishes, becoming only the mirage that it is as your Truth emanates into Form and Realness, a Realness beyond real. Shimmering as the One True You, You journey forth in the safest way possible -- Embodied, Initiated Truth. Boldly broken open to Mystery and the mystery of You.
Riding the Wind with my Heart today, Galloping into my Truth with Reverence and Abandon.
And so it is.
Thursday, October 08, 2015
I am but a water droplet in the river of life . . .
I will share what has returned to me, what has been in front of me all these years, words that came to me to share as my high school graduation speech. I was our class valedictorian, which I sometimes feel doesn't mean as much being my high school class was a class of seven. Yes, 7, as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Not a typo, missing a zero or zeroes, or a -ty or a hundred, just seven. The salutatorian, Andrew, and I were separated by some minuscule amount like a tenth of a percentage point on a final grade in one quarter of the sixteen over four years of high school. At least, that is my memory of it. And in classic HSP-style (Highly Sensitive Person, read more on Elaine Aron's website: www.hsperson.com), I felt guilty that we were separated by so little and that Andrew didn't get to be valedictorian. I know I wasn't expecting top of the class, and I probably was more than a little nervous about giving a speech as such, too. (That would be the introvert part there combined with the HSP trait.)
A week or two before graduation, this is what came to me while sitting in the back of English class one morning. Yes, Mr. Goss, I was not paying attention that day for a good portion of class. Highly unusual for me to be so tuned out from class, and thanks for not calling me out on it. Hopefully I was well cloaked in the back of the room, filled with maybe fifteen students, lol.
This speech, this poem, this offering, this Vision was born that day:
I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.
The River
Flowed in the same bend,
Same course,
For Twelve years.
Also twelve years
The river took to work on a
New course.
Suddenly —
A new bend,
A shorter course,
And Another start
To working on a
Shorter course in
Years to come.
Working for
Another relief in its
Ever-flowing existence.
The river works every day.
The river flows every day.
The river forever goes on.
This is the lesson learned from the River.
May I have the stamina of the River.
I Learn from
Water,
Earth,
Clouds,
Sky,
Wind, and
Rain.
Animals.
Learning does not come in the structure of a school.
When riding a horse,
Going up hill
Takes more
Than
Going down hill.
Down hill,
The rider can lean back,
And relax.
Up hill,
The rider leans forward with the hill
Urges the horse on,
Works harder.
Whether running, jogging,
Or walking;
Going up hill takes more effort.
Walking may seem slower yet
It takes more strength,
And allows for more
Planning in the footsteps.
The up hill path may be more
Difficult but
This Path will also
Get me to more
Places.
This is the lesson learned from the Horse.
The harder I work
The sooner I will get to the
Places I Plan to Reach.
The River carves
Its way into
The earth.
This is beautiful —
A Canyon into the Soul.
The River flows
Into the Earth.
May I follow the River to
Know the depths of
My Soul and potential.
My ability to carve
New paths within
My home.
To Know my home.
The Rain cleanses
The Earth
Washes the fresh
Layer of dust away.
Encourages growth.
Brings the green,
The Health of our Home.
The Rain joins the River.
The Sky
Look straight up
At the sky and
Wonder and wander
Through the
Connection of the
Blue.
The Ever-flowing
Road of the World’s
Waterways.
The Sky brings Rain.
The Earth carries the Rain to
The River.
The Earth knows
How to take care of herself.
Drought or Flood
Sun or Rain
Wind or Stillness
May I learn more
From my home
On how to Survive.
On how to live in the
Balance of this Circle.
The Clouds
The Clouds carry the Rain
Through the Sky to the Earth.
Clouds are also the dreams of Mountains.
The Wind is the messenger which
Carries these dreams.
May I have the
Skill of the
Wind to carry
My clouds
From the mountains of my life
To the Mountains of truth
Where I will find the
Heartbeat of Nature clearly
Pulsing in my Life.
May I continue
To learn from
The best teacher —
My Earth Home
The Clouds
The Sky
The River
The Rain
And those Creatures
Which Live in the
Abundance of
This Circle.
May I learn from All.
Before I start or finish a poem,
A chapter,
A book, a day, a year, a paragraph,
A line, a word;
May I learn the Lessons I am to learn
So as to make
The Basis,
The Foundation,
Of My Life
Stronger Each Day.
May Nature
Continue to
Teach me.
As long as I
Keep my eyes
Open.
As long as
My Ears listen.
My Heart beats.
My Lungs Breathe.
As long as
The Ancient Fire of Life
Burns Within Me.
There will be a
New lesson in
Each New Day.
May I reach the top
Of the Mountain and the
Depths of the Canyon
in Full Strength.
And May I remember this:
I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.
With that dear community -- family, friends, colleagues, clients, all of you who touch my heart and my life -- I venture out into the Wilderness, knowing, remembering, being but a water droplet in the river of life.
copyright 2015 L Y Inman Mitchell
A week or two before graduation, this is what came to me while sitting in the back of English class one morning. Yes, Mr. Goss, I was not paying attention that day for a good portion of class. Highly unusual for me to be so tuned out from class, and thanks for not calling me out on it. Hopefully I was well cloaked in the back of the room, filled with maybe fifteen students, lol.
This speech, this poem, this offering, this Vision was born that day:
I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.
The River
Flowed in the same bend,
Same course,
For Twelve years.
Also twelve years
The river took to work on a
New course.
Suddenly —
A new bend,
A shorter course,
And Another start
To working on a
Shorter course in
Years to come.
Working for
Another relief in its
Ever-flowing existence.
The river works every day.
The river flows every day.
The river forever goes on.
This is the lesson learned from the River.
May I have the stamina of the River.
I Learn from
Water,
Earth,
Clouds,
Sky,
Wind, and
Rain.
Animals.
Learning does not come in the structure of a school.
When riding a horse,
Going up hill
Takes more
Than
Going down hill.
Down hill,
The rider can lean back,
And relax.
Up hill,
The rider leans forward with the hill
Urges the horse on,
Works harder.
Whether running, jogging,
Or walking;
Going up hill takes more effort.
Walking may seem slower yet
It takes more strength,
And allows for more
Planning in the footsteps.
