What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
What's in the gallery?
We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.
We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**
* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.
** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.
Decorating the Winter Quarters
Reflecting on what winter has to offer, where there is seemingly nothing there is everything…
A breath for these tough times
Sending out extra wishes of Safety & Sanctuary for everyone in the path of the hard things, what a scary time we are in, inhaling and exhaling, for compassion, strength, courage, swift and steady miracles.
Announcement / last chance for Emergency Calming Down Techniques
I’ve been reeling hard lately in some cursed combination of heartache, numbness, political anxiety, winter stuff and some wild panic episodes.
Have been holding on (for dear life) to my Emergency Calm The Hell Down Techniques from a long time ago, and it’s been helping.
I am giving away a copy of these (ebook + audio recordings) to anyone who gives any sum of money to the appreciation funds / discretionary fund in the hopes that we can all keep practicing together, for each other and for the collective, and also for ourselves in these scary times. ❤️
Decorating the Winter Quarters
What is known about Quarters?
If you hang out here regularly, you know that I love the double-meaning of quarters, which in addition to being four segments, of a year (for example), can also be a beautiful and inviting space or a home. Living quarters.
Living quarters. The space where I reside. And also: this period in time is alive, these are living quarters. Aliveness and a place to land at the same time. So beautiful.
It was just solstice last week, and so a new quarter is beginning.
New quarters, renewed quarters
A new quarter is beginning and I am moving into my new quarters — in time, but in my imagination also as a space.
What lives here? What wants to live here?
How do I make this space warm, cozy, welcoming, inviting, spacious, expansive, whatever it needs to be for me and for this incoming time period…?
Let’s find out!
What is known about Winter?
I know that many people reading this are located in the southern hemisphere, where it is the beginning of summer for you, so I trust that you will take the theme of moving quarters, and apply where useful, and feel free to ignore my talk of winter specifically.
Or if you are reading this in the future, you can apply it to wherever you are in your own timeline, of course.
Here where I am, right now, in southern New Mexico, it is a rainy afternoon and I am waiting longingly but patiently for my friend the blue sky to come back to me.
I am listening to music, drinking a hot beverage (chicory and dandelion root with chai fennel syrup and oat milk). Cedar tips are burning, my space smells of the forest. Appreciating feeling cozy and contained.
The days are getting longer. And I am thinking about what I want from these winter quarters, what I want to experience within this space.
A paradox but maybe not
The paradox of solstice that is maybe not a paradox at all:
Solstice is both the doorway into winter (here we are, let’s go, it’s happening, Winter Is Here), while at the same time it is the marking of the turning point at which the days begin to get lighter and longer again.
The deepest dive into winter, fully landing here in the [YOU ARE HERE] of this season, and the welcoming of the returning of the light.
So we have three months of a quarter, aka winter quarters, to play with both the gathering of the light while also experiencing the depths of the cold, dark season of dream-seeding, wishing-and-waiting, letting things percolate until spring…
I always found this combination a little frustrating or grating, like how am I supposed to be excited about longer days when winter just started?
But somehow this year I find it soothing. To land in winter, saying I AM HERE, and smiling as the light begins to collect. This is doable. We can do this.
What is known about Decorating?
I love interior design, I love a blank slate, I love a Begin Again, I love a good Rearranging.
The winter quarters for me are about coziness and baking, about rituals that sustain and replenish.
This time period for me is also for training hard, running some fun experiments, and trying on some wishes for size.
And about journaling on wishes and projects that might take shape later in the year when there is more light, more energy, more oomph for doing….
The space of newness is for naming
Again, it used to bother me that there is no doing energy (for me, at least) at the same time of year that there is a new year and a new beginning. It seems so incongruent to resolve anything when the mood is one of hibernation.
And now I like it. It works for me this year for this to be a wishing time, and a planting of seeds.
The newness is for naming. And so I am naming (wishes, hopes, dreams, ideas, projects-to-be). Naming without any expectation of seeing immediate results or any results.
The doing will come later, in right timing. For now, I can drop my wishes into the wishing place and let them bloom, like spices, while cooking, or like flowers, in spring. I am not in a rush.
Decorating has its own timeline. I am just making space for what can be. There is something beautiful there.
What are the known wishes?
These are wishes both for this quarter of the year from solstice to equinox, and wishes for 2026, the incoming year.
There are wishes related to STRENGTH TRAINING.
There are wishes related to RITUAL.
There are wishes related to GROWTH (as in, not stagnating, flourishing).
There are wishes related to VISIBLE CHANGE, seeing the shifts, or ways to assess what is moving and changing, but I am not going to rush visible change.
I am wishing for visible change, and also: I am not going to rush visible change
Because, like we said, winter is for trusting the seeds to do what seeds know how to do, and trusting the process of becoming that is taking place behind the scenes, beneath the surface.
There is a time and a pace for readying, and I have a lot more patience and respect for the work of readying than I used to when I was younger, and this is interesting to me.
Okay, let’s review these beautiful wishes, while releasing the need to see anything shift immediately…
When we say STRENGTH, what kind of Strength is this Strength?
Or: What is known about strength? What is known currently, in this moment, by me, that I know of?
Strength. Balance. Agility. Fluidity. Calm. Stability. Focus. Clarity.
Strength. Balance. Agility. Fluidity. Calm. Stability. Focus. Clarity.
Interesting. What else? It’s about the training element of [Strength Training] even more so than it is about the strength.
Okay! What is this training about? WAX ON WAX OFF. And: All the good kinds of GAINS & GRACE.
Something about: exercício ridículo
I was trying to think of an example of what I meant by the training element of strength training is more important to me than the strength.
And the image that came up was a pistol squat, which I believe is a cross-fit move, but I have seen it in a couple different yoga classes.
I looked up a video about this move to see if there were any clues for me, and there were no clues in the video but there was a perfect clue in the comments: exercício ridículo
I laughed. I love this so much, and also I love how exercício ridículo sounds like a spell…
Wax on wax off
What if i only do Ridiculous Exercises as part of my Nanda Parbat Assassin Training! They’ll never see it coming! Wax on wax off!
