Deserts are real places, and they also are metaphors. Real deserts present such an ecological extreme that they readily serve as symbols for many aspect of human life: an empty place, a place without a lot of resources, a place where are lives are tenuous and in the balance. But the metaphor isn’t just about […]

“I feel like I got a decade of therapy.” That’s what one of the attendees at last year’s Western Constellation Intensive reported after our magical five days together. That’s one of the ways I am inviting you to team with me for a new year of ancestral growth and healing.   On the one hand, […]

What does it mean to love ourselves? If we struggle with self-esteem, how can we find healing? Curious about an answer to that question, I did an internet search on “How to find self-love,” and almost all the tips were about self-care: giving ourselves pleasure, bringing more balance to our lives, meditating, etc. I like […]

I’ve been a birdwatcher since my teens, having picked it up from my mother as she taught me the names of the shore birds when we’d visit Rhode Island beaches: Herring Gull, Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Cat Bird.   I’ve since added many more bird names over the years, as I’ve brought binoculars on my […]

Facing the new with creativity and commitment: When something has come to an end, whether by choice or it is imposed upon us, we grieve what is lost, and then face what’s next with creativity and commitment. This is always true, whether it’s in the context of a loved one’s death, the end of a […]

Connection is a basic biological need, even for the most hermit-inclined among us. Plenty of studies have been done on the brain deprived of human connection to understand just how fundamentally we need other people.   It’s nice how much variety we can bring to this: close friends, family we love (but maybe more at […]

People who experience trauma need connection and healing. We need help. We need people.   This sounds straightforward, but there is something especially tricky about the consequences of most trauma: the wound itself can prevent us from getting the help we deserve and need, by causing us to:   withdraw distrust have difficulty engaging people […]