A beautiful and terrifying place. I’m not particularly afraid of heights – although, as I get older, my self-confidence with balance is faltering and my relationship with mobility workouts is intensifying – but this place was not without risk. My brother drove, and this is no knock to his driving, but not having control of the vehicle as we serpentined down the switchback road or along the cliff’s edge, closer than I would have cared to drive, it is hard not to feel a bit uneasy.
Continue reading Black Canyon of the GunnisonTag Archives: healing
A Power [Plant] Party
A couple of weekends ago my friend hosted a power point party. In case you’ve not heard of this, this is where everyone puts together a power point on any topic they wish to discuss and presents it at the party. It sounds like work, and it sort of is, but it is also a lot of fun. I won’t detail all of the power points that were presented that day, but there was everything from how beavers are little ecosystem engineers, saving wetlands and forests to musing over what makes something a door or a window to using one’s own acid-fueled dreams to demonstrate the energy and water cost of AI by depicting said dreams as simple AI comics. That last one was both a comedy of comical comics as well as a sad realization to what we are doing to the environment for a few lolz.
Continue reading A Power [Plant] PartyTransitive Healing in Nature
I’m not sure how to change, but winter is always tough for me, partly because I refuse to go outside unless I have to. The walls and windows are a comfortable barrier between me and the outdoors, keeping me warm and snuggly inside. Unfortunately, warm and snuggly does not necessarily equate a complete, harmonious state of mental wellbeing.
Continue reading Transitive Healing in NatureThe Essential Need to Communicate
I think language is a fascinating thing. More broadly, I find how we communicate as we move through this world to be an incredible function of all living systems and beings.
Continue reading The Essential Need to CommunicateNew Year, New Earth
This was the name of the summit I attended last week, hosted by Ecoversity. The focus: permaculture. It was three full days of information, so I won’t go into detail on what all was covered, but I was surprised to learn how adamant each of the speakers were about WHAT permaculture means.
Continue reading New Year, New EarthGraffiti Alley
Happy New Year!
Ok, so we are 12 days into the New Year (2026) and it hasn’t exactly been a stellar start for our Country – but hopefully you are all finding some sort of peace and joy in your daily lives.
My friends and I decided we would start the new year with art and beauty. Our first stop…Graffiti Alley in Baltimore.
Continue reading Graffiti AlleyThe Art in Death (Part One)
It was a cloudy day when my friend and I agreed to meet up. I had asked her if she would sit and chat with me about her artwork. Unfortunately, just after we grabbed our pastries and coffee, it began to sprinkle and we decided to head back to my house. Although I recorded our conversation, my dogs decided to be a handful – either trying to swipe our pastries, force us to play ball, or bark at imaginary invaders. This, amongst other things, made for a terrible recording, but still…a thoughtful, albeit distracting, conversation.
Continue reading The Art in Death (Part One)Decolonizing the Mind

Imagine spending a thousand lifetimes caring for these lands only for billionaires to exploit them in an instant – the same way colonists exploited the people.
Loss
When people see me, they see an American. I sound American. I live in America. I have an American partner and son. I was born in America. But what exists on the surface is not always true. I’m also half German.
Continue reading LossHealth and Wellness v. Medicine
There is a great deal of conversation happening these days surrounding health and medicine, thanks to a new faction of influencers who have rooted themselves in the MAHA movement (a Trumpian health campaign, Make America Healthy Again). Much like the MAGA movement, it is fueled by misinformation and emotions. As someone who believes in the power of blending eastern and western medicine together, I find someone like RFK Jr. to be a danger, as he seems to prefer blending science with pseudoscience to sell his ideas, so…let’s talk about some of these spaces of health and wellness (and since it is a bit longer of a post, I’ll break it out into four sections).
Continue reading Health and Wellness v. Medicine