Yes, I love this. I love a ridiculous exercise.
I love how hilariously impossible this one feels specifically. I love working towards something impossible, regardless of whether I am ever going to nail it.
Impossible reminds me of the beautiful Feldenkrais concept of “moving from impossible into possible, from possible to easy, from easy to effortless”, with the idea being that you are always somewhere on that continuum, and the point isn’t finishing.
The point isn’t finishing. The point is playing, and expanding what is possible. Yes. A good approach for all wishes.
When we say RITUAL, what kind of Ritual is this Ritual?
Ritual for me is about presence, and about pausing. It is about creating a door or a passage in between moments and experiences.
Ritual is intentionally stopping to say I AM HERE. It is an interruption of pattern to consider how I wish to be in the I-am-here-ness of it it all.
It temporarily pauses the flow to return to a flowier more in-flow flow. It holds us a moment longer in the sexy almost so that we can feel the intention of what we are about to do.
Does any of that make sense? I hope so.
Invoking, naming, returning
Winter rituals for me are about grounding, centering, coziness, and about tending to mental and emotional well-being, because I know I can coast into stagnation, or the go tripping into the pits of despair. Ritual brings me back.
Where am I? Right here right now. What do I want and need in this moment?
Let’s breathe, tune in, find out, reveal what wants to be revealed.
When we say GROWTH, what kind of Growth is this Growth?
Gains, like muscle, or growth like wisdom, or some combination of both? Sure.
I think it goes back again to this felt-sense of rootedness, and the experience of layering on trust. I may not see what is growing in this season, but so many things are readying themselves for growth.
Many things can and will change for the better, can I trust this? Let’s try, as an experiment.
As one of my teachers says, if you can think of your consciousness as a lake, when the lake is calm, everything is really clear.
And when it’s not clear, then the answer is not more commotion and tumult, the answer is notice what’s happening, go inward and reset. Sometimes there are storms, it happens. We breathe and find ground.
There you go. That’s growth.
When we say VISIBLE CHANGE, what kind of Visible Change is this Visible Change?
I know we were just talking about trusting the seeds, and trusting winter to do its work, that this is quite often the period of time in which the change is not visible yet, and that’s okay…
And also the wish named itself so let’s explore it.
I think I like a container of three months (winter to spring, solstice to equinox) because you can feel a palpable difference from one door to the next. It’s not an overwhelming amount of time, it’s a compact container, but there’s room for things to move.
What supports visible change?
For me the big theme right now is tabula rasa. To decorate these quarters, I want to empty them.
That might mean something like closing tabs and emptying the inbox. It might mean taking some things out of my house and donating them. It might mean doing a long, slow, deep yoga session and returning myself to the calm lake of consciousness where everything gets clear.
What can I empty? What can I remove and eliminate in order to illuminate, to support the gathering of the light?
Let’s make some space. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Everything counts. Fractal progress. Small shifts are meaningful shifts. Every step invites newness.
It Solves Itself
What solved itself in December?
My stuck sliding door got fixed! Two different friends came to visit from the Pacific Northwest!
A couple of laundry solutions offered themselves. Most importantly, just in time for my sixth winter out here alone in the mountains, I now have heat in my tiny metal house, or at least in the kitchen.
What solved itself in 2025?
There were so many Glorious Returns. A glorious return to yoga and dance, to jogging, to using my head cushion for posture (I’m wearing it right now), to walking labyrinths, to strength training.
I made new friends.
My terrible heartbreak eased itself while I wasn’t looking.
I want to teach again, which is interesting, much to explore there.
What am I putting into the cauldron of winter wishes?
Grace. Motivation. Loving-Clarity. Wonder.
It solves itself / everything continues to solve itself.
Passion. Enthusiasm. Trust. Care.
A sense of awe and appreciation. Feeling warm and cozy in my thank-you heart.
I want to wake up craving the practices that sustain me, and to welcome them like they welcome me. And when that doesn’t happen, I want to meet myself with all the compassion I can muster.
May it be so. Here we are. Happy decorating. Happy be-ing and seeding and waiting and wishing and trusting what is to come. A breath for all that is possible, and for playing with the impossible while we wait.
May it be so, or something even better
Here’s to choosing life and aliveness, and being here, even when it is so fucking hard (and often it is), and to learning about ourselves, and finding some sparks if we can, or staying receptive to future sparks if we can.
I love you, I love that you read my thoughts here, thank you for that. It means a lot to me.
Let’s source some wild joy, some loving clarity, or whatever is needed most, let’s play.
Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company
Leave a pebble (o) to say you were here, so I know I’m not doing this alone.
Also it feels good to pick up a pebble and place it somewhere, I have noticed.
You are invited to share any related situations or musings, or name any wishes in process.
And of course you are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped, clues received, or anything on your mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…
I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.
Or if there’s anything you’d like to explore further or toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.
Housekeeping note: You can subscribe to posts by email again!
If you aren’t seeing these updates in your in your email and want to, you can can solve that here.
This will pop up a new page on Follow.It that lets you subscribe via email, newsletter, or RSS reader. They say “expect 50 stories a week”, and that’s a very imaginary number, once a week is the dream.
I am emailing copies of the Emergency Calming Techniques package!
Anyone who gives to the Discretionary this week (more info below) will get my Emergency Calming Techniques package by email as a pdf. I am only checking email twice a week because I no longer have wifi at my place, long story, so be patient with me but if it doesn’t show up within the week then let me know!
I have some ideas for the next ebook too but if you do too, shoot me an email or share in the comments.
A request!
If you received clues or perspective or want to send appreciation for the writing and work/play we do here, I appreciate it tremendously.
I am accepting support (with joy & gratitude) in the form of Appreciation Money to the Discretionary Fund. Asking is not where my strength resides but Brave & Stalwart is the theme these days, and pattern-rewriting is the work, it all helps with fixing the many broken things.
