Winter Solstice Blessings

Today we are celebrating the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and also the beginning of the 12 days of Yule, which begins on the eve of the Solstice and ends on New Years Day. It is a time of deepening into the dark, with the knowing that as the wheel turns, the light returns. Everything is always changing …

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Finding Nourishment in the Dark

As I write this I am listening to the cacauphony of birds gathered around our feeder. I’m feeling grateful to have so much beauty gathered here. I think there are over 10 different species of songbirds coming and going, as well as the brilliant blue Stellar Jays, Doves, and this morning I saw a Hummingbird …

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Glimmers of Beauty

🍂 The wind and rain have been keeping me awake many nights these past few weeks… ⁠ I can’t help but LOVE these autumn storms that are making the ocean rage and the trees bend. It’s so powerful!! It fits the intensity of emotions running through the collective nervous system recently. I want to remind you …

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Aligning with Nature

How do you feel about the change of seasons? ⁠ According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the autumn time of year is associated with the Metal element, which is said to rule the lungs and the emotions of grief and joy. ⁠ The big, heaving cry – the earth-shattering kind that literally shakes your chest – moving mountains …

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The Alchemy of Grieving

In the Northern hemisphere where I live, and specifically in the Pacific Northwest, the days are becoming shorter, the sun less intense, and the mornings and evenings are crisp in a way they weren’t only a few short weeks ago.  With the coming of Autumn, and the fading of summer warmth and levity, many of …

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3 Signs You Might Be Stuck in Complex Grief

Is it possible that you might be avoiding your grief, but still suffering? Here are three signs of being stuck in complex grief. You might be: 1.) FROZEN and unable to feel the depths of your pain because of a trauma response. This is really common when we are dealing with complex grief (grief layered …

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home ground

Home Ground

I’ve been envisioning “home” for these last few months in a big way – probably partly spurred by being pushed to move  by our current landlords since they are moving into their house.  I’ve moved literally over one hundred times in my 42 years – as a single mom for almost 12 years, housing was …

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Grief & Praise

It’s May, and my poppies are starting to bloom. I expect they’ll be in full flush in the coming weeks.  A male robin is clearly staking our tiny backyard as his territory, evidenced by his perch on the fence behind the poppies. His mate is most likely tending a hidden nest in the trees above, …

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red poppies

A Sense of Place

It’s Sunday morning as I draft this, and I’m sitting on my deck in the spring sunshine looking at my poppies, and wondering if I might have any luck if I try to transplant them.  They are green and full leaved at the moment.  I made this garden in our postage-stamp suburban yard, adjacent to our …

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