The up hill path may be more
Difficult but
This Path will also
Get me to more
Places.
This is the lesson learned from the Horse.
The harder I work
The sooner I will get to the
Places I Plan to Reach.
The River carves
Its way into
The earth.
This is beautiful —
A Canyon into the Soul.
The River flows
Into the Earth.
May I follow the River to
Know the depths of
My Soul and potential.
My ability to carve
New paths within
My home.
To Know my home.
The Rain cleanses
The Earth
Washes the fresh
Layer of dust away.
Encourages growth.
Brings the green,
The Health of our Home.
The Rain joins the River.
The Sky
Look straight up
At the sky and
Wonder and wander
Through the
Connection of the
Blue.
The Ever-flowing
Road of the World’s
Waterways.
The Sky brings Rain.
The Earth carries the Rain to
The River.
The Earth knows
How to take care of herself.
Drought or Flood
Sun or Rain
Wind or Stillness
May I learn more
From my home
On how to Survive.
On how to live in the
Balance of this Circle.
The Clouds
The Clouds carry the Rain
Through the Sky to the Earth.
Clouds are also the dreams of Mountains.
The Wind is the messenger which
Carries these dreams.
May I have the
Skill of the
Wind to carry
My clouds
From the mountains of my life
To the Mountains of truth
Where I will find the
Heartbeat of Nature clearly
Pulsing in my Life.
May I continue
To learn from
The best teacher —
My Earth Home
The Clouds
The Sky
The River
The Rain
And those Creatures
Which Live in the
Abundance of
This Circle.
May I learn from All.
Before I start or finish a poem,
A chapter,
A book, a day, a year, a paragraph,
A line, a word;
May I learn the Lessons I am to learn
So as to make
The Basis,
The Foundation,
Of My Life
Stronger Each Day.
May Nature
Continue to
Teach me.
As long as I
Keep my eyes
Open.
As long as
My Ears listen.
My Heart beats.
My Lungs Breathe.
As long as
The Ancient Fire of Life
Burns Within Me.
There will be a
New lesson in
Each New Day.
May I reach the top
Of the Mountain and the
Depths of the Canyon
in Full Strength.
And May I remember this:
I am but a water droplet in the River of life.
May I become part of a Beautiful rainbow.
With that dear community -- family, friends, colleagues, clients, all of you who touch my heart and my life -- I venture out into the Wilderness, knowing, remembering, being but a water droplet in the river of life.
copyright 2015 L Y Inman Mitchell
Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment -- Authenticity
Authenticity.
Is what I seek; what I intend to find; the space, the place, the dynamic internal dance party I plan to live from daily.
That's about the extent of what I can clearly say regarding Authenticity at this juncture of the journey.
Death, I've conversed with nearly my whole life.
Dismemberment, I welcome as the most likely route through the high passes in the craggy peaks I've rambled along for three plus decades now.
Authenticity, I pray awaits. If nothing else, my time and focus has been worth the ramble, and all the scramble.
The full tale of Authenticity is still in the cocoon.
These aren't the maps that are guaranteed to get me where I am going. These roads are the most likely to get me in the vicinity of a way in, a way to the in-roads.
Is what I seek; what I intend to find; the space, the place, the dynamic internal dance party I plan to live from daily.
That's about the extent of what I can clearly say regarding Authenticity at this juncture of the journey.
Death, I've conversed with nearly my whole life.
Dismemberment, I welcome as the most likely route through the high passes in the craggy peaks I've rambled along for three plus decades now.
Authenticity, I pray awaits. If nothing else, my time and focus has been worth the ramble, and all the scramble.
The full tale of Authenticity is still in the cocoon.
These aren't the maps that are guaranteed to get me where I am going. These roads are the most likely to get me in the vicinity of a way in, a way to the in-roads.
 |
| Goodyear Assurance TripleTred poses with Southeastern and Southwestern US Maps |
Monday, October 05, 2015
After the Five day Storm Passes
The beach at sunrise much earlier this year
I stand on our beach this morning looking at the hollow shadow from thirty feet of sand, at least three feet deep, that has been moved elsewhere. The railroad tie that has been shifted at least twenty-feet along the shore. I face again the awe I feel for the power of water. Water fueled by wind especially. And I feel the water in my body.
I recognize that part of our task, my task, is to learn how to harness the power of the water within us and to do so in concert with the Waters of the World.
And now the geese are flying over, high and honking. Singing their songs of migration, they, too, sound glad to be able to fly again on gentle winds today.
Saturday, October 03, 2015
General Update to Pilgrimmage to the Desert Post
In less than a week now, I embark on a month long, wilderness-based exploration of the feminine hero's journey, which includes diving into the concepts of authenticity, death, and dismemberment. Part of this journey is owning my place as a healer and a writer. I have worked with Animas Valley Institute (AVI) for six years now, and AVI’s wilderness-based courses are a key part of this process.
Throughout history in many societies, communities have supported their healers in a multitude of ways. While I am fiercely independent, self-sufficient, and have supported my journey largely on my own for the last six years, the time has come to follow the lead of the healer archetype further and ask my community for financial sponsorship. By asking for and receiving financial support from my community — you, my friends, and from my larger human community — I am in turn asked to own my role as a healer in this community in a way I never have before.
This financial support will help to cover the costs of tuition and travel expenses. The tuition and estimated expenses total $4,500. My fund raising goal for this campaign is $1,500.
As of October 2nd, I have met and exceeded my initial goal. This happened on the same day that we shared about my journey with an even larger community. At that point I was somewhere around 70% funded and was not anticipating that by the end of the day, this campaign would be 106% funded and counting.
Based on the timing of these events, I am leaving the campaign open until I leave, and all monies over the initial goal will go toward the new tires that got thrown in the budgeting mix after this campaign was well under way! I am feeling such gratitude for each of your contributions and support -- monetary and otherwise. I also continue to feel so honored.