And if those aren’t options, I get it, you can light a candle for support (or light one in your mind!), share this with someone who loves words, tell people about these techniques, approaches and themes, send them here, it all helps, it’s all welcome, and I appreciate it and you so much. ❤️
D is for Dispatch, Dolphin, Double Decker and other Delights
Reflecting on my friend’s bathtub ladder and the way it offers a towel at the right moment…
D is for Dispatch
And December (and other delights)
I was journaling on my December wishes, in an attempt to glean more information about them, myself and my relationship with this time of year. Maybe even with wishing wishes at this time of year specifically.
Like a pre-cursor to new year’s resolutions, which I always replace with wishes, games, and little fun experiments…
While writing, I encountered an Incoming Self, that is: a version of me who is slightly ahead of me on some of these themes.
We talked about December, motivating in the dreary season, the power of AND I CRAVE IT, and the value in whole-heartedly embracing winter cheer in whatever form that might take this year.
This version of Incoming Me is also really into D-words, which is both funny to me and also fascinating.
D is for
This self is into D-words and they described what they’re about like so:
Dedicated. Devoted. Disciplined. Direct and Directed. Decisive. Dancer.
These are related to the December wishes, and they are all D-words, and this is intriguing.
I invited in December wishes and December wishing, and here is a self who is really into this one letter.
Sunny
I asked if this self had a name, and they said I can refer to them as Vitamin D, or Sunny, and then they laughed.
Sure, why not. I guess either of those names is more concise than Dedicated Devoted Disciplined Direct & Directed Decisive Dancer. D7? Sunny it is.
And all these beautiful wishes and D-word qualities are related to diving in, and to making it through another long cold mountain winter out in the high desert forests, and being the cowboy of the bunkhouse…
A good name
So yes, Sunny is a good name here.
Sunny embodies all of what I want.
A sunny outlook. A glowing backdrop.
Hope, and if not hope because hope is feeling too distant, then some form of contentment in the moment.
D is for Diversion? Along the winding path of words…
As it happens, Sunny was also the name of my very wonderful kindergarten teacher. Morah Sunny is what we called her. Teacher Sunny.
And in retrospect that sounds very funny or incongruous, but at that time in my life, bilingual Hebrew-English mashups were just the way of the world, maybe with some Yiddish thrown in for good luck.
Anyway, she did indeed have a sunny personality, and was a warm glow of a person. I feel lucky that she was there at that time in my life.
So maybe my December wishes and this incoming self are also about embodying some of that light-hearted laughter and loving-kindness.
A tiger’s fan, for example
I was thinking about how something about these qualities together: Decisive, Devoted, Disciplined, Direct, reminded me of a tiger and the way it moves.
And this made me think of the Detroit Tigers, the baseball team, and their gorgeous English D logo, and of being a little kid outside of Detroit when they won the 1984 World Series, and how thrilling that was.
Dedication and Devotion are also part of the experience of being a fan. And of the game itself.
Diving for the catch. Stealing third. Going for extra innings.
So maybe this self is a Tigers Fan both in the sense of being a fan of the Detroit Tigers, and in the sense of being a fan of being cat-like, like a tiger.
Tell me more
Tigers are powerful and also patient.
They wait when it’s time to wait and pounce when it’s time to pounce. I am a fan.
D is also for Dolphin
A few years ago a friend and I made a pact to do I think it was a minute of dolphin pose every day for a month, for back strengthening.
Dolphin pose is a pose that I didn’t like until I did, this is true for many yoga poses and movements.
Once you have the strength to do it and know a few tricks or points of focus, it kind of holds itself. But all the training to get to that, well that can take some time and patience.
You can also move smoothly and gracefully (or not) back and forth between Dolphin and Dog, working on luscious transitions. That is a clue for me too.
Also something about finding the softness in the strength, and the fluidity…
D is also for Double-Decker
Yes, it is the season of elaborate sandwiches, which is also part of Operation Winter Cheer, and also my ongoing gluten-free baking experiments.
This is about layering, in all forms, which is truly the secret to winter here in the wilds, at least in this hemisphere.
And being a little OVER THE TOP, or a lot over the top, which I love in all seasons but especially right now.
D is also for Decadent
Decadent rituals like morning golden milk hot chocolate, or hanging out with another incoming self, the one who makes a mean galette.
Reviewing my December wishesAnd then I got sooooo stuck
Not sure if it’s the vibes just being off, or my horrifyingly long list of things that need attending to.
Or that I lost a week to dealing with my stuck door situation.
I just got so deeply stuck this past week, and so overwhelmed, and couldn’t get anywhere with anything, and the more I tried to unstick, the more I got mired into despair.
Or stimming into oblivion, absent-mindedly playing with my hair and staring into space until the day disappeared, and then feeling frustrated because not only did the list not get shorter, but more things got added to it while I was either freaking out or spacing out.
But then it occurred to me, that D is also for Dispatch…
D is for Dispatch
D is for DISPATCH, and Dispatch is also a verb. Can I dispatch something speedily and get it off my list?
For some reason, dispatch felt more accessible than discipline or devotion or directness, and then I was able to hand-wash some tops and hang them to dry, to write a thank you note, to respond to some texts, to make a list, to look up information on next steps…
Dispatch is also an update. Like a brief!
I can sum up what I am doing into a little report. Dispatch the dispatch!
Of course, how did I forget
Right, I had forgotten that the most important thing in a funk is to shift the energy.
(And quite often that means find the fun! Find the obsession!)
Luckily the important part of forgetting is the remembering. And luckily I did eventually remember before the day ended.
If D is also for DISPATCH, I can dispatch small things, with as much grace as I can muster, or even without.
Sometimes even a tiger is a little klutzy or inexact. Maybe I am a baby tiger, and just tumbling my way into learning about agility. That’s okay too. I’m a fan!
Asterisk
Being able to have a little fun with dispatching and dispatches reminded me that I always have more fun playing than trying to force things, and that play is (for me at least) the best way to get anything done.
This helped me understand that maybe all my D-words need an asterisk.
Like yes, Devotion and Discipline, but in a fun, sexy, playful way.
So: asterisk to everything. We are doing this in a way that is going to be fun. Hello, Dispatch! This is fun!
Discussing with Sunny
Havi: Maybe D is like Delphic? Like an oracle?
Sunny: If that brings you more fun and winter cheer, then absolutely, go for it.
