A few pieces of what led me to this moment:
When I was ten, my mom thought I would enjoy 4H, so I started sewing and baking that summer. The other girls created mid-80s inspired mini skirts, but I created a calico skirt and matching floral drawstring bag because I wanted to look like Laura Ingalls. Closing my eyes, I am right back to that mosquito-filled dusty midwest night when I modeled my green honorable mention ribbon and my navy blue with little flowers skirt my hair long down my back and my smile wide with giddiness. (And the baking...oh that quick bread...I did not so much win anything for that second to last to be tasted by the judges loaf of apple carrot bread. Have only made one quick bread from scratch since. Sigh. I make a mean chocolate chip cookie though.)
During my teens, I surrounded myself with books that became my best friends and got a bit lost in the world of writing (lots of teenage angsty half-filled notebooks during those years). After getting a degree in psychology at the University of Notre Dame, my soul-searching adventures transported me into the world of poetry, yoga, and meditation. Then I turned 30. And around that time I began to feel a bit more at home with myself.
Today, I am a writer, yoga teacher, editor, retreat organizer, workshop teacher, and artist living in the Puget Sound area with my husband, our newborn daughter Ellie Jane, and our golden retriever Millie. You can often find me in my studio surrounded by strips of fabric, vintage buttons, several idea and poetry journals, and a mug of tea.
And in this moment, this is what I know: I believe that we must spend time recharging and refilling the soul's well so that we can be present in our daily lives in a more open and truthful way. I believe that unearthing our stories by looking at our past and standing right here and looking within and then sharing our stories through creating, writing, and community are vital to connecting with the journey that is this life. My experiences of community with other artists has encouraged me to see creativity as a form of yoga, and I honor creating and writing as part of my personal yoga practice. As a yoga teacher and artist, I see creating as a meditative exercise for the spirit and I currently focus on sharing this inward journey with others through my writing, teaching, and the Be Present Retreats.
(a quick note: in the interest of full disclosure, some of the links you will find on this website are affiliate links [if you aren't familiar with the term, google it and you will find the definition]. note that i would never link to something that i don't support/believe in/think is a really good thing, so i am hoping you won't feel like you need to fast forward through any commercials. instead, if you do, for example, follow a link to my book on amazon and decide to buy it there or buy something else while window shopping, and i receive a small percentage of amazon's sale because you visited them on my suggestion, i hope you will think of it as support that helps run this little solo creative venture of mine. as always, feel free to email me with any questions.)
(photo by darlene kreutzer)