From the time I was a kid, I was gifted with my hands — as a writer and as a massage therapist. I’ve always been interested in healing professions from veterinary technician to massage therapist, and now CranioSacral therapist. This has been coupled with my fascination with discovering who I am and what I am here to do in this lifetime. The descent into the world of Soul — the land of deepest Truths of the Genuine Self — is a journey rich in dreams, visions, metaphors, and an intense longing for Wholeness. Soulcraft and AVI provide the framework and guidance to follow this longing as a return to Wholeness.
Through this, I am more whole and authentic in my walk as a human being, and as a CranioSacral therapist. A basic tenet of CranioSacral Therapy is that the body heals itself. So while I am really more of a facilitator in the healing process, I suspect this is what the role of healer has always been, facilitating people’s return to optimal wellness, return to wholeness.
As a member of my community, your blessings and prayers for this journey are deeply appreciated. Your financial support is a gift to both me and the larger healing world. Whether you are able to donate or not, please remember to show appreciation for all the healers in your life. This is the best support any of us can receive. Thank you. I am honored by your presence in my community.
Wilderness-based Feminine Hero's Journey
Throughout history in many societies, communities have supported their healers in a multitude of ways. While I am fiercely independent, self-sufficient, and have supported my journey largely on my own for the last six years, the time has come to follow the lead of the healer archetype further and ask my community for financial sponsorship. By asking for and receiving financial support from my community — you, my friends, and from my larger human community — I am in turn asked to own my role as a healer in this community in a way I never have before.
This financial support will help to cover the costs of tuition and travel expenses. The tuition and estimated expenses total $4,500. My fund raising goal for this campaign is $1,500.
As of October 2nd, I have met and exceeded my initial goal. This happened on the same day that we shared about my journey with an even larger community. At that point I was somewhere around 70% funded and was not anticipating that by the end of the day, this campaign would be 106% funded and counting.
Based on the timing of these events, I am leaving the campaign open until I leave, and all monies over the initial goal will go toward the new tires that got thrown in the budgeting mix after this campaign was well under way! I am feeling such gratitude for each of your contributions and support -- monetary and otherwise. I also continue to feel so honored.
From the time I was a kid, I was gifted with my hands — as a writer and as a massage therapist. I’ve always been interested in healing professions from veterinary technician to massage therapist, and now CranioSacral therapist. This has been coupled with my fascination with discovering who I am and what I am here to do in this lifetime. The descent into the world of Soul — the land of deepest Truths of the Genuine Self — is a journey rich in dreams, visions, metaphors, and an intense longing for Wholeness. Soulcraft and AVI provide the framework and guidance to follow this longing as a return to Wholeness.
Through this, I am more whole and authentic in my walk as a human being, and as a CranioSacral therapist. A basic tenet of CranioSacral Therapy is that the body heals itself. So while I am really more of a facilitator in the healing process, I suspect this is what the role of healer has always been, facilitating people’s return to optimal wellness, return to wholeness.
As a member of my community, your blessings and prayers for this journey are deeply appreciated. Your financial support is a gift to both me and the larger healing world. Whether you are able to donate or not, please remember to show appreciation for all the healers in your life. This is the best support any of us can receive. Thank you. I am honored by your presence in my community.
Wilderness-based Feminine Hero's Journey
50 mph Hair trimming
The Divine has trimmed the trees running the fingers of its wind through its hair.
Some larger tangles were removed, too, just not pictured here.
Some larger tangles were removed, too, just not pictured here.
Friday, October 02, 2015
Kombucha, Cash, and Conversations
Between Kombucha, Cash, and Conversations, today has been abundantly filled with a flow of all three. This outpouring of support is greater, today, than even the rain. (And for those of you currently in the Annapolis, MD area, you have an idea how much this abundant flow must be given our current non-hurricane, nearly tropical storm-like conditions for the past few days!)
A week out from departure, I am. This was energetically clear today as so many friends began touching base on any number of topics. There were four active text conversations happening on my phone (ok, I was involved; my phone isn't that smart!), and all by 8:30 in the morning. I average one to two casual ones once a day or every other day, and rarely before 9:00. I had the opportunity to catch up with people near and dear to me that live practically next door, on the other side of the country, and across the pond; a dear friend entering elderhood, a family with baby newly arrived, my wife :), another dear friend who has been an absolute rock, and friendships that are just taking root and beginning to blossom.
I am exceedingly blessed and honored to be receiving connection with all these amazing people in my life. Blessed, blessed, very blessed.
It is also sobering as it underscores the importance of this journey into the wilds. It highlights the importance of saying "goodbyes" and exchanging well wishes. The importance of clearing the slate, finishing pieces previously left undone, often for years, and of honoring the relationships and connections with our fellow human beings. From this place of connection, support, community, kombucha, cash, and conversations, I will head out into the wilds of our country's desert southwest, the wilds of communities waiting for me in those destinations, and the wilds of my inner landscape -- the deep, enveloping, welcoming places of my heart, my soul, my innermost truth.
Next week I begin, layer by layer, state by state, to drive and dive into the depths of my being. Days like today are what buoy me when fear, doubt, uncertainty, or just the "are you freaking crazy?!?" parts come calling. Days like today stand loud and tall with the part of me that knows it is time; it is time to venture out and ask to meet my deepest calling. It is time to follow the longing I've known on some level all my life, felt clearly since I was twelve, and cannot ignore a moment longer now. It is time to go meet my destiny.
Some part warns me that this sounds too tidy and neat. Another cautions that it may not happen, especially if I say it will. Others chime in.
I am reminded of Mary Oliver's words:
". . . though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice-
. . . You knew what you had to do,
. . . and there was a new voice,
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do-
determined to save
the only life you could save."
I am grateful that I hear this new voice, that I am coming to recognize it, and that I am well supplied for the journey ahead as I follow it.
I am well supplied for the coming month. More importantly, I am well supplied for the long road of integration, discernment, deciphering, and embodiment that awaits those who step onto the path of Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment.
Thank you for your gifts of Kombucha, Cash, and Conversations. Thank you, to each of you who touch my life and whose lives I have the opportunity to touch. All of this will carry me far. These resources and connections will carry me to the edge. From the edge, I must go it alone. And from the edge, I become. I don't return. I don't come back. I become.
