My Nov. 2021 Daily Roots Journal

Journey with me in my personal adventures of my #dailyroots feature! Daily Roots is a feature I use as a guide to apply the concepts in my Root & Flow Life Curriculum. This is my approach to sharing pieces of me and how I approach the concepts. In a way, it is my open wellness journal. I am a work in progress. I wrote the concepts, but this does not mean I live perfectly by them, because life is not perfect. It is a wild rooted, chaotic ride. The forces of the universe can push and pull us this way and that. These writings are about embracing that. Sometimes, with an awakened, and aligned perception life is perfect, even with the mess, the chaos, the unfinished things, the unmet expectations, the hard feelings. Sometimes, when we stop for a minute, we can feel that magic in our roots of life; the magic of simply being here. Think of all the things that had to align to be right here in this moment. I understand how triggering that thought may be if you are in a difficult moment, because there are so many moments in life that may have us questioning why or how (why me, why did this happen, etc.), but may those moments lead you to the moments that have you saying “I see it now”, “I understand”, “this had to happen for this to happen”, etc. Sometimes, those things that happen are by no means fair or deserving. Sometimes life is just chaotic, hard AF, and frankly, sometimes cruel. People often do not deserve the suffering they are going through and some have no concept of what it is to suffer. Everyone has their limits of what they can handle, but if you are going through a difficult time, I hope one day you will experience the peace and joy you deserve.

Life is a series of chapters, seasons, phases, stages, and states of being. We are life in motion. Me must keep moving, rooting, loving, and growing to create our flow a little more each day. We must channel and honor our forces of nature and the essences of life to help us move through the moments; breath work, drinking and cleansing with water, etc. Sometimes when we have unlimited access to these things, they can be so easily taken for granted. For someone who has struggled to breathe or access to clean water, the appreciation and power of such things may be a little closer to the consciousness. No matter the phase you may be in, my hopes are to bring a little more peace and love into life by sharing a few vibes of my own.

“Living happily in our little world of wonder and magic. The leaves are falling. The echoes are calling. We dance. We sing. We explore. We create. We learn. We grow. We root. We flow. Some days are long and hard, but most fly by like the wind in the trees. No matter what, they are always full of love and laughter.”

Welcome to my open family wellness journal for the month of November 2021. This is how I share my #dailyroots. My intentions are not to showcase our lives, but to hopefully empower the belief that you can do a lot with little. We live tiny, but we welcome abundance through the resources and elements that align with our ethics. We do our best to create a mindful, sustainable living through empathy, kindness, and consciousness. As a highly sensitive family of empaths we had to do a lot of energy work to heal our roots of life and to be in the right place and time to be on the path to manifest and child and align with our highest purpose. We are still healing and picking up some of the pieces of our past (ancient bloodlines and our own journey). We are all always a work in progress. #Dailyroots is how I demonstrate and guide an intuitive, mindful wellness journey to do the energy work each day to align the world within (mind, body, and soul) with the world all around as best as possible. This often means releasing perfectionism, expectations, societal norms, and doing the challenging, sometimes triggering, root work! It is about doing our best to be fully present and mindful. These are a few of my daily vibes and thoughts. Thank you for being here and rooting with me!!!

Each day of the week follows the Root & Flow Calendar features!