Havi: I am still not sure what to do with the conundrum of December is often depressing and a drag (more D words) and there isn’t the right kind of energy for Doing, but there is all this doing that needs to be done to clear the decks for the end of the year…
Sunny: And?
What do you mean…?
Havi: I don’t know, just: I don’t know what to do with any of this?
Sunny: What if nothing needs to be done?
Havi: What do you mean?
Sunny: What if your work is Operation Winter Cheer, and you approach things from Winter Cheer, and December can hold itself? It’s not that you don’t take steps on those projects, it’s that you are resourced by Winter Cheer, which happens first. So first you devote yourself to devotion, practice for the sake of practice, that is the discipline that holds the rest and invites the directness.
Doing within the framework of nothing needs to be done
Havi: So you’re saying, do entry first, set the tone, set the mood…
Sunny: I’m saying, tend to feeling sunny. Start from there. You won’t get anything done anyway from doom and gloom mode, so it’s worth it to take the time to access your glow state.
Havi: But all this stuff really does need to get done.
Sunny: I know it’s a roundabout way. You might call it a DETOUR, if you like a D word. Just like how you had fun dispatching things, you can have fun when you make room for fun. And fun is transformative energy.
Havi: So what happens now?
Sunny: What would be fun?
D is for [Destruction]
Havi: I want to knock some things down. To get to some kind of clean slate and rebuild.
Sunny: That does sound fun!
Havi: Like in the Shiva way of breaking things down into components and allowing something new to form in the kaleidoscope, but I don’t know what the new thing is yet because I am still looking at what was…
Sunny: You are ready to do some dispatching. Dispatch! We are ready to play!
What is next?
I think I am going to spend the weekend doing yoga and cooking, and see what emerges.
And I want to journal more about the wishes, and maybe find a proxy, and talk to Sunny some more.
It seems like before anything else can happen, I need to clear the path to clear the path. And I need to find the fun.
So maybe I will start with bright colors, bake a cake, dance it out, feel into what is next.
Dropping a clue
Havi: Sunny, can you give me a clue please? Or a talisman? Or something to look for or hold onto…
Sunny: Go for a walk in the sun. You’ll feel better, I promise.
Havi: Can you give me more than that please.
Sunny: Remove things that aren’t cheerful. And make some aspect of the removal process itself cheerful, like play a song you love, or turn it into a silly rhyming poem. You’ll know how. You’re very creative.
Havi: Everything is leveling up very fast and that’s why it’s scary, I think.
Sunny: Sure, things and people come and go, and some stay, and you are flowing with it as it happens, and that’s the advanced practice.
Help me remember
Havi: Help me remember what I need to remember, to stay with winter cheer and not take things so seriously that I get overwhelmed.
Sunny: Play with small devotions. A ten minute walk in pasture. Dance for one song. Make tea in your favorite mug and then just let yourself have the time to enjoy it. Bring in some silliness. Silliness is its own generative form of sunshine.
Havi: You are very wise.
Sunny: You invited me, because I am you.
Havi: Oh right haha.
Sunny: Let’s do our ten minute walk, then fold socks, but in a fun and sexy way, and then see what feels like the next move after that.
Havi: I like how you think.
Sunny: I like how you don’t give up.
Havi: Sometimes I do.
Sunny: And yet here we are, figuring this out together.
May it be so, or something even better
Here’s to choosing life and aliveness, and being here, even when it is so fucking hard (and often it is), and to learning about ourselves, and finding some sparks if we can, or staying receptive to future sparks if we can.
I love you, I love that you read my thoughts here, thank you for that. It means a lot to me.
Let’s source some wild joy, some loving clarity, or whatever is needed most, let’s play.
Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company
Leave a pebble (o) to say you were here, so I know I’m not doing this alone.
Also it feels good to pick up a pebble and place it somewhere, I have noticed.
You are invited to share any related situations or musings, or name any wishes in process.
And of course you are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped, clues received, or anything on your mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…
I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.
Or if there’s anything you’d like to explore further or toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.
Housekeeping note: You can subscribe to posts by email again!
If you aren’t seeing these updates in your in your email and want to, you can can solve that here.
This will pop up a new page on Follow.It that lets you subscribe via email, newsletter, or RSS reader. They say “expect 50 stories a week”, and that’s a very imaginary number, once a week is the dream.
I am emailing copies of the Emergency Calming Techniques package!
Anyone who gives to the Discretionary this week (more info below) will get my Emergency Calming Techniques package by email as a pdf. I am only checking email twice a week because I no longer have wifi at my place, long story, so be patient with me but if it doesn’t show up within the week then let me know!
I have some ideas for the next ebook too but if you do too, shoot me an email or share in the comments.
A request!
If you received clues or perspective or want to send appreciation for the writing and work/play we do here, I appreciate it tremendously.
I am accepting support (with joy & gratitude) in the form of Appreciation Money to the Discretionary Fund. Asking is not where my strength resides but Brave & Stalwart is the theme these days, and pattern-rewriting is the work, it all helps with fixing the many broken things.
And if those aren’t options, I get it, you can light a candle for support (or light one in your mind!), share this with someone who loves words, tell people about these techniques, approaches and themes, send them here, it all helps, it’s all welcome, and I appreciate it and you so much. ❤️
Hello December / December Wishes
Reflecting on this card from the Cara Elizabeth deck, what do I know about Internal Conflict Resolution and how will this help me relate to my December wishes…
Hello December / December Wishes
‘Tis The Season, as they say, but not like that
It is the season of the wishing cauldron, and there is much to be dropped lovingly into the cauldron.
Each wish-spark is an ingredient or a form of flavoring.
I don’t know and can’t know (and maybe even don’t want to know) how the various element are going to combine or what is going to be revealed. All that will come in right timing.
My job is only to tend to myself and tend to the cauldron.
My work as pertains to the wishing cauldron
My work is to stay patient and stay curious, to notice the wishes as they bubble up within me, and release judgment.
My work is to cultivate and maintain a mindset of welcoming wishes so that I can meet them, learn about them, and learn something about myself in the process.