Become whomever I am most called to be, whomever is the fullest and truest expression of my unique facet of the Divine, whomever best expresses the unique face of Mystery that is my soul-embodied, soul-initiated self. This emergence will also happen at its own pace and in its own time. It is magical yet not the kind of magic where I will return in a month all shiny and made over! ;-) It is a mysterious magic that transforms from the inside out, just like a caterpillar's body dissolves from the inside out while curled up safely in its chrysalis.
And whatever you do, don't cut the chrysalis open, don't rush the birthing. Allow the emergence to unfold in the pace and time that only the soul's imaginal cells Know.
In a week, it begins. The rest is up to Mystery.
A week out from departure, I am. This was energetically clear today as so many friends began touching base on any number of topics. There were four active text conversations happening on my phone (ok, I was involved; my phone isn't that smart!), and all by 8:30 in the morning. I average one to two casual ones once a day or every other day, and rarely before 9:00. I had the opportunity to catch up with people near and dear to me that live practically next door, on the other side of the country, and across the pond; a dear friend entering elderhood, a family with baby newly arrived, my wife :), another dear friend who has been an absolute rock, and friendships that are just taking root and beginning to blossom.
I am exceedingly blessed and honored to be receiving connection with all these amazing people in my life. Blessed, blessed, very blessed.
It is also sobering as it underscores the importance of this journey into the wilds. It highlights the importance of saying "goodbyes" and exchanging well wishes. The importance of clearing the slate, finishing pieces previously left undone, often for years, and of honoring the relationships and connections with our fellow human beings. From this place of connection, support, community, kombucha, cash, and conversations, I will head out into the wilds of our country's desert southwest, the wilds of communities waiting for me in those destinations, and the wilds of my inner landscape -- the deep, enveloping, welcoming places of my heart, my soul, my innermost truth.
Next week I begin, layer by layer, state by state, to drive and dive into the depths of my being. Days like today are what buoy me when fear, doubt, uncertainty, or just the "are you freaking crazy?!?" parts come calling. Days like today stand loud and tall with the part of me that knows it is time; it is time to venture out and ask to meet my deepest calling. It is time to follow the longing I've known on some level all my life, felt clearly since I was twelve, and cannot ignore a moment longer now. It is time to go meet my destiny.
Some part warns me that this sounds too tidy and neat. Another cautions that it may not happen, especially if I say it will. Others chime in.
I am reminded of Mary Oliver's words:
". . . though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice-
. . . You knew what you had to do,
. . . and there was a new voice,
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do-
determined to save
the only life you could save."
I am grateful that I hear this new voice, that I am coming to recognize it, and that I am well supplied for the journey ahead as I follow it.
I am well supplied for the coming month. More importantly, I am well supplied for the long road of integration, discernment, deciphering, and embodiment that awaits those who step onto the path of Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment.
Thank you for your gifts of Kombucha, Cash, and Conversations. Thank you, to each of you who touch my life and whose lives I have the opportunity to touch. All of this will carry me far. These resources and connections will carry me to the edge. From the edge, I must go it alone. And from the edge, I become. I don't return. I don't come back. I become.
Become whomever I am most called to be, whomever is the fullest and truest expression of my unique facet of the Divine, whomever best expresses the unique face of Mystery that is my soul-embodied, soul-initiated self. This emergence will also happen at its own pace and in its own time. It is magical yet not the kind of magic where I will return in a month all shiny and made over! ;-) It is a mysterious magic that transforms from the inside out, just like a caterpillar's body dissolves from the inside out while curled up safely in its chrysalis.
And whatever you do, don't cut the chrysalis open, don't rush the birthing. Allow the emergence to unfold in the pace and time that only the soul's imaginal cells Know.
In a week, it begins. The rest is up to Mystery.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment: Dismemberment -- Part II
Dis
mem
ber
ment
-- Part II
Yes, Mystery, take my life -- everything I have built it to be to this point, everything -- it is yours. Of course, I discover in this process that it has always been yours and always will be yours, no matter what, even who comes out the other side of this dismemberment surrender space is and will be yours.
So perhaps I can keep this understanding as a keepsake for the journey? Will you let me hold that close to me through this process so I know I will come out the other side with that, at least? 'Cause that's worthy of keeping, a valuable pieces you surely want me to have in this surrender, and afterward, too! Why don't you just let me travel with this piece, "Everything that is me is yours, Mystery. It always has been and always will be." Everything else will fall away. I can keep just that, right?
Hmmmm, I am getting the distinct sense that dismemberment is a full-on deal, releasing every shred and tatter of the old life, the old way of being. Releasing anything that I might cling to no matter how seemingly relevant or necessary or valid it might be. Complete offering and surrender. A sense of heading toward annihilation at the speed of revelation. Why? Why so intense and extensive? How is this the feminine hero's journey?
Well... my understanding is this -- we live in a culture where the what and how now are set in place, come before, the who. We try for the who to be shaped from the what and the how. What we want to do with, and in, our lives and how we go about doing this. How we become who we think we are is through what we were are doing. Yet we each have an inborn, deep sense of who we are, and who we are to become. It is possible that the blueprint for this process is actually to come to know who we are and who we want to become first. Then this is the scaffolding for how and what instead of the other way around.
In fact, this is the order of events in many other cultures and historically in many more cultures than it is now. In my experience, we poke fun at those cultures from our place in modernity. We see them as backwards. What is really backwards here though? Perhaps some cultural shadow pieces for us, too? I'll get to shadow stuff along the way, I'm sure. Whichever order was the original order, however the blueprint is designed were it instead two decades or so ago, this journey for me would be one purely of the hero's tale.
In the hero's tale, I would go out on conquest, conquer, and return home triumphant. Included in this journey would be the revelation of the knowledge of my true, most genuine self. This revelation of self-knowledge gifted by the nature of the hero's journey. This is all aided by timing, where this journey falls in the timeline of life. Hero's are young and just coming into adulthood -- the what and how of life are yet developing. Through questing, often in the form of conquest yet in other ways, too, the who of it is revealed and becomes the foundation for what is to come -- the what and how.