Bibs quickly became something of the past. Things like that can be very annoying to someone who is highly aware of how things feel. At around 9 months, he started pulling them off. Yes, even the silicone high-end ones that had a difficult snap. Even the comfortable ones often ended up biting the dust and food would still find its way under there anyway. Reassuring him it was to help and also modeling bibs by tucking napkins in our shirts works occasionally, but for the most part we just let it go. It’s not one of those things you want to obsess over. Obsessing over the mess can sabotage the relationship with food and create a stressful environment vs a nurturing environment. They begin to associate perfectionism and pickiness with food. I’ve always been one to embrace the messes and do the work to try to heal and create a healthy relationship with food, but having these thoughts empowered further by having Solid Starts as a resource made me feel confident about the path we were on. Having a supportive pediatrician was also very helpful. We started early introduction to solids at 4 months, because Bruce was showing all the signs he was developmentally ready. We embraced it as a fun journey of pacing ourselves through it and viewing it as an opportunity for connecting and bonding. Release the expectations. Release the pressure. crEATe!!!!! He is now at an age where he is become more aware and vocal about what he wants / needs and does not like. Sometimes that changes depending on the day. At this age of development their growth has slowed some, so they are not as hungry as they were as babies, but they are going through episodes of teething, colds, etc. Therefore, a baby led approach is a great way to help them learn confidence in listening to their bodies. When we force our way or pressure them to eat, it can teach them to doubt how they feel. Sometimes, we need to set boundaries and reassurance of what is needed for health and wellness, but there are ways to do this that nurture their independence while offering healthy choices. I am certainly no master in this process. It took me years to learn how to cook in a way that would support my health and it is still a journey (always a work in progress), but I have dedicated my life to understanding child development and holistic wellness. I may not always have it right, but I do know that food dynamics are the root and core of healthy and conscious living. The more we can try to be a little more mindful of this process, the more we can nurture our roots. The biggest resource I have found to aid in the food journey is including him in the process of it all. Preparing food together is a great opportunity for learning and bonding. Oh yes, it takes lots of patience and practice, but so worth it!!!! Do this on days you feel mentally and physically prepared or when the creativity bug is itching! The more you put the work into establishing a routine (the root work), the more it will become a natural part of your flow. It will be less stressful and you will see results, it may just take a little time and a lot of deep breaths!!!! #crEATe !!

3 Essential Roots that help Nurture Confidence & Independence:

(As someone in child development, I studied these things. I often saw it in my professional life, but now as a mother, I get a front row seat 24/7 of seeing every fiber of it.)

*Baby/Child Led Activities (Don’t over control / instruct. Nurture the path they are leading you on while setting safe boundaries. Be aware of expectations; are you in line with their development or are your projecting your perception? We can crush confidence and self-worth, when we constantly say things like: “this is how you should do it” or when they are constantly hearing “No” ! We also don’t want to just hand out participation trophies or let them completely rule the roost, but we can nurture their perceptions and process of learning through exploring while listening to their cues and helping them navigate their way through. The world is still so new to them (all stages of youth, because with each stage comes major new developmental milestones. Even our teens, still need respected guidance and compassionate understanding in their process and perceptions of life development. Too often we are in the rush to measure up and fit in the flow of it all, that it results in treating our children like adults before they are ready or vise versa; not giving them enough respect or independence and treating them like they do not have a mind, body, soul of their own.

*Indoor & Outdoor Adventure Activities (Let their need to burn energy and their drive for curiosity run wild. Again, within safe boundaries. Connection and modeling is a key to setting safe boundaries. “Actions speak louder than words”. If they are constantly hearing: “don’t do that”, “be safe”, “You’ll get hurt”, “You can’t do that”, then these things start programming their brain to send off the insecurity alarms every time they try to process an action or thought, which can cause big feelings of confusion and self-doubt. Most of those concepts, even with good intentions, are too abstract for a child too understand. It often leads to more questions in their mind and can be disruptive to their natural process. It can become so easy to assume they will understand the context, because we have become so adapted to our flow of life that we often take for granted the details and nuances of figuring out those things that were once so new to us. Example: Instead of “Be Safe”, you could try: “You got this, but take your time and watch your steps”! “How about you follow me for this activity and we practice together”. “I am right here if you need me”. My little adventurer was determined to go down steps and big hills at 12 months. This made my heart pound. My instincts were to pick him up and say “We’re not ready for this”! (BUT HE WAS!) So I had to rewire my brain to remind myself “nurture his needs”, “listen to his cues”, etc. The phrase I first started teaching is: “take your time”, “you got this”, “focus, breathe, step or sit or slide, whatever you feel safest doing'“, “my hand is right here, if you need it”, Yell, help, if you need it”. Before I knew it, he was doing these things: taking his time to step down the steps or hill, crouching and sliding if he needed to, reaching for my hand when he felt unsafe, and saying '“elp” when he needed it. Development is a spectrum though, please do not use this as a tool for measuring if your little one is meeting these milestones yet or by a certain time. I write these things to raise awareness on conscious learning and nurturing development through mindfulness. There is no timeline for that and even if your kiddo is a teen or you take care of other children (teaching, grandchildren, babysitting, etc.) it is never too late to try these things, because it is not just about their development, it is about ours. It is about training or retraining our brain to be a little more aware, confident, or present. It is to not just go through the motions, repeat what we have been programmed to think or say vs saying it or being involved with purpose and presence, and further developing our perceptions of life.

