Present, grounded, Still Becoming

I am lighter than I've ever been. Not because life is easier, but because I've shed the armor I spent decades building.
I stand now with a strong core, continuing to unfold like a pinecone or lotus flower—growing lighter the more I connect to my truth within.

This clarity, this groundedness—it didn't come easily. And it's not finished. I'm still becoming.
But I know who I am now in a way I never did before.

For so many years, I lived in a protective shell of doing. Empathy, service, achievement—they served me well through childhood, parenting, and twenty years of working full time. Carrying the load. "If not me, then who?"

I carried the weight of the world with intentions of big love—not realizing that love was directed outward at everyone but myself. What I didn't know was that the gap in all that giving was love and connection with myself.

I slowly and steadily built protective armor made of experience.

Until one day, the weight became too heavy.

Physically inflamed. Mentally frazzled. As the world settled into a pandemic, I sat in with the darkness longer and more intentionally than ever before. I explored the stories that made up my armor. As I processed, the armor shifted—transforming from hard protective surface to something translucent, like dragonfly wings beginning to grow where the shell once was.

With light coming in, I could see clearly. Give myself grace. I reconnected with myself—through nature, through guides who held space, through doing the deep work. Those connections allowed me to stand in my authentic, raw power again. To find and be my authentic self.

Gold textured circle surrounded by smaller gold dots on a black background.

Abstract textured circular brushstroke in beige against black background.

Close-up of a fabric with a star pattern and a fuzzy bud attached to a stick.

A woman with long gray hair and tattoos on her arms sitting on a rock by a creek in a wooded area with autumn leaves.

What I know to be true

We ARE nature. Not connected to it—we ARE it. This isn't metaphor. We exist in three layers: the natural world, the built environment we've created, and increasingly, an artificial world of technology and AI. When we forget we're nature, we lose our grounding. And without grounding, we can certainly fly—but without connection we risk getting lost in the storm.

To support my physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing—and to stop falling into the over-giving, over-doing, over-empathizing traps—I needed to heal my relationship with myself. That healing changed everything.

And perhaps most importantly: You deserve to exist because you do.
I am. You are. That is enough. You don't have to prove you're worthy of love. True love begins with soft, gentle, graceful love and acceptance of your beautiful, unique self.

Electrical circuit diagram symbol with a circle and lines extending from it, connected on a dashed line.

The answers you seek live within you. But you don't have to go it alone. I wouldn't be where I am without the counselors, space holders, and guides I spent time with and learned from. The work is both inner and outer. Solo and supported.

It's easy to stay on autopilot. It's known. It feels comfortable. Our society values having answers, knowing, being able to explain. But I've learned that transformation lives in the uncomfortable space between—when you know something no longer fits but can't yet name what comes next. Being okay with that not-knowing. Trusting the path will show up in due time.

A mystical, golden, alchemical symbol with an oval shape, geometric lines, and celestial elements on a black background.

How This Shapes My Work.

This journey—from armor to authentic power, from doing to being—shapes everything about how I hold space for others.

I've learned that transformation requires both/and, not either/or. We need it all: the yin and the yang and everything in between. The light and the dark. The inner work and the outer support. The knowing and the unknown.

I don't prescribe answers or formulas. Instead, I create spaces for connection to self and deep listening to the voice within—learning to be present without needing to control everything.

Together, we dismantle old stories and uncover true stories that enable you to move through the world with lightness of being, grounded presence, and connection to the love that runs through all of us.

Because I've walked this path myself—through the darkness, through the armor shedding, through learning to stand in authentic power—I know what it takes. And I know you don't have to do it alone.

Soft pink watercolor background with white line art of leaves on the right side.

Decorative gold and white tribal pattern strip.

Grounded and growing…

I'm still learning. Still listening for what feels authentic. Still evolving.

One thing is crystal clear: nature isn't just metaphor or teaching tool—it's foundation. It's how I care for myself, continue discovering, and stay grounded. And it's woven throughout everything I offer.

You'll hear this in my podcast, Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing. You'll experience it in the workshops I facilitate. Because the more I return to nature, the more I return to myself. And the more grounded I am in that truth, the better I can hold space for others to find their way home too.

The unfolding continues. The dragonfly wings keep growing.