Each wish is a tiny sweet thing, a tender offering, and I want to make space for it to just breathe and grow and thrive and feel safe.
Is it scary and vulnerable to allow myself to wish? Absolutely. Or at least it can be. And also it’s good practice. Let’s name some wishes and maybe we can track some of the connection points between them.
A wish about daily walking
One of the things I missed most this summer while I was in Oregon escaping the wildfires was my daily pasture walk for a dose of outdoor time.
Also known as my Silly Little Walk for my Silly Little Mental Health.
Also known as getting Double Bonus Outdoor Points, which I learned last year is surprisingly motivating for me. I love getting double points, even if they are imaginary.
Mostly I didn’t walk this summer because the humidity was gross, the city wasn’t fun to walk in, my shoes were dying, I was always busy. It just wasn’t the right thing for the moment. My ritual had lost its appeal.
A Glorious Return to walking, and a Glorious Return to craving the walk
When I came home from being gone, my pasture was entirely overgrown and impossible to walk in, and then of course the habit didn’t have a home anymore, not in my pasture and not in my body-mind.
This week I hired someone to help with yard work and they cleared a circle for me in the pasture again.
Can this month be about a Glorious Return to walking and outdoor time? I hope so! It might take some time to get back into it and then the ritual will hold itself.
Or if this is not the right ritual for unwinding my tangled thoughts, may another solution show up in right timing.
Into the cauldron it goes, what a beautiful wish, I welcome this wish and all perfect simple solutions related to this, or even tangentially related to this.
A wish about unstuck (symbolic and otherwise)
Last Friday, the sliding door between my kitchen and bedroom got completely stuck while it was shut, and I was trapped in my bedroom.
Of course everything I could possibly need (wallet, car keys, shoes) was in the kitchen which I couldn’t get to from inside the house, and which was locked from the outside.
Fortunately, thanks to my paranoia about exactly this situation, I wisely keep a spare key hidden in the bathroom.
And this is how I ended up jumping off the back porch (in four inch heels, like a sexy assassin in a movie), and miraculously did not twist an ankle.
From there I could unlock the front door to get back in the house, and get to everything I needed.
Interestingly
Interestingly there were also a lot of other, simultaneous Perceptions Of Stuck situations going on at the same time for me.
For example, a close friend got upset with me over a misunderstanding and withdrew for five days.
For example, I had at least half a dozen of the silliest miscommunications imaginable with someone working on a project.
For example, I still have made no progress on keeping my house warm for winter, and in fact, now it is colder than ever because I am afraid to close the bathroom door in case it sticks on me too.
What does unstuck look like and where else does this apply?
So for a week now, any time I need to get either into the kitchen or the bedroom/bathroom, I have to go outside and then come back in, and that’s my life. So fun! The best! Especially in the rain!
Allegedly a new handyperson is coming next week, and the builder of my house also offered to assist by phone, so I have hope for getting this solved eventually, however my patience for living like this is running out.
It made me think though more broadly about what is stuck generally, and also my own [Perceptions of Stuck], my favorite band, just one guy.
So there is a question here, or a stone to skip, regarding how I want to meet and interact with the various stuck situations.
Where can I add ease?
Once my door works again, where else can there be more ease and less friction?
What is even easier and what is even easier than that? Can I rededicate myself to more ease and keep adding ease?
What is the opposite of stuck? It is smoothness? Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Can I trust this.
Or maybe it’s more about being okay with wobbles and interference. I am open to exploring this too. Into the cauldron!
A wish about training hard
When I was in Portland I was training hard in yoga again, and doing lots of dance, and it was super fun and invigorating. A coming home to myself.
Right now I am putting in more or less the same amount of time into physical practice, but my focus has been more on restful stretchy releasing work, which is also great. It’s just that I miss and crave that feeling of being the exact right combination of Sore & Strong
Not sure if the answer is On Demand classes or youtube classes (same), or doing my own practice in a more focused way, or just adding in some challenge time. Impossibles du jour?
It is a wish about the treasures along the winding path
Something like that. My training wishes are not so much about achieving, and more about summoning or accessing the joy in going hard as well the joy in rest/integration.
So maybe this is a wish about finding some good interplay between going hard when that is called for and integrating the fruits of the training.
It is also a wish about fun goals that are less about achieving, or even less about the goal itself which is more of a symbol, and more focus on all the playful experiments along the way.
And by “along the way”, I mean as I bushwhack my way in the general direction of the stated goal.
A wish about glamour that is also a wish about tending
I will tend to ignore or postpone or delay certain self-care rituals until suddenly it’s like, oh wow how did this become a dire emergency!
And also I will wear the same sweatshirt and fleece-lined leggings and wool hat until I have a “reason” to look nice, but what if feeling good is its own reason.
What if channeling the dangerous sex bomb assassin version of me (or my cowboy self or my Jolene self) is its own reason.
Can I commit to an experiment around this? Can I be the reason for the season? Can my own joy be the reason for the season…?
A wish about tabula rasa
Even though my default state is a hundred open tabs and a bunch of projects and clues, I don’t enjoy feeling overwhelmed.
Can I try closing things down, or just keeping notes about my idea sparks and revisiting the notes instead of the open tabs?
Sure, I might lose a wish or a clue. Can I trust that we will find each other again?
A wish about bright colors
Whether this wish is related to specific items like flowers or clothing or dishes or candles, I don’t know yet for sure or I don’t know yet exactly. All I can say is that I am craving WINTER CHEER.
And specifically I am longing for a form of winter cheer that is vielfarbig, a favorite Yiddish-ism that I am spelling the German way, many-colored!
Craving cheery and craving color.
Vibrancy! Vitality! Brightness! I want all of this in abundance, and I want to have my comforting soup in a cheery yellow bowl, and I want breakfast cake on a red plate.
Mainly I want color to enliven me and revitalize me on the grey skies days.
A wish about clarity, discernment, glowing boundaries
What does this mean? Being really clear about my time, my space, my availability, my capacity, my tolerance for boring bullshit.
Being clear and expressing that clarity with as much loving-kindness as I can muster. But if a fight is needed, then I will show up to fight. I’m clear on that too.