“Modeling” (This is probably the biggest. They soak up every little detail of what we are doing and saying. They understand more than you think. They may not have the skills yet to fully understand all the details, but it becomes a part of their mind, body, and spirit systems. It will come to the surface in time.)

A few ROOT essentials for Core Care:

Sunshine
Vibe with the Season
Eat clean & in color
Be kind
Be present, be silly, have fun. Sometimes the thoughts of the past, the worries of the future, and all the things that need to be done… just have to be released or on hold.
Be conscious of how your actions influence others. Be true to you, but be mindful of how your experiences, path, and perception are not the only way!

A few ROOT essentials for my heart rituals:

My son
Animals
Nature
Paint / Art
Aromatherapy
Journaling / Writing
Plants
Cozy / warm drinks / meals

It’s a vibe! Energy is louder than words, and always present in our actions!!! (Even if it is sub-conscious and not done with intention or self-awareness)! Energy is contagious. It sows the seeds, creates the roots, rises into the core, develops the branches, and determines what will bloom and flow. Being fully present in this process can be challenging, but vital.

Note for the day: Strange is not always a bad thing!!!

Planning a few things to set up my environment for the season. It’s not about decking it out with abundance of materialism. For me, abundance is about thought and intention.

A few Root Essential tips for abundance and sustainability:

-Be mindful of how you set the tone.

-Are the items practical? Do they serve a functional purpose? Can they be used multiple times (throughout seasons and years)?

-Are they necessary or truly important to you?

-How were they made? Are the materials safe? Are they supportive of safe industry and labor practices.

Abundance and sustainability is about investing in our life flow. To do this we also must invest in the origins of how things come to be and how they flow out into the world.

Again, I am always a work in progress. When it comes to creating a sustainable living with less materials and supporting ethical practices, there is always more to learn. It’s a journey I know I have come a long way with and look forward to further progressing with.

On that note, finding a few essentials that you love for inspiration and practical use can help set you up for success in the kitchen to #crEATe!! You don’t have to have the best things or all the things. Most of the time, it’s not about the things at all. As we continue to talk about, it’s about the energy through intention, connection, mindset, and actions. My go to resource for everything in life is: creating mood boards. This is a great tool for organizing our vibes, style, and insights! This is pretty much my approach in everything I will present at Rootin’ !! I hope to do a workshop on how to design your whole life through mood boards!!

Life is short! The bravest thing you can do is: put more love, compassion, and understanding into it!!!! Highly sensitive people use to be seen as “weak” for “feeling things”, getting too caught up with the details, etc, etc, but they / we are strong AF to live in a world that too often seems to care less and on a determined path to destroy and harm. It takes strength to create. It takes strength to feel all the feelings. It takes strength to be so aware of things most people don’t even notice or give a second thought to. This is so often the missing ingredient in all of the things that seem so hard. When we align with love and what makes us truly feel good in all of our roots and rhythms, then things begin to naturally align and flow. When we are continuing on a path that destroys our spirit, harms our love for life, steadily trying to fit in or measure up, or are not mindful of how we are forcing a flow that is not meant for us, then things can feel very stagnant, and all just too hard. All of us experience this at different times in our life and to different extents. These are the things that are meant to be wake up calls for us to do the tough root work to further awaken to what or mind, body, and spirit needs. There are times when we need to be in survival mode to sustain our life flow, but there are times when that survival mode is doing more harm than good. That is when we must pull back, maybe even completely uproot, and change our life path. We can be so resistant to change when we are constantly living in survival mode, because of our fear instincts. The root work is about breaking the cycles of that programming and how to create a little more love and presence in the process of everything we do. Wash the dishes while singing and dancing (so a ton of water got on the floor, it’s just a moment, it can be cleaned up). Brush your hair while telling yourself how much you love you (“I love that I care so much. Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes it hurts, but I am proud of my heart for staying strong in those times.”). There are so many things we can do to heal our daily flow from the roots of the things that broke our heart (from our human history as a people to our own life history). Be bold. Be different.