I am an adult now and a certain degree of the what and how are already in full being, if not completely. Yet there is still this nagging sense of "what I want to be when I grow up," which I actually recognize more and more as who do I want to be when I grow up. Who am I? What is my destiny as the person I am? How do I live my destiny in the world as the truth of who I am?
I can hope that enough of my innate who has been present enough to guide the what and how foundation and structure currently in my life. Because as an adult, my journey home to myself, my quest for the truth of who I am, my internal drive and desire for the who, is facilitated by dismemberment. A release and reorganization of the what and how so that this established foundation can be reconfigured, or reinvented altogether, into the outward form that expresses the who of me. A who that is fully molded, spacious, and accurate enough to be my genuine and authentic self.
Who I am in the world, at this stage of life, comes to full revelation through dismemberment, not the hero's journey, feminine or otherwise. Yet, I do not call this process I am in a "feminine hero's journey" as a misnomer. I am not looking to be misleading. I am owning my longing for the hero's tale, the desire to conquer and return home triumphant. For when I keep my eyes and heart fixed on the fascination with this tale, I can stomach the thought of dismemberment. I can fathom that what I most long for -- to know and be my truest self and to live from this place, to live my destiny -- can still be reached.
The original hero's journey may be lost to me because of age and the structure of what and how already settled in. The essence of it can echo through my bones though and call me forward. I can follow this longing through the tale of dismemberment, knowing that I am inviting complete lost-ness, disorientation, and annihilation of how and what so that who can emerge as the organizing, foundational force in my life.
Here it is in the words of Bill Plotkin from his first book Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche:
And so I head off into the desert to let the barn burn down so I can see the moon. Thank you, Mizuta Masahide.
mem
ber
ment
-- Part II
Yes, Mystery, take my life -- everything I have built it to be to this point, everything -- it is yours. Of course, I discover in this process that it has always been yours and always will be yours, no matter what, even who comes out the other side of this dismemberment surrender space is and will be yours.
So perhaps I can keep this understanding as a keepsake for the journey? Will you let me hold that close to me through this process so I know I will come out the other side with that, at least? 'Cause that's worthy of keeping, a valuable pieces you surely want me to have in this surrender, and afterward, too! Why don't you just let me travel with this piece, "Everything that is me is yours, Mystery. It always has been and always will be." Everything else will fall away. I can keep just that, right?
Hmmmm, I am getting the distinct sense that dismemberment is a full-on deal, releasing every shred and tatter of the old life, the old way of being. Releasing anything that I might cling to no matter how seemingly relevant or necessary or valid it might be. Complete offering and surrender. A sense of heading toward annihilation at the speed of revelation. Why? Why so intense and extensive? How is this the feminine hero's journey?
Well... my understanding is this -- we live in a culture where the what and how now are set in place, come before, the who. We try for the who to be shaped from the what and the how. What we want to do with, and in, our lives and how we go about doing this. How we become who we think we are is through what we were are doing. Yet we each have an inborn, deep sense of who we are, and who we are to become. It is possible that the blueprint for this process is actually to come to know who we are and who we want to become first. Then this is the scaffolding for how and what instead of the other way around.
In fact, this is the order of events in many other cultures and historically in many more cultures than it is now. In my experience, we poke fun at those cultures from our place in modernity. We see them as backwards. What is really backwards here though? Perhaps some cultural shadow pieces for us, too? I'll get to shadow stuff along the way, I'm sure. Whichever order was the original order, however the blueprint is designed were it instead two decades or so ago, this journey for me would be one purely of the hero's tale.
In the hero's tale, I would go out on conquest, conquer, and return home triumphant. Included in this journey would be the revelation of the knowledge of my true, most genuine self. This revelation of self-knowledge gifted by the nature of the hero's journey. This is all aided by timing, where this journey falls in the timeline of life. Hero's are young and just coming into adulthood -- the what and how of life are yet developing. Through questing, often in the form of conquest yet in other ways, too, the who of it is revealed and becomes the foundation for what is to come -- the what and how.
I am an adult now and a certain degree of the what and how are already in full being, if not completely. Yet there is still this nagging sense of "what I want to be when I grow up," which I actually recognize more and more as who do I want to be when I grow up. Who am I? What is my destiny as the person I am? How do I live my destiny in the world as the truth of who I am?
I can hope that enough of my innate who has been present enough to guide the what and how foundation and structure currently in my life. Because as an adult, my journey home to myself, my quest for the truth of who I am, my internal drive and desire for the who, is facilitated by dismemberment. A release and reorganization of the what and how so that this established foundation can be reconfigured, or reinvented altogether, into the outward form that expresses the who of me. A who that is fully molded, spacious, and accurate enough to be my genuine and authentic self.
Who I am in the world, at this stage of life, comes to full revelation through dismemberment, not the hero's journey, feminine or otherwise. Yet, I do not call this process I am in a "feminine hero's journey" as a misnomer. I am not looking to be misleading. I am owning my longing for the hero's tale, the desire to conquer and return home triumphant. For when I keep my eyes and heart fixed on the fascination with this tale, I can stomach the thought of dismemberment. I can fathom that what I most long for -- to know and be my truest self and to live from this place, to live my destiny -- can still be reached.
The original hero's journey may be lost to me because of age and the structure of what and how already settled in. The essence of it can echo through my bones though and call me forward. I can follow this longing through the tale of dismemberment, knowing that I am inviting complete lost-ness, disorientation, and annihilation of how and what so that who can emerge as the organizing, foundational force in my life.
Here it is in the words of Bill Plotkin from his first book Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche:
What you must surrender is nothing less than the summer house of your first personality, the worldview you began forming in the expansive growing season of adolescence and that carried you through your first adulthood. This is the house you have been carefully building, furnishing, and accessorizing at least since puberty. Now, just as you are getting ready to enjoy the completed house, you hear a knock and the front door swings open. There stand three strange angels, as D. H. Lawrence called them, motioning to you, informing you it's time to leave -- forever. You begin to protest but you know it's useless; it's time to go.
. . . The greatest value to be derived from building that first house comes from the building of it -- not from the living in it.