A wish about the guest house, Rumi-style
I thought a lot about Rumi’s Guesthouse this week.
Mainly because I was in the middle of the silliest fight with a close friend over an even sillier misunderstanding, and they weren’t showing up to have a conversation about it, and I really just wanted to talk it out and resolve it.
So my daily guests this week were anger and frustration, and I tried making an extra cup of tea for them, lighting a candle and saying, YOU ARE WELCOME.
There is a lot to learn from an unruly guest, and it was good practice for me to make lots of space for what was going on for me in the moment, given the circumstances.
A wish about the guest house, real
I want visitors but I do not know where they might stay.
Into the cauldron with this wish.
Or maybe the guest house is simply a warmer place for me to go when it is cold.
A wish about flow and being in flow
Moving with and not against, going with what is, but also slipping through cracks in a good way.
How can I be like water in ways that are useful and also be a well-boundaried container for my own wishes?
A wish about spaciousness (?) or retreat (?) from broader culture
Living inside of Christian hegemony remains a major bummer, and I do not enjoy the experience of being constantly reminded that I am an outsider in this culture, and that I am not included in any of the celebrating.
Every year I make some kind of wish around this, like can I live like Miss Carla and order things online and not go into the world? Would headphones and a playlist provide a good buffer from holiday music on the radio and in stores?
How can I remove myself more thoroughly from this world and have more delicious, sweet coziness in my own? Probably this involves staying offline, which might be good for me as well.
Welcoming my wishes
I can welcome my wishes by lighting a candle for them.
I can welcome my wishes by clearing space and clearing the decks.
And by saying, “Oh wow, what beautiful wishes.”
And by journaling and exploring and experimenting.
I can welcome my wishes by taking a hand-on-heart sigh, or by placing a stone for them in my garden.
What’s true? What’s possible
I can welcome my wishes by doing sun salutations or by taking a walk in the pasture again.
I can welcome my wishes by focusing on what’s already working, and also asking what I can do differently…
And I can ask: What’s true and what’s also true?
What’s working right now?
Dancing. Friends. Hiking club. Reaching out and connecting. Morning yoga. Making tea.
What else do I want to try?
More airplane mode, longer walks, any walks, reading recipes before bed instead of being on my phone.
Welcoming solstice
In honor of solstice approaching this month, I am also placing my ritual solstice questions into the wishing cauldron:
What wants to be eliminated?
What wants to be illuminated?
Where do we go from here?
Something I like about the wishing process is that the naming of wishes itself is so brave and revealing and sometimes even surprising.
There isn’t really often any more to be done. I made space. I named what wanted naming. And now I tend to the seeds by tending to myself, and noticing what I notice.
I can also ask friends to be walking buddies from afar, or maybe they want to do something else, one of their wishes, more knitting time, more poetry time, whatever they want, while I take my little walk.
And I can keep journaling, exploring, playing, poking around. I can learn what I learn, and revisit these with love.
Maybe I will put a clue about each of them on a list and put the list on my wall. That’s an idea too.
Hello, December
Dear December, help me remember to move slowly and intentionally, because slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Help me maintain a sense of humor as I open the guest house (Rumi-style) to each new emotion and sensation.
Help me appreciate what is good right now.
Help me arrive at my own Loving-Clarity and receive decisions in a way that makes them actionable.
I want to be friends
December, be a friend and a companion, and I will try to do the same. As always, it’s an honor to play the game, even when I get tangled up in all my stuff about everything that isn’t working in my life.
Hello, December, with your sparkly lights and many candles. Let’s find a good path to walk together.
I like friends. Let’s start there.
May it be so, or something even better
Here’s to choosing life and aliveness, and being here, even when it is so fucking hard (and often it is), and to learning about ourselves, and finding some sparks if we can, or staying receptive to future sparks if we can.
I love you, I love that you read my thoughts here, thank you for that. It means a lot to me.
Let’s source some wild joy, some loving clarity, or whatever is needed most, let’s play.
Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company
Leave a pebble (o) to say you were here, so I know I’m not doing this alone.
Also it feels good to pick up a pebble and place it somewhere, I have noticed.
You are invited to share any related situations or musings, or name any DECEMBER WISHES or wishes in process, or say hello to December in your own way if you like.
And of course you are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped, clues received, or anything on your mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…
I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.
Or if there’s anything you’d like to explore further or toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.
Housekeeping note: You can subscribe to posts by email again!
If you aren’t seeing these updates in your in your email and want to, you can can solve that here.
This will pop up a new page on Follow.It that lets you subscribe via email, newsletter, or RSS reader. They say “expect 50 stories a week”, and that’s a very imaginary number, once a week is the dream.
I am emailing copies of the Emergency Calming Techniques package!
Anyone who gives to the Discretionary this week (more info below) will get my Emergency Calming Techniques package by email as a pdf. I am only checking email twice a week because I no longer have wifi at my place, long story, so be patient with me but if it doesn’t show up within the week then let me know!
I have some ideas for the next ebook too but if you do too, shoot me an email or share in the comments.
A request!
If you received clues or perspective or want to send appreciation for the writing and work/play we do here, I appreciate it tremendously.
I am accepting support (with joy & gratitude) in the form of Appreciation Money to the Discretionary Fund. Asking is not where my strength resides but Brave & Stalwart is the theme these days, and pattern-rewriting is the work, it all helps with fixing the many broken things.
And if those aren’t options, I get it, you can light a candle for support (or light one in your mind!), share this with someone who loves words, tell people about these techniques, approaches and themes, send them here, it all helps, it’s all welcome, and I appreciate it and you so much. ❤️
Entice me
Reflecting on the question of what is the timing for enticements, aka the time is right now, it’s right-now o’clock, and also right now is always where I am…
A breath for these tough times
Sending out extra wishes of Safety & Sanctuary for everyone in the path of the hard things, what a scary time we are in, inhaling and exhaling, for compassion, strength, courage, swift and steady miracles.
Announcement / last chance for Emergency Calming Down Techniques
I’ve been reeling hard lately in some cursed combination of heartache, numbness, political anxiety, winter stuff and some wild panic episodes.