Lol, on that note: sometimes the world feels upside down, we’re exhausted, and feel like a blob!! Embrace it!!! Let it be!! Feel it! Process it! Move through it with compassion and patience! Your process may not be perfect. If you get over-triggered and over-react; pull back, repair. Sometimes, we can be really harsh with our inner-dialogue or our immediate, external reactions to things. It’s human. The more conscious we become, the less this happens, but we are not perfect beings. The key is being aware of that reaction. Those who are not aware of their actions and reactions continue the cycle of repeating them. The fact that you are aware and immediately pull back to do the repair work, says a lot. However, may it be sign to keep doing the work to becoming more calm, mindful, and conscious of your mental and emotional states, needs, and expressions. Fully own it by being fully present in it all! Your state of being not only impacts you, but others! There are different methods I use to own the hard things. When I am exhausted and can tell I am going to be snappy and moody, I do my best to focus on the things that bring joy. I try to tell myself it is not a day to push things, have high expectations, or get things done. It is a day to be patient with myself and others. Embrace the mess. Be silly. It is not a day for making big decisions or feeling great about yourself. That’s ok. We can’t change the world in a day. Sometimes, the best we can do is change the moment with the world in our mind. To do that, sometimes, we have to close the doors and turn off the lights in our mind and open them another day. Leave the door open and the light on that makes you feel safe and present.

A little synchronicity magic, that today, Veteran’s day, falls on my #heartofthematter day of the week and in the power of 11:11 portals and pathways. Military Life defined much of our bloodline roots and rhythms, but it also defined our life together for 13+ years.

Quick summary:

-Devin and I met in middle school band. Became best friends a few years later. Decided to become a couple. Soon found out, it was not just a High School Fling: it was a whole life, earth shattering, awakening of souls aligning! Devin soon followed his life goals of joining the U.S.Coast Guard and I pursued my path towards health and wellness education. We managed a long-distance relationship, responsibilities of school and career, and the heavy things that most are disconnected from in life when it comes to tending to world dynamics and crisis response. These things were challenging, but the ultimate tests for if we were meant to be. After surviving two years of deployments on a ship and my life at college, we were able to move in together in Philli. New dynamics and some major life events that pushed us further in discovering and developing who we were individually and together. At that time, I was really unsure if I was going to make it out alive with the way my health had crashed . We were fighting with every breath to root and rise through it! We finally found out we had orders to be stationed in the Outer Banks. We were looking forward to being on the beach and close to family, but we knew with environmental science and emergency response to boating accidents and hurricanes that our lives would also be full of the heaviness of responsibilities and crisis management (+ finding a way to also manage our own personal and family crises matters). Oh and it certaintly did that! It pushed us to go deeper and further than ever before with discovering and developing our roots and rhythms, but it also became our home. A place so full of life and community. It still has many of the strings to our heart that will forever be a place we perceive as home.

This fall was our first time back in awhile.

When the past meets the present:

It can bring healing.

It can bring heartache.

In this case, it also brought joy and gratitude.

After the Outer Banks, we went through 3 very intense years of professional, personal, and family struggles. We fought with every fiber to make the best of things, but it was heart wrenching and testing on sooooooo many levels. The universe was screaming very loudly at us what we needed to do and we listened; it was time to get back to the roots. However, we still had contracts we had to fulfill (Military life: freedom is not free!!!!) So we had to stay for close to 2 years while things were no longer meant for us and painful to uphold. Every second was taking its toll on our mind, body, and soul, but we knew it was all for purpose. We had to dig way beyond the veil and look deep into the fog of it all to know that, but we did it. We did the Root and Flow work that is now a part of this curriculum I have created with every ounce of our breath we could. Even though we had to be in survival mode, we were awakening to our intended path. Awakenings are powerful. Breakthroughs often come with a lot of painful truths. This is the flow of life; birth is beautiful, but also requires a great deal of strength!