And so I head off into the desert to let the barn burn down so I can see the moon. Thank you, Mizuta Masahide.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Friday, September 25, 2015
Beloved conversation response
"Are you sure you will not be dressed as
The whirlwind that you are,
Twirling through the sand,
Kicking up a storm,
Dancing as the Breeze Maker?"
Beloved replies.
Beloved conversation
"You'll recognize me.
I'll be the one dressed as Death in a 'Rainbow.'"
I say to my Beloved.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment: Dismemberment -- Part I
Part I of Dismemberment.
Dismemberment, Dismemberment, Dismemberment.
It's like saying a word over and over again until it loses its meaning. Except in this case, I am hoping I will learn its meaning.
I feel like I've gone and used a big word that I've claimed I will elaborate on. And now come time to elaborate on it, I don't know what it means. I am a hair's breadth away from heading right on over to dictionary.com. My junior high/high school English teacher would be please with that. "When you don't know what a word means, look it up." I'm paraphrasing, sort of.
Dismemberment --
is that experience of no longer being membered in the same way, being taken apart, disassembled yet with an inkling of hope of being re-membered -- as in put back together in some configuration not remembered as in memory because that would kind of defeat the purpose of being dismembered, being returned to the original state through remembrance . . . .
Ok, enough word play.
For now.
It is easier for me to make light of this topic in this moment as being dismembered doesn't sound pleasant. It does not sound like it is good for one's health. It is something that many parts of myself are keen to avoid. "I like how I am put together and what I've got going on just fine, thank you. There are hitches and glitches, and at the end of the day, I know how this system setup works. All else can leave well enough alone, so I can just keep plodding along as I am, thank you very much."
That plodding part though. It bothers me. It nags at me. It is not something I sense as being a truth of me. There must be more to this journey than plodding along. Isn't there trotting or galloping to be had? Skipping, dancing, twirling, even walking sounds more enticing and invigorating than plodding. No wonder I feel downtrodden with how my life feels and is moving along, plodding.
Yet, dismemberment? Is this the only choice for changing my gate? Will it change my gate? What will it do to be taken apart like a shoot of horsetail plant, each of the individual pieces popped apart and laid to the winds? Or taken apart like a disarticulating skull model, won't all the pieces need to go back in the same way to reassemble? So will it just be cleaning the edges and the joins and fitting everything back together, well-oiled and better aligned? That sounds easy enough. I will just be a skull model again though if that is the case, all the same bones put back in the same places, won't I?
What if it means I will no longer be a skull model? What if it means only one or three of those pieces of horsetail plant are incorporated into a new form? This strikes closer to home, closer to the meaning of dismemberment in this context. A taking apart of what is, period. It is a stepping into the void with a healthy helping of the Buddhist sense of letting go of expectations. It is choosing to experience the free fall, hopefully into my authentic identity. That's the aim anyway, if one can aim a free fall. There is the offering over of what needs to die, what is being offered up for more life. And then there is the surrender to the utter unknown and unknowable. This is not an everyday sort of choice and not one that many people choose to make.
It looks sort of like this -- a willing, curious, with a slight air of hesitation, walking out into the unknown:
Dismemberment, Dismemberment, Dismemberment.
It's like saying a word over and over again until it loses its meaning. Except in this case, I am hoping I will learn its meaning.
I feel like I've gone and used a big word that I've claimed I will elaborate on. And now come time to elaborate on it, I don't know what it means. I am a hair's breadth away from heading right on over to dictionary.com. My junior high/high school English teacher would be please with that. "When you don't know what a word means, look it up." I'm paraphrasing, sort of.
Dismemberment --
is that experience of no longer being membered in the same way, being taken apart, disassembled yet with an inkling of hope of being re-membered -- as in put back together in some configuration not remembered as in memory because that would kind of defeat the purpose of being dismembered, being returned to the original state through remembrance . . . .
Ok, enough word play.
For now.
It is easier for me to make light of this topic in this moment as being dismembered doesn't sound pleasant. It does not sound like it is good for one's health. It is something that many parts of myself are keen to avoid. "I like how I am put together and what I've got going on just fine, thank you. There are hitches and glitches, and at the end of the day, I know how this system setup works. All else can leave well enough alone, so I can just keep plodding along as I am, thank you very much."
That plodding part though. It bothers me. It nags at me. It is not something I sense as being a truth of me. There must be more to this journey than plodding along. Isn't there trotting or galloping to be had? Skipping, dancing, twirling, even walking sounds more enticing and invigorating than plodding. No wonder I feel downtrodden with how my life feels and is moving along, plodding.
Yet, dismemberment? Is this the only choice for changing my gate? Will it change my gate? What will it do to be taken apart like a shoot of horsetail plant, each of the individual pieces popped apart and laid to the winds? Or taken apart like a disarticulating skull model, won't all the pieces need to go back in the same way to reassemble? So will it just be cleaning the edges and the joins and fitting everything back together, well-oiled and better aligned? That sounds easy enough. I will just be a skull model again though if that is the case, all the same bones put back in the same places, won't I?
What if it means I will no longer be a skull model? What if it means only one or three of those pieces of horsetail plant are incorporated into a new form? This strikes closer to home, closer to the meaning of dismemberment in this context. A taking apart of what is, period. It is a stepping into the void with a healthy helping of the Buddhist sense of letting go of expectations. It is choosing to experience the free fall, hopefully into my authentic identity. That's the aim anyway, if one can aim a free fall. There is the offering over of what needs to die, what is being offered up for more life. And then there is the surrender to the utter unknown and unknowable. This is not an everyday sort of choice and not one that many people choose to make.
It looks sort of like this -- a willing, curious, with a slight air of hesitation, walking out into the unknown:
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Authenticity, Death, and Dismemberment: Death
I sit here watching the bald eagle eat its fresh catch of fish. All the cormorants have flown a safe distance away and grouped out on the water where they can safely duck under the surface; all the seagulls have flown off after several harassing the eagle. It is interesting to observe. I can tell when a baldy is flying by, because all the seagulls suddenly scatter. Yet, there isn't a paddle boarder nor kayaker in sight.
I have always thought of baldies as hunters of only fish and otherwise scavengers. On this very beach though, my wife, daughter, and I witnessed one hunting a buffle. We knew it must be a duck not a fish when it finally flew from the water after several dives and landed on a nearby post to eat its catch. Feathers started floating toward the water, feathers it was plucking out of its catch so definitely not a fish!
