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.

Slowly and steadily built 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 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.:

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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 direction, 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.

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.

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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 being with the unknown is where transformation happens. Trusting the path will show up in due time. Being okay not knowing what's next—and feeling good about knowing what isn't aligned anymore, even if you can't put words to it yet.

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.

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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 that enable connection to self and deep listening to the voice within. I help people get comfortable not having to control everything. To learn to be present.

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.

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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.