Have been holding on (for dear life) to my Emergency Calm The Hell Down Techniques from a long time ago, and it’s been helping.
I am giving away a copy of these (ebook + audio recordings) to anyone who gives any sum of money to the appreciation funds / discretionary fund in the hopes that we can all keep practicing together, for each other and for the collective, and also for ourselves in these scary times. ❤️
Entice me
An investigation
Last week we talked about Insearching, as a playful way to refer to the work of internal research.
I have been using this theme as a door into various explorations.
Right now it is taking me into some deeper wondering around what it means, or might mean, to be the apprentice to our own nervous systems, studying what supports us.
I have been insearching (searching within, researching within, disappearing and re-emerging in the within) these past days on many topics…
The apprentice
Some lines of questioning are more directly related to this idea of apprenticing myself to my nervous-system, and being in this state of apprenticeship:
What supports steady, calm, focused being and maybe even well-being, for me, right now?
What throws me off my own trail? What rattles me? How do I come back from this state of rattled?
It is my job as an apprentice to find pleasure or a pull in the questions themselves. Noticing is why I’m here.
Noticing is why I’m here
In other words, I am not doing this work to stand in judgment about what I find and be frustrated with myself.
I’m noticing just to glean whatever information I can, in the hopes that it will be useful in this work of self-tending…
Seasonality, orienting in time
Some of my themes of internal research are seasonal.
That is, they are specific to this time of year when (here, in the northern hemisphere, in southwestern New Mexico where I reside) the trees are more bare by the day, and sometimes my friend the sun forgets to visit…
This is the time of year when I begin to feel the Big Dread of winter approaching…
Warning: edge! edge! edge! You are here (and here is a precipice)
Yes, that’s what it is. The overwhelming WINTER IS COMING of it all.
Something between fear and an aching certainty. I do not wish to tumble into the pits of despair, and also this is a time when it is certainly very easy to find myself suddenly in them.
What can I do about this other than planting a bunch of signs that say YOU ARE HERE and HERE BE PITS?
A known entity
Some of you know that I am not a big fan of American Thanksgiving or Christmas, understatement, I am the grinchiest grinch about holidays.
And some of you know that I live in a metal box and my current heating situation leaves much to be desired.
Which is to say that I heat with space heaters but don’t run them at night.
Quite often it gets cold enough that I need to turn off electricity to the well pump so the water doesn’t freeze in the pipes, and then I just spend the next day hauling water while the pipes slowly come back up to temperature by mid-afternoon, and then do it again. Cowboy life.
The point being
The point being, my winter dread is a) not even slightly unfounded, b) absolutely a known entity, and c) I know exactly when it will show up, and d) it still somehow takes me by surprise every time, the intensity of feeling.
This to me is the interesting part. The known knowns are known, and also they take me by surprise.
What can I learn from this? What else is like this? What is the work of lovingly preparing myself and my space? What is the work of lovingly trying to improve my situation?
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast, but sometimes slow is slow
When is it time for action and when is it time for wait and see?
Thinking about back in February, when my uncle called me and I was in tears from just being so cold, and he researched a mini split option for me…and how now it is nearly December, and I have talked to contractors but no one will get back to me with useful details about what size it would be or when it could be installed, or what exactly is the electrical prep work that needs to be done…
Maybe there is a better option.
Maybe the best option is any progress in a storm.
Maybe the best option is wait it out and something better is on the way.
Spark tending
It’s hard to tell. I know that if I lose my spark, it will be harder. I know that staying warm supports my spark.
I also know that projects can’t be rushed, and certainly not in New Mexico which operates on its own (sometimes semi-glacial) timing.
I know that in the past I have ignored red flags, for example someone treating me in not the most respectful way, in the interest of Just Get It Done, and that has always been a mistake.
A lantern inside
I was taking yoga class online with the kind of person who likes winter, despite the fact that she lives in Portland, Oregon, a place whose winter season I would describe with words like BLEAK and GREY-TONED and AGONIZINGLY LONG, and something about how the wet chill seeps into your bones…
It was fun and refreshing to listen to her chirp excitedly about how she experiences winter as a cozy creative space, she called it “a lantern inside”, which is so poetic and charming.
She said something about how we have to be inward to return to the seed, to get close to our creative spark and nourish it, and that the season is what invites this inwardness.
Cultivating inwardness: gathering in
I do like inward, and spark, and a pot of tea, and replenishing, and saying no to things, and time for Do Less To Get More.
So maybe winter can be a container or a catalyst for some kind of insearching process.
A little experiment or devotion of [And Three Months Later], specifically a devotion to gathering around the lantern inside. To being the lantern inside.
A three month experiment
What if I take the next three months to learn about Lantern Mode, and rededicate myself to nourishing my creative spark?
Maybe this will push me to solve for heat, or maybe this will push me to reclaim hibernation time, or maybe something else entirely will happen, who knows, that is the beauty of the three month container for an experiment.
Anything could happen. This is a little intimidating and also thrilling.
Entice me
It is not a secret that love Samin Nosrat with a deep abiding love, and sometimes I listen to her Home Cooking podcast while I am washing dishes, mainly to hear her laugh.
On a recent episode called Our Stuffing Ourselves (amazing, perfect title, no notes), she said something about how an invitation to Thanksgiving should include a reason for why she would go. And then she added, laughing: ENTICE ME.
ENTICE ME
I love this.
And she’s so right. An invitation should be enticing. If I’m going to leave my cozy, quiet, cheery, peaceful tiny home, give me a reason.
Give me a reason! (How can we apply this?)
If I’m going to hire someone to install a mini split, GIVE ME A REASON beyond just that I want heat, be the person who gives me actual information and responds to my questions please.
Recently someone wanted to date me, and their offer was basically “I like hanging out with you, I don’t have time for a relationship.” Okay!
To be clear, a relationship would also have been an easy no for me, but the casual and OPPOSITE OF ENTICING way they dropped this on me was very unappealing. ENTICE ME!!!!
Okay, how can we apply this? How can we apply this superpower of Make It Enticing, Make It Delicious, Make It Meaningful, or I’m not interested.