Our mantras have been: presence, perspective, and choice to help us Calm the Sea Within. We cannot control the world around us, but we can control the world within us. Those years taught us so much about releasing expectations and focusing on how we create our experiences.

Take all the material things! We always said, “we would be happy in a card board box as long as we have each other”. Life said, “challenge accepted”. So many things in our life fell apart in those years, but we survived through each other’s strength. The key to surviving together was awakening individually and creating how those new pathways intertwined. Moving back to our roots made us go even further in that process, but we could feel the purpose in our bones. We were having to live in very humbling circumstances, but again, all with the roots and rhythms we knew in our spirit. Sometimes, the fog felt so heavy and the darkness felt darker, but we kept getting glimpses of the stars, powerful sunrises, and waves of energy from the moon. As empaths, these were universal energy downloads and premonitions (something we have always experienced).

One of those things we had long hoped would be true, finally came to be, and absolutely made it all worth it! Our shooting star was born!!! (If you must know, he was conceived after we wished on a shooting star while talking on the end of a dock; in a trailer, where we had our first kiss many, many moons ago. After years of trying and having to press pause at times, he came to be!)

The Outer Banks is significant for my family for so many reasons. After years of battling illness, major life changes, family caretaking matters and more (all of us continuing to pick up the pieces of it all), it was time for us to have some time by the ocean. It was a very brief trip, but something that felt like we traveled to another world where time stood still and we could finally be fully present with one another and bridge the past to the present. It brought healing. It brought heartache. Most of all, it brought joy and gratitude. Gratitude for all that we made it through. Gratitude for all the pieces of our journey; the ones that made us and the ones that broke us. We danced with joy, because we had to make tough, humbling choices for the stars to align. We did. We chose not to act out against the systems that failed us. We chose to live a life of love by the choices we made, even when it would have been easy to rise and get '“ahead” in other ways, but we chose the hard paths. We are still choosing the hard paths, but we make sure every step is with intention and love! We danced with joy, because we finally got to share this part of our life with our baby boy. For so long, looking back, often felt cold and dark, because we were still in the thick of healing and creating space for the light to come back in. Seeing him light up at the pieces so sacred to our journey, mean everything!!!!!

A few of my favorite things: Lucy, blueberries, and cats. Someone seemed to pick up on this path immediately. I barely have the TV on, but the first time I had Lucy on, he laughed and danced like it was the greatest thing! Occasionally, it is now part of our morning flow. I also have magnets of her on my fridge. He points, laughs, and dances with them all the time. He is obsessed with blueberries. I didn’t make a big deal about them. I introduced them and included them like every other food (even though I LOVE THEM), but he too was naturally drawn to them. Cats are something I did obsess over. We have two old cats that have been with us for over 13 years. They are overall calm. One is just a goof. The other, I have to watch more carefully because she is a little more temperamental due to her anxiety issues and tolerance levels of comfort (She has been progressing with tumors. She is still functional, overall happy, and not in extreme pain, so it’s not time yet for her to go, but definitely closely monitored. ) Of course, this is the one he becomes obsessed with, because we always had a stronger reaction when he would want to pet her. He is so gentle and loving with her, but every now and then still gets curious with his actions. He also found a stuffed cat in my closet from when I was a kid. This has become like his security blanket. He found it on his own, calls it “meow meow”, and loves it! He also loves animal books and sounds, which strongly comes from his Dad and myself. His dad is more educational with it. I am more of the clown around with it while sprinkling some education in it.

#coffeeandcrystals: Make your Own Magic ! Magic can be in the least expected moments. The magic happens when we are fully present with the spirit of life. Too often the ego and shadow layers of life; the echoes of all the things that were and all the things that we think should be; those things sizing us up through inner dialogue can have a hold on us and keep us from feeling the power, potential, the magic! Those voices have purpose. We need those voices at times to help us better understand our world within and all around, but through mindful methods and practices. When we do that work, we open up more space for presence; for the magic of being fully alive in the present! The way a flower smells, the clarity of a dream, the healing touch of connection, all become so much more vibrant and enriching!

