Wild Self
Light as a hummingbird
I flit between your faces,
turned upward toward the sun,
open to being seen
for the first time
in years.
You women of wonder
Read MoreDaily Failures
I want to paint a broader and more accurate picture of this experience than the images on social media allow. I want to show how I am failing. And learning to befriend failure. I do not mean it as too harsh a word, I just mean very simply the idea of not succeeding at an intended goal or accomplishment, struggling to keep up and then not keeping up. The daily practice of failing.
Read MoreGifts for the Journey
In my recent, although increasingly distant, departure from my home in North Carolina, I was given gifts for the road. Some were heartfelt and given with great intention, others were seemingly random last-minute additions to my paired down life… but each gesture, whether planned or impulsive, felt like the friend or family member was joining me in some way… sending their energy, support, love, or just well wishes along with me.
Read MoreThe Mountain Lakes are Calling...
Today begins an adventure of unknown length, of undetermined outcomes, of uncertain destinations....
Read MoreGlacial Change
The loss this year has already brought....of lives, of rights, of tolerance and understanding... the hate and fear that seem to be ruling the world, and the race to the white house, and the legislature of my beloved North Carolina. Sometimes it feels like almost too much.
Read MoreInhale and Exhale
In December, just after welcoming in the winter and the opportunity to slow down, I hopped a plane to Patagonia, where the summer days last until 10pm, the mountains offer endless opportunity for adventure, and the people kiss your cheek in greeting as warm as their smiles.
Read MoreWisdom of Giving
Last weekend I had the opportunity to be with women in the woods as we marked the Earth’s transition into winter and our own turning inwards during the dark season of the year.
Read MoreSleeping on the Ground
Sometimes the need arises: I look at my life, I feel an itch of some kind, a restlessness, or a frustration, or a lack of motivation for the daily tasks… I realize that the phone in my hand has started to become permanently attached and my fingers need to remember how to tie a taut line rather than swipe from one screen to the next…
Read MoreAspen Trees
A grove of aspen trees is a unique thing. Seemingly a collection of individual trees with dancing leaves and brilliant golden fall color, an aspen grove is actually one organism connected by its root system. Trees grow the grove by sending off sprouting roots, often triggered by a forest fire or sunlight pouring into the gap in the canopy created by a fallen tree. This interconnectedness gives the aspen grove incredible resiliency and long life.
Read MoreThe distance between
Bits of wisdom from friends, mentors, and poets have a way of circulating in my mind like fallen leaves caught in eddy lines, resurfacing at unexpected moments, reminding me to observe and listen to the currents of life’s teachings.
Read MoreThat sweet moon language
The year is middle-aged, at its prime, and hot as hell. The days are long and the nights are sticky. I’m sun burnt, sweaty, and wild blackberries have stained my shirt. Afternoon thunderstorms bring welcomed winds, shade, and an excuse to be indoors…and the rare evening storms excite me as nature’s electricity pricks the landscape, reminding me of how my dad had be pinned and wriggling as a child, his hand held high with a threat of the next round of tickling, all the while I would be squealing with a mix of joy and anticipation… and probably on the verge of wetting my pants.
Read MoreTraveling Alone
I love it. I love the attitude of “yes” that I discover when traveling alone. I love the lens through which I experience the world when out in it… alone. Mountains become more personal, food becomes an enrapturing experience, meeting new people becomes a beginning, and brief moments that may otherwise go unnoticed become an entire education on life.
Read MoreBuoyancy
Just to be held by the ocean is the best luck
we could have. It's a total waking up!
Why should we grieve that we've been sleeping?
It doesn't matter how long we've been unconscious.
We're groggy, but let the guilt go.
Feel the motions of tenderness
around you, the buoyancy.
- from “Buoyancy”, Rumi, 13th Century Persian Mystic
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