Watching bald eagles here in Maryland reminds me of growing up with them in Colorado. I am (selfishly) thrilled they are recovered enough that there are populations in both places now.
Sitting watching eagle eat, also reminds me about watching lynx and snowshoe hare hunt and be hunted, respectively. On one particular occasion as I watched, I came to a new, visceral understanding of Death. It was an understanding I had heard rumor of -- that it is as much about the prey offering itself to death, to be eaten, as it is about the hunter hunting and catching the prey.
On this occasion, I saw it in action. I watched the hare skillfully dodge and out-maneuver the lynx over and over, and effortlessly so. As I pondered the process from the vantage point of a very capable hare doing what it knows how to do really, really well, I realized how slim the lynx's chances are of ever capturing prey, even with "luck" or a foible on hare's part. Then it happened.
I witnessed the willingness arise in the hare for life to go on. For its life to be a sacrifice to the greater theme of life -- the Life that runs through the interconnectedness of all beings, of the whole planet. I wondered if this is what was meant by the phrase that I so oft here attributed to native cultures, "today is a good day to die." Perhaps there was some gem and some commonality here.
This leads me to the memory of my first season hunting elk as a teenager. I was on the cusp of becoming a vegetarian because I didn't know how I could willingly kill something. Then time paused. I realized I wasn't going to willingly kill anything -- that would be killing in cold blood. I needed to ask for an offering. The life wasn't mine to take; it was the elk's to offer. I was asking for an offering of life to sustain my life while honoring and recognizing that I, too, would be asked to offer up life for the sustenance of others.
Within half an hour, I fired the first shots from my rifle at an elk. The offering appeared in short order once I recognized the balance and interconnectedness and my role in the dance. The only thing I went home with that season was this lesson. In seasons to come though, I would return home with food as well. Food from a life that had offered itself for the continuation of all life. My family was sure to utilize as much of the animal as we could, and of the two elk who offered their lives to me, I have both hides. One of these two elk hides I will be taking with me on this upcoming journey.
This brings me to the death concept I am referring to as part of my journey. It is this death to which I refer, the death that is an offering of life, an aspect of life, for the sustenance of all life, the overarching theme called Life. There are old ways of being in me, old ways of living, thinking, believing that I am offering up to Death in order to make room for Life.
It's quite like clearing out closets or storage spaces, or dresser drawers, just in a deeper, metaphoric, psychospiritual sort of way. It isn't always as tangible as dropping off bags at Goodwill. The donations usually come in different forms. It is just as clearing and transformative though, if not more so. It is an offering of what no longer fits to make space for whatever does fit, whatever newness is arriving. It is a dance in a liminal space of in-between what was and what is becoming, while offering all of the old life up.
It is a clearing out of everything I would want to have settled, said, offered, shared, cleared up, completed, in place, honored, forgiven before the final death. I am offering all of the old in surrender knowing there is more to come, life in ways I have never known nor likely imagined, and I must busy myself in preparing a space for authenticity to fill. Will the space be big enough? How much room does authenticity take up? My instincts say all of it and more, and make more space, and now more. I also bear in mind, of course, that this busy-ness some days looks like sitting and allowing the old layers to slough off. It isn't all mucking out closets and having important conversations. And it isn't easy. It is necessary just not always easy.
Thus, it is this metaphoric death, the psychospiritual death, to which I am referring in the phrase "authenticity, death, and dismemberment." It is a way of death I see mirrored in the physical, mortal death dance of hunter and prey. I see the pattern play out between bald eagle and fish, between lynx and hare, and I recognize the energetic flow of the offerings from one life to feed another, the ongoing interconnected web of life sustaining life.
Now to tackle dismemberment. . .
Tackle dismemberment . . . hahahaha, that's an image. Wonder how the words will come to describe that one!
Thank you, Bald Eagle, Fish, Buffle, Lynx, Hare, and Elk.
I have always thought of baldies as hunters of only fish and otherwise scavengers. On this very beach though, my wife, daughter, and I witnessed one hunting a buffle. We knew it must be a duck not a fish when it finally flew from the water after several dives and landed on a nearby post to eat its catch. Feathers started floating toward the water, feathers it was plucking out of its catch so definitely not a fish!
Watching bald eagles here in Maryland reminds me of growing up with them in Colorado. I am (selfishly) thrilled they are recovered enough that there are populations in both places now.
Sitting watching eagle eat, also reminds me about watching lynx and snowshoe hare hunt and be hunted, respectively. On one particular occasion as I watched, I came to a new, visceral understanding of Death. It was an understanding I had heard rumor of -- that it is as much about the prey offering itself to death, to be eaten, as it is about the hunter hunting and catching the prey.
On this occasion, I saw it in action. I watched the hare skillfully dodge and out-maneuver the lynx over and over, and effortlessly so. As I pondered the process from the vantage point of a very capable hare doing what it knows how to do really, really well, I realized how slim the lynx's chances are of ever capturing prey, even with "luck" or a foible on hare's part. Then it happened.
I witnessed the willingness arise in the hare for life to go on. For its life to be a sacrifice to the greater theme of life -- the Life that runs through the interconnectedness of all beings, of the whole planet. I wondered if this is what was meant by the phrase that I so oft here attributed to native cultures, "today is a good day to die." Perhaps there was some gem and some commonality here.
This leads me to the memory of my first season hunting elk as a teenager. I was on the cusp of becoming a vegetarian because I didn't know how I could willingly kill something. Then time paused. I realized I wasn't going to willingly kill anything -- that would be killing in cold blood. I needed to ask for an offering. The life wasn't mine to take; it was the elk's to offer. I was asking for an offering of life to sustain my life while honoring and recognizing that I, too, would be asked to offer up life for the sustenance of others.
Within half an hour, I fired the first shots from my rifle at an elk. The offering appeared in short order once I recognized the balance and interconnectedness and my role in the dance. The only thing I went home with that season was this lesson. In seasons to come though, I would return home with food as well. Food from a life that had offered itself for the continuation of all life. My family was sure to utilize as much of the animal as we could, and of the two elk who offered their lives to me, I have both hides. One of these two elk hides I will be taking with me on this upcoming journey.