For my mind, heart, and spirit to feel open it cannot be surrounded by walls! I need movement. I need air. I need light. I need space. I need water. I need nature. In this, I feel connected to all things divine and strong enough to protect myself from the things that can warp or harm purpose and perception. Too often, our systems and infrastructures are upheld by too many walls, too many borders, and small bubbles of beliefs. Too often, the missing ingredient is an open mind, heart, or spirit. We must be mindful of how we exchange energy, but too often when our roots and rhythms are fear-based we are causing more damage and limits vs opportunity for understanding and connection. Nature is my classroom and my sanctuary. I dream of a world where we could all sit around a fire, dance, cook, and share stories of the art of living. Of course, this would not work with the current conditions of the world, because there are those who live with the intention to harm and gain power. There are those who live with rage because of the unfortunate events of their life. No one hungry. Everyone living through love and peace is a nice dream, but not reality. Maybe we’ll get there one day, but for now all we can do is nurture that in our own lives the best we can.

And… may that be as happy as this boy is with a tomato!!!!!! #crEATe

Ingredient challenge of the day: What is your favorite plant-based tomato recipe? Of course, we have our staples of Italian dishes, tomato sandwiches, and he just eats them off the vine like they are infused with the full essence of life, but a dish that takes a little extra love and effort for me is: Fried Green Tomatoes ! (I love making them with an everything bagel seasoning or mesquite or corn polenta.)

Being out in nature always empowers us to move; it is the root and flow of all things!!! I love watching him figure out things. The way he observes and explores helps me reconnect to that inner-child consciousness of wonder, discovery, and development!! It’s a world of potential and possibilities!!!!

Take care of your roots!

Grow from the core care. Remember, in the core of it all, growth is happening in both directions; what is seen and what is not. The roots are growing deep below the surface. So much of life happens in introverted states, but sometimes we are too focused on what’s above it all, the way the branches look, and the extroverted perceptions of it all that we forget, growth is not just one direction.

Leaves will fall.

Seasons will change.

This is a part of growth.

The leaves return to root. They return to the Earth to become a part of the cycle of life.

These are the roots and rhythms of life.

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”!!!

I love the way he loves to cuddle our old dog, Kira. The way he is constantly looking out for his cats. The way he wants to make sure everyone is warm and fed. The way is trying so hard to understand all the sciences of life. He loves studying the mechanics and environments of things. These things are so deeply in his nature from his life path numerology of being aligned with the role of a nurturer, fierce and caring little Leo, his blood and spirit connections, and from the love we have for him. May he always feels the roots and rhythms of this love!!!

Oh my, what a moon!!! Too much I need to write on this!!! Let me just save this for when I get the moon energy workshops off the ground, because if you are not aware of how the moon and stars influence our energy it can all sound like fairy tales. I always try to offer this food of thought though: The moon is responsible for the waves/tides in the ocean through the gravitational push and pull. We are on a spinning ball in space rotating around the sun. We feel this. We are life in motion. We are energy made up of nature’s elements. We feel the world within and all around. Understanding the blueprint of the planets, stars, and how it all moves is just one more method to helping us learn a little bit more about the root and flow of life. This does not have to be the ruling force of your life or replace the beliefs you feel are sacred to you, but think of it as a potential guide / map for further understanding life. We are not meant to have all the answers, but I believe we are responsible for our answers. Sometimes, the plan for life is out of our hands, but sometimes the answers are within us and all around us. It is up to us to figure out what that is. It is important to have faith and hope in the things you believe in, but too often the missing ingredients are the beliefs in our own abilities and power. This goes for even those who exude too much power or self-assurance, because it is often not coming from a place of faith, but rather, fear. We must be mindful and accountable for our life path! A big part of doing that is recognizing; IT MATTERS! We are matter and everything we do matters! We must be open to how it all flows and how it is all connected! Sometimes, life is random chaos, but most of the time, there is a root and flow to it all if we take enough time to look deep enough and believe far enough. Sometimes, it is not about having an answer, it’s about believing in the potential. It is about co-creating the answer. You cannot control the world around you, but you can control the world within you! Now my friends of stardust, air, water, and so many little cells of life floating in you, how will you nurture that? The breath of life is powerful. A glass of water is powerful. These things are all so fragile, but divine. These are the essence of life. May we show more awareness and gratitude for these things and all things. We hear this over and over again, but too often I feel like these words are lost on most. Like, so many are just going through the motions of what is passed around and what is expected. To know these things we must feel these things. We must feel these things deeply, in every fiber of our being, but too often we have been taught all the ways to avoid feelings and have become attached to the things that help us hit the skip button on the depth, feelings, and essence of life. Getting back to the roots of learning to feel it all, takes time. “It takes time for things to take root and it will certainly require much effort for things to take root after the process of uprooting from the environments we were once so influenced and developed by”.

