All of us experience distress before we are even born. The events of conception, gestation, and delivery, and our emotional and physical experiences in our mother’s womb, are all absolutely necessary preparation for life after birth; yet if their effects are strong enough they can be traumatizing, holding us back later without our having any consciousness of the source of … Read More
Writing In the Rain
I am in the universe like a small child at a fair The universe offers a line or a poem a surprise balloon Sometimes like that small child I am distracted from my poet self by the pragmatics of this all too busy life But if I let go that line or poem like a balloon it soars away. So I … Read More
Don’t Be Stressed, Be Blessed
We are all loved, small as we are. That love comes unconditionally and generously from Source, God, the Mystery, the Creator, Universe, Guides, or whatever other word you have for that power that is all around you but out of sight of your eyes. One time I was speaking with people who were preparing for a Vision Quest, a powerful … Read More
The Re-Empowerment of a Generation – or two
We have been abusing our children with too much safety. We have been creating incompetent children who will become incompetent “adults.” Too many young people don’t know how to take even basic care of themselves in a strange or potentially dangerous situation, to avoid getting hurt, to ask for help, or to get out of even minor trouble. How does … Read More
I love Nature, but humans…? – not so much
Not long ago I listened to a young person talk for a time, then commented, “It sounds like you love nature and hate people.” She responded with a simple, firm, “Yes.” This young person is not alone in her feelings. Perhaps you too (almost certainly you too!) have had such feelings. Take your grief (anything that is not peace is … Read More
Healing the Vax Divide
The question of “To vax or not to vax” still weighs heavily on many minds and hearts these days. Not because we’re still deciding – most of us found our answer long ago – but because different responses continue to be a source of great pain. There is no other topic I know of that has divided so many people … Read More
Rewriting the Past
I had a memory that wouldn’t let me go; or maybe I just didn’t know how to let go of the memory. It doesn’t really matter which of those is true, or where the balance lies. The incident happened when I was seven years old, and it was emotionally and physically traumatic. I had used various means of healing for … Read More
Nourishing the Garden of My Self
The soil in my vegetable garden needs time to recover between cycles of growth, to rest and regain its nutrition so new plants can grow strong and healthy. To be at its best, it needs good compost added from time to time. If I only ever extracted the nutrition by planting one crop after another, adding no compost or anything … Read More
Take the Steps You Can See
I was a free range kid. When I was four years old, my father bought a piece of raw land on a small wild lake in Ontario. To my young eyes, and my young feet, it was a long way from the end of the road to that piece of land. As I helped to create a trail through the … Read More
The Black Dot
How do you get your life back when you look ahead and see only darkness: a problem, a challenge, or pain that dominates your attention and drains your energy? No clarity, no solution, no way out or even forward. Even when you’re not thinking about it, it’s there in the shadows, waiting for a gap in your attention so it … Read More