Finding My Artist, Unlearning a Family Fact
It’s not your fault, Dad. Not in the way it would’ve been hers. If Kim had said it, it would’ve been delivered sharply, meant to steer me back toward whatever version of myself she could tolerate. Your words weren’t like hers, they weren’t used as weapons. I know it drove her crazy to watch you be held in our affection, in your absence, in your flaws, in all the ways she could never live up. More likely it was said as part of the deprecatory rigmarole, the modest little routine you do after someone offers praise, or when you point out somebody else’s brilliance, simultaneously exempting yourself from the category. …
Living in the Liminal: the evolution of shedding, shifting, and surrender
I’d been living in a New York minute for 21 years, chasing subways, promotions, late-night parties and some invisible finish line that never arrived. I was depleted, and the usual levers I pulled to power through weren’t working anymore. I thought a week alone in a cozy yurt, wrapped in the northern New England woods with nothing to do beyond keeping the fire blazing, might be the reset I needed. The yurt felt indulgent in the simplest ways. Its circular shape was cocooning yet spacious with a wood stove and sitting nook, a fully stocked kitchen and a queen sized bed stacked high with brightly colored blankets and overstuffed pillows.…
The Ground Beneath Me: A story of soil, sisterhood, and the home I found on a Turkish mountainside
There are moments when my intuition hits with a calm, full-body yes, like a warm certainty that lights up my chest and gut and brings the vision in my head into sharp focus. I felt it in a café in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, scrolling through volunteer listings after months of drifting through Ecuador, Mexico, and now Bolivia, my days ruled by spontaneity and chance. The novelty was fading. I was craving structure, joining a team with shared purpose and dreamed of working with my hands and learning new skills. When I saw the listing for a mother-daughter-run organic homestead in Selçuk, Turkey, I knew instantly, I was going. Before I…
Cracked Open by Bobinsana: How She Ignited Emotional Healing, Feminine Awakening, and a Profound Plant Connection
Bobinsana is a sacred plant that has long been revered for its deep connection to the feminine energy of nature. Known for its powerful healing properties, it has been used traditionally by indigenous communities in the Amazon to open the heart and body, guiding individuals through emotional release and spiritual awakening.I sought to connect with Bobinsana not only to release grief and stuck emotions that were manifesting as fierce inflammation in my body, but also to deepen my connection with the shadow parts of myself—the places I had long been too ashamed or too proud to fully explore. I called on Bobinsana as a trusted plant ally to help guide…
I Have Boundaries, Dammit! How a Misspelled Tattoo Became the Symbol of My Return to Self
“I know what I’ll do today, I’ll get a tattoo!” I thought, watching the sunrise from my floor-to-ceiling window in a luxurious $22-a-night Airbnb in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Sprawled across a king-sized bed, I soaked in the comforts of my surroundings, worlds away from the mosquito-netted jungle hut where I’d just spent ten days deep in the Amazon on my first Ayahuasca retreat. Ten days of fasting from salt, sugar, and distractions. Ten days of facing myself. Through four ceremonies, laboring through excruciating physical pain, the walls I’d built to outrun my own feelings finally started to crack, making space to face the parts of myself I’d been too busy,…
