Relationships fascinate me. I’m naturally very curious about and aware of a person’s story; their journey, their struggles, the things that they’ve learned as a result of their collective experience, their joys and passions—the way that they interact with others and dive into and negotiate matters of the heart, love and connection. The dynamic between two lovers is both personal and universal. There are so many unique twists and turns—yet,… Keep Reading
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” —Lewis B. Smedes Forgiveness isn’t always easy. We each have experiences that have been painful to course through. Despite, at times, non-negotiable seeming burdens, I’ve repeatedly witnessed a complete turn around in the health and well-being of others after adequately dealing with grief, reworking a pattern of guilt or wholeheartedly forgiving another soul or situation… Keep Reading
Decrease or entirely eliminate inflammation and chronic pain, improve sleep, increase energy and bring balance to hormone levels and the body’s other biological systems—for free. How? Simple: ground yourself, literally. Returning your body to its balanced, harmonic-with-nature design could be as easy as sliding off your shoes. Being barefoot easily conjures the feelings of freedom, peace and simplicity. What is often the norm for young children playing outside sadly dissipates… Keep Reading
Some time ago, as I was sitting in an airport, waiting for a flight to visit with my brother and his wife, I spotted a poster on the wall unfolding 6 guidelines for “success.” Most of the steps were monetarily toned. Of course, “success” means different things to different people. I began thinking about what it means to me. My ideas of success were centered around love, fulfillment and happiness…. Keep Reading
Relationship matters are a common conversational topic across the board. It seems as though many are constantly assessing the dynamics of their partnerships—and fittingly so as there are few matters as influential to our mindful and spiritual health as whom we are with and around, daily. Regardless of what surfaces in our pools of interconnection, intimate relationships can offer us unique opportunities for expansion. The elixir of unconditional love, vulnerability,… Keep Reading
there was the stretch of time where both gods and goddesses were revered—were both held as wise, intelligent, powerful and possessing traits, unique and traits of each other. then, there was the stretch where the goddess was so effectively taken out of the picture, swept under the rug as unimportant next to her divine masculine counterpart. following, there played out a stretch of struggle to regain equality amongst the genders—a… Keep Reading
saturday mornings, i have a standard food-acquiring routine pretty much down. the far-mar is perused through for all of the basics; spring water is collected; if needed, specialty stores are stopped by…and ‘whole foods market’ meets the tail end of the stretch with its add-ins of anything that i couldn’t amass from the other locales. i’m purposeful at each stop. i know exactly what i want and where to… Keep Reading
i don’t recall being ‘regular’ during the first several years of my cycle. it could have been just an initial bodily adjustment curve, or that i dabbled in birth control for a small stretch during my younger years, but it wasn’t entirely out of the norm for my body to skip periods altogether or for them to considerably vary in duration and/or intensity. it wasn’t until i began the practice… Keep Reading
A few years ago, I accompanied a friend to their family’s holiday gathering. Since I wasn’t really close to any attending family members, gift exchange was nowhere near the front of my mind. Mid-way through the festivities, people began breaking out beautifully decorated packages—I was so happy and content to sit back and simply watch. My friend’s aunt (who I adore and who was also hosting the party) quickly noticed… Keep Reading
Elderberries Clusters of small white flowers dropping from the elder tree give signal to the nearby arrival of small, round, juicy, deep-purple elderberries. Hanging in clumps from the busy branches of the 5-12 foot elder tree (or shrub)- they’re not difficult to spot. The most well known species is the American elder. This medium to large shrub is a member of the honeysuckle family- and has smooth, gray bark and… Keep Reading
Hazelnuts There are two main varieties of hazelnuts in North America; the beaked hazels stretch across the northern United States and parts of Canada…while the American hazelnut rules these Midwestern parts and is what you will want to (officially) look up if you would like to do more research before collecting—from this point forward, I’ll simply refer to these beauts as hazelnuts. My first experience collecting hazelnuts was over a… Keep Reading
Purslane “I learned from my two years’ experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one’s necessary food even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength. I have made a satisfactory dinner, satisfactory on several accounts, simply off a dish of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which I gathered in my cornfield, boiled and salted.’ ~Henry… Keep Reading