It has been some sleepless nights and testing moments with season change, time change, lots of teething, and the spirit energy us Empaths feel in every fiber of our being and the life we are still working so hard to put together, but we are living our best life. We may not be where we want to be in all the ways we want to be as far as our dreams and aspirations of providing for one another and our world, but we are exactly where we want to be in regards to experiencing life; right here with you. We will keep working to best create the things that will hopefully help us to continue to nurture and grow a healthy, sustainable path, but meanwhile, breath by breath, moment by moment, hour by hour, we will continue to dance, sing, create, love, laugh, and have a dang good time. Considering all the things contributing to the energy flow at the moment, we have done rather well. You, my SONshine, always put your best foot forward and we try to do the same to do right by you and our own inner-spirits. We live authentically. We live intentionally. We do our best to live mindfully. We will hold each other. We will dance. We will sing. We will do everything to be by your side for as long as you need. Our dynamics will change over the years, but may our bond always be.

The eyes are a gateway to a world of insights and stories. Every spec of dirt and element of nature is a keeper, messenger, or force of life. In the trees, we hear the echoes and whispers of the roots and rhythms of a time beyond to a time that is coming. These things are the pulse of life. How we connect to it is a process of learning our energy. It requires time and presence. How long has it been since you just held dirt in your hand to watch it, feel it? How long has it been since you collected leaves to watch them change colors and biodegrade into the Earth? How long has it been since you watched a sun rise or set? These are things that still captivate me. May you never lose that love and wonder for these things that are the keepers and messengers of life.

Energy is wasted, opportunities are lost, and moments are missed when we spend too much time trying to control all the things. So much of our programming in life is about having control, but also “falling in line”!! It is so hard to break the cycles of that programming and the “it should be this way” lines running through our mind! Oh my my though, freedom is when we release those expectations…….breathe……….let it be ……. let the nature of life, flow!

Kids are messy, but life is messy!! The earlier they learn to navigate the mess and not have fear and anxiety over it, the better. When we can ease the stress and tension that surrounds every day life, the more we can create authentic, intuitive wellness patterns; the art of listening to the true needs of the mind, body, and soul. It is to align the world within to the world all around without losing yourself and without having to force control. It is to find and create a flow. Sometimes, that looks a little different from day to day, because it is about assessing the vibes of the day.

