Category: Words For Hard Times
How to Feel Free
I spent the early part of my adulthood not feeling very free. Stuck in toxic relationships and cloistered by chronic pain, freedom wasn’t really in my vocabulary. Then one day I was sitting with a friend in his garden when he brought out a numerology book. Scanning the chapters, I found I was a…
Your Brokenness Makes You Whole
When I was a kid in the 90s yin-yang symbols were all the rage. From tee-shirts to posters, everyone was displaying yin-yangs. In Chinese philosophy the yin-yang symbol represents the duality present on Earth. The Yang of bright heat, fire, and action and the Yin of dark soil, water and patience. Together, the two…
Overwhelm, the Nervous System & the Soul
When I was little and couldn’t sleep I’d go sit on a particular step on the stairs. After what felt like hours of tossing and turning, I’d sneak out of my room to sit and secretly listen to my parents watching tv. I still remember the feeling I had in my chest whenever I…
Reweaving Our Destiny
There are three women sitting at the base of a tree so wide and deep, you can’t see where the trunk ends, and the branches begin. The three women are weaving. One spins the thread. One measures. One cuts the strings. What they are weaving is our collective fate, and each one of us…
The Amphibious In-between
Navigating the world as a sensitive person can be an overwhelming experience. Add in the rigors of living through an ongoing global pandemic and it can feel like you’re jammed in overload. On an almost daily basis, especially when I’m trying hard to keep my life running as normal, I have moments when I…
Who I Talk To When Things are Hard
I still vividly remember the first time I spoke out loud to the moon. I was twenty years old and dealing with life-altering chronic pain. I didn’t have anyone in my life I could talk to about how much I was suffering. Doctors didn’t understand why I was hurting and my carefree college peers…
Finding Rainbows In Storms
A month ago I got a new rattle in the mail. A natural gourd painted with running horses, the rattle seemed like the perfect companion to take with me on my upcoming heritage trip to Europe. Like drums, rattles can help deepen the trance states needed for shamanic journeying. After unpacking, I decided to…
What Your Body Needs To Hear
One day, when I was in the midst of Lyme disease, I experienced a shamanic journey that changed my life. I had gone into the journey to understand more about my illness but ended up meeting a part of myself I never knew existed. I still remember the moment when the drumming began. I…