This brings me to the death concept I am referring to as part of my journey. It is this death to which I refer, the death that is an offering of life, an aspect of life, for the sustenance of all life, the overarching theme called Life. There are old ways of being in me, old ways of living, thinking, believing that I am offering up to Death in order to make room for Life.
It's quite like clearing out closets or storage spaces, or dresser drawers, just in a deeper, metaphoric, psychospiritual sort of way. It isn't always as tangible as dropping off bags at Goodwill. The donations usually come in different forms. It is just as clearing and transformative though, if not more so. It is an offering of what no longer fits to make space for whatever does fit, whatever newness is arriving. It is a dance in a liminal space of in-between what was and what is becoming, while offering all of the old life up.
It is a clearing out of everything I would want to have settled, said, offered, shared, cleared up, completed, in place, honored, forgiven before the final death. I am offering all of the old in surrender knowing there is more to come, life in ways I have never known nor likely imagined, and I must busy myself in preparing a space for authenticity to fill. Will the space be big enough? How much room does authenticity take up? My instincts say all of it and more, and make more space, and now more. I also bear in mind, of course, that this busy-ness some days looks like sitting and allowing the old layers to slough off. It isn't all mucking out closets and having important conversations. And it isn't easy. It is necessary just not always easy.
Thus, it is this metaphoric death, the psychospiritual death, to which I am referring in the phrase "authenticity, death, and dismemberment." It is a way of death I see mirrored in the physical, mortal death dance of hunter and prey. I see the pattern play out between bald eagle and fish, between lynx and hare, and I recognize the energetic flow of the offerings from one life to feed another, the ongoing interconnected web of life sustaining life.
Now to tackle dismemberment. . .
Tackle dismemberment . . . hahahaha, that's an image. Wonder how the words will come to describe that one!
Thank you, Bald Eagle, Fish, Buffle, Lynx, Hare, and Elk.
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Pilgrimage to the Desert
Early this October, I embark on a month long, wilderness-based exploration of the feminine hero's
journey, which includes diving into the concepts of authenticity, death, and dismemberment. Part of
this journey is owning my place as a healer and a writer. I have worked with Animas Valley Institute
(AVI) for six years now, and AVI’s wilderness-based courses are a key part of this process.
Throughout history in many societies, communities have supported their healers in a multitude of
ways. While I am fiercely independent, self-sufficient, and have supported my journey
largely on my own for the last six years, the time has come to follow the lead of the
healer archetype further and ask my community for financial sponsorship. By asking for
and receiving financial support from my community — you, my friends, and from my
larger human community — I am in turn asked to own my role as a healer in this
community in a way I never have before.
I have launched an Indiegogo Life campaign to request financial sponsorship. This financial support
will help to cover the costs of tuition and travel expenses. The tuition and estimated expenses total
$4,500. My fund raising goal for this campaign is $1,500.
From the time I was a kid, I was gifted with my hands — as a writer and as a massage
therapist. I’ve always been interested in healing professions from veterinary technician
to massage therapist, and now CranioSacral therapist. This has been coupled with my
fascination with discovering who I am and what I am here to do in this lifetime. The
descent into the world of Soul — the land of deepest Truths of the Genuine Self — is a
journey rich in dreams, visions, metaphors, and an intense longing for Wholeness.
Soulcraft and AVI provide the framework and guidance to follow this longing as a return
to Wholeness.
Through this, I am more whole and authentic in my walk as a human being, and as a
CranioSacral therapist. A basic tenet of CranioSacral Therapy is that the body heals
itself. So while I am really more of a facilitator in the healing process, I suspect this is
what the role of healer has always been, facilitating people’s return to optimal wellness,
return to wholeness.
As a member of my community, your blessings and prayers for this journey are deeply
appreciated. Your financial support is a gift to both me and the larger healing world.
Whether you are able to donate or not, please remember to show appreciation for all
the healers in your life. This is the best support any of us can receive. Thank you. I am
honored by your presence in my community.
Indiegogo Life campaign
journey, which includes diving into the concepts of authenticity, death, and dismemberment. Part of
this journey is owning my place as a healer and a writer. I have worked with Animas Valley Institute
(AVI) for six years now, and AVI’s wilderness-based courses are a key part of this process.
Throughout history in many societies, communities have supported their healers in a multitude of
ways. While I am fiercely independent, self-sufficient, and have supported my journey
largely on my own for the last six years, the time has come to follow the lead of the
healer archetype further and ask my community for financial sponsorship. By asking for
and receiving financial support from my community — you, my friends, and from my
larger human community — I am in turn asked to own my role as a healer in this
community in a way I never have before.
I have launched an Indiegogo Life campaign to request financial sponsorship. This financial support
will help to cover the costs of tuition and travel expenses. The tuition and estimated expenses total
$4,500. My fund raising goal for this campaign is $1,500.
From the time I was a kid, I was gifted with my hands — as a writer and as a massage
therapist. I’ve always been interested in healing professions from veterinary technician
to massage therapist, and now CranioSacral therapist. This has been coupled with my
fascination with discovering who I am and what I am here to do in this lifetime. The
descent into the world of Soul — the land of deepest Truths of the Genuine Self — is a
journey rich in dreams, visions, metaphors, and an intense longing for Wholeness.
Soulcraft and AVI provide the framework and guidance to follow this longing as a return
to Wholeness.
Through this, I am more whole and authentic in my walk as a human being, and as a
CranioSacral therapist. A basic tenet of CranioSacral Therapy is that the body heals
itself. So while I am really more of a facilitator in the healing process, I suspect this is
what the role of healer has always been, facilitating people’s return to optimal wellness,
return to wholeness.
As a member of my community, your blessings and prayers for this journey are deeply
appreciated. Your financial support is a gift to both me and the larger healing world.
Whether you are able to donate or not, please remember to show appreciation for all
the healers in your life. This is the best support any of us can receive. Thank you. I am
honored by your presence in my community.
Indiegogo Life campaign
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