My son is now at the age where I am giving him more opportunities to be involved in the process of things. I use to make all of his food from scratch, but now that he can handle higher levels of sodium & etc, we do have some processed foods. However, we still try to be mindful of the ingredients and the portions, but we do not over control. We do our best to model how to make choices of listening to the body. Example: When I eat out of a bag of chips, I say “Ok, I had a few, I am good now, my belly cannot handle many more, so I will save some for later”. He may not understand every word, but he gets the context. When he has a bag of chips, I just let it be and I observe. He normally takes a few and then gives me the bag when he is done. However, I try to set this up for success. If it was right before dinner and he was super hungry, I would not just hand him a bag of chips. Normally, in that scenario, I let him help with dinner and sample it along the way to get him involved in the process and curve the cravings. Snacking on the dinner while preparing the dinner can help prevent over-eating. If it is a large bag of chips, then I let him pick out some to place in his bowl and let him know he can ask for more, if needed. Sometimes he does. When he does ask for more, I ask, “does your belly feel full”? Again, he may not understand every word, but he gets what is implied and pats his belly like he is listening to it and assessing it. If I think he is full, then I will offer something else like an apple he can nibble on or water. If he keeps asking for more, then we get more. The goal is to try to establish a trusting relationship of respecting choices and voices. Children are humans. Too often, too much is expected of them in the wrong way. They have all these expectations placed on them, but then are not allowed to be and not allowed to make choices or express themselves. This turns a relationship into a constant pressure cooker situation. As I always say, I am by no means perfect, but I am trying. I have a lot of experience in childhood development and am doing my best to apply it all as a first time mom. Loving him is easy. Being present with him is easy. Juggling all the things of life and motherhood is hard AF. Trying to break the cycles of my inner programming and listen to the true voice of intuition and developmental knowledge is hard. Life is busy and it can be so tempting to just fall back on all the “auto-pilot” teachings of “surviving the day”, but I am not here to just survive the day. I am investing in life through every action and choice, hopefully, in a way that honors his needs, as well as my own. The little voices matter and they communicate to us is so many ways. If we tune them out from the beginning, then why are we surprised when they start tuning us out.

“A life in motion, stays in motion”.

“Just get on up, and shake your booty! Dance like no one is watching! If they are, may it inspire them to get on up and shake their booty too!”

“Work hard. Play harder!”

“Leave no rock unturned. You never know what is hiding in plain sight!”

“March to the beat of your own drum!”

“Walk. crawl. run. Be mindful of your steps, but keep stepping!”

Uprooting our life to return to the roots of our hometown was not an easy choice, but an obvious one. The universe was steadily knocking down doors to make this reality clear. It would have been easy to keep pushing forward in a different direction in the life we were already in or uprooting to a place where we already had opportunities open to us where we felt a natural vibe with, but it would have been soul-aching in so many ways. Facing the earth-shattering, deepest, hardest vibes are when we align with our highest purpose. Too often in life, people feel like there are missing pieces. This is true, when there are things we are avoiding, not tuning into, ignoring, or trying to force things that do not fit. The inner work of listening to the deepest vibes is often a journey of years in the making. The answers unfold piece by piece. The awakenings come in from ripples and tidal waves. The best is when you find the answers that make it ALL WORTH IT!!!

This picture of us at the table is so significant to me. I nearly lost my Dad in 6th grade to a heart attack. I often lived in fear that he would never get to meet his grandchildren. I never even knew if I would be able to have children of my own, because of many health battles. As I got older, this reality became even harder, because my soul (as an Empath) kept connecting with the spirit energy of having children, but manifesting it into this world was a journey of years of mental and physical work. Life in my family was always very on the go. My father is very dedicated to work and my mother is very dedicated to taking care of her parents (we lost my grandfather 2 years ago this upcoming January to alzheimer's). Nana struggles with short-term dementia and has occasional signs of it progressing to alzheimer’s. My Dad also has Parkinson’s disease. My husband and I lived a military life for 13 years. We all have always been dedicated to community activities. Gathering at the table in my parents’ house had not been a possible reality for many years for a number of reasons. We always did our best to make the best of the moments wherever we were with whatever scenario we were in, but being able to be at this table with my son, my husband, my father, my mother, and my nana is beyond words. I learned very early on to never take life for-granted; too much gets taken away too fast! And… to lighten this.. the bananas go way too early (also pictured above)…. !!! Back to the depth of it … seriously though… be grateful for the moments that you never thought you would get!!!!

My little shooting star: “I can see the universe through your eyes!” Life has always been fast, but it is faster than it’s ever been. We may not remember every moment, but may we always remember the love in it all!

Learning to love yourself is a constant journey and work in progress, because the self is not set in stone. We change with the seasons, phases, and cycles of life. We are always learning who and why we are. We are always learning more about the rhythms of our roots and the nature of our flow.

These boys, my nephew and my son, make my heart so big!!

The zest in life is creating together!!!!

My Nov. 2021 Daily Roots Journal