Category: Words For Hard Times
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…
Returning To Life
The bright copper of October has finally faded into the brown of November. There are more leaves on the ground then the trees now. When I walk my dog we kick them up in great fluffy piles. Like autumn butterflies, each leaf shows me what transformation can look like. Every season tells an invisible,…
Everything Is A Symptom Of Healing
Ever had one of those weeks where literally everything goes to pieces? I had one of those this past spring, and it was a doozey. I had just recovered from a respiratory infection when I got slammed with a UTI. A few days later, I woke up with an intense eczema flare-up on my…
You Are Allowed To Cultivate Peace
Every day I hike up the shady ridge above my home. A welcome respite from the sun, halfway up the steep gravel, a small spring comes bubbling across the road. As we pass my pup usually drinks from its waving puddles and I bend down to touch this new water and anoint my brow….
How Invasives Help Us to Love Ourselves
It’s become a green wonderland here in the mountains. The basil is bunching out in the garden, weeding is now a daily activity, and last year’s daylilies are starting to bloom. But for all the plants that are welcomed, prized, and cultivated, there are an equal amount of herbs in that dreaded category of…
You’re Doing it Right
It seems no matter where we look, we are bombarded with the same message—you’re doing it wrong. Whether it’s how you parent, use social media, engage in activism, make medicine, treat your depression, or even build your home, there is often a judgment-tipped arrow of opinion to greet you. The internet is a…
Self Love Spells
The snowdrops are up here in the mountains, I first spotted them from the porch. From a distance, they look exactly like the glitter of the last remaining scraps of snow. Up close, they smell like melted vanilla ice cream and look like hope. February is a softening month. A time when the hardness…