Relevant to everything
Pretty sure it’s relevant to everything…
Including winter.
Entice me, winter!
This week I wanted to go to various dance workshops but then I didn’t. Apparently they were not enticing enough. ENTICE ME, my one true love, dance.
And since enticements are a back and forth, how can I entice myself towards curiosity about a cozy lantern-filled winter? How can I entice myself back towards dance? How can I entice myself back towards Early To Bed?
Hello, Winter of Enticements
If my current project is to bring more intention and play into my relationship with this hard-for-me season…
What would make a winter here a Winter of Enticements?
What can I look forward to? What rituals of pleasure can I introduce?
I know what’s already working: spicy hot chocolate with oat milk, morning yoga, a good warm hat, slathering slices of butternut squash with homemade harissa oil and roasting them in the coldest part of the day…
What else? ENTICE ME! (I say this to myself, I say this to winter, I say this to the world!)
When nothing is enticing
What about when nothing is enticing?
This is a normal part of being alive, right? We lose the spark and it takes time to find it again, or to re-orient ourselves when we get lost in a twilight zone episode of nothing is good and everything is going wrong.
Not to mention that obviously the external circumstances right now are legitimately dire and scary, these are frightening and challenging times, and that’s the most diplomatic thing I will say about this moment.
For me, when nothing is enticing, that’s when I go on a clue-finding mission. That’s when I return to this playful approach of insearching, learning everything I can learn about this…
Talk to me about a season of enticements
And possibly my Winter of Enticements is about the research project of learning more about what is enticing for me, and how I can enhance these enticements…
I take solace in poetry, and this line from Barbara Crooker, in a poem called Sometimes I am startled out of myself, which I keep returning to: You do not have to be wise.
What does it mean to not have to be wise?
In the poem, or in how I am reading it, I can trust that I know how to seek shelter and comfort, I can let the season be what it is, be that grief or winter, and I can be brave.
And, possibly, this is about trusting a deeper wisdom within the season of turning inward, moving slowly and intentionally (maybe even sometimes the movement is invisible!), efforting less…
Searching for clues (can this also be a form of enticing myself)
Something I really love about zoom yoga as opposed to being in a physical class, is how I can keep paper and pen by my yoga rug and jot down clues as we go, and no one looks at me like I am a weirdo.
I am a weirdo, but in my own kitchen.
It feels good to me when I write down a clue, whether I return to this note or not. Something about the process of “I want to remember this” and then doing something about that wish feels good to me.
Here are some recent clues from my post-it notes…
So many clues!
- how can you create boundaries that protect your peace
- if a decision is being rushed, it’s not a decision (listen first, receive the information that is already there)
- you can always just navigate back to center (how???? maybe by choosing? further experimentation needed!)
- ”what are the available partnerships that support your peace and what are the partnerships that disrupt it”
- “casting a circumferential net of compassion around yourself is vital” (mmmmm!)
- “getting long not for the sake of posture but as a way of testing out our ability to take up right space”
A little flirtation
Here is my favorite clue, from a favorite teacher, Kris:
“These postures tug at us and sometimes flirt with us, we want to flirt back!”
Yes, yes, I agree! To flirt back is enticing, and yes, what if a stretch or a balancing pose can be enticing as well.
What if gaining in strength can be a source of enticement for me this winter? Or possibly, no goals are needed, only a commitment to play and showing up, time to flirt with myself and flirt with being alive.
An enticement into further enticements. Hello, Vitality, you’re looking amazing today, tell me your secrets.
And so a new experiment is born…
Insearching led me to Enticement.
Maybe what I want next is to channel an Incoming Self who delights in enticements, who finds it a fun challenge to turn Winter Of Dread into Winter of Enticements…
What are the aspects of me that I am already in touch with who would find this an enjoyable enterprise? Where do I already excel at Enticement?
This is what I intend to explore next, and I hope you will join me. Or if Enticement does not speak to you, maybe your own internal research will lead you to something compelling to experiment with.
I can’t wait to hear about it (tell me everything, or something, in the comments, if you like), and let’s keep playing.
May it be so, or something even better
Here’s to choosing life and aliveness, and being here, even when it is so fucking hard (and often it is), and to learning about ourselves, and finding some sparks if we can, or staying receptive to future sparks if we can.
I love you, I love that you read my thoughts here, thank you for that. It means a lot to me.
Let’s source some wild joy, some loving clarity, or whatever is needed most, let’s play.
Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company
Leave a pebble (o) to say you were here, so I know I’m not doing this alone.
Also it feels good to pick up a pebble and place it somewhere, I have noticed.
You are invited to share any related situations or musings, or name any wishes in process.
And of course you are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped, clues received, or anything on your mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…
I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.
Or if there’s anything you’d like to explore further or toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.
Housekeeping note: You can subscribe to posts by email again!
If you aren’t seeing these updates in your in your email and want to, you can can solve that here.
This will pop up a new page on Follow.It that lets you subscribe via email, newsletter, or RSS reader. They say “expect 50 stories a week”, and that’s a very imaginary number, once a week is the dream.
I am emailing copies of the Emergency Calming Techniques package!
Anyone who gives to the Discretionary this week (more info below) will get my Emergency Calming Techniques package by email as a pdf. I am only checking email twice a week because I no longer have wifi at my place, long story, so be patient with me but if it doesn’t show up within the week then let me know!
I have some ideas for the next ebook too but if you do too, shoot me an email or share in the comments.
A request!
If you received clues or perspective or want to send appreciation for the writing and work/play we do here, I appreciate it tremendously.
I am accepting support (with joy & gratitude) in the form of Appreciation Money to the Discretionary Fund. Asking is not where my strength resides but Brave & Stalwart is the theme these days, and pattern-rewriting is the work, it all helps with fixing the many broken things.
And if those aren’t options, I get it, you can light a candle for support (or light one in your mind!), share this with someone who loves words, tell people about these techniques, approaches and themes, send them here, it all helps, it’s all welcome, and I appreciate it and you so much. ❤️
Reflecting on vividness, contrast, staying striking, everything changing all the time…