My December 2021 Daily Roots

Welcome to my December 2021 #dailyroots, my open Root & Flow Journal. These are my daily notes in sync with my Root & Flow monthly calendar & features. I share these pieces of my life as a personal reminder of the journey. My mind is always running with the 1,000s of things I want / need to do and all the hopes and dreams for this world. Over the last several years, I have been working on pulling back to create a more conscious, mindful, present, and sustainable life. Taking time to put the pieces together in this journaling ritual is something that has been very therapeutic for me. Sometimes, I feel like I don’t have my sh*t together, especially while we are still somewhat in an introverted state of uprooting, but putting my pictures and thoughts together for #dailyroots helps me look back on all the details of wonder & magic; the art of living with joy and love. There is a lot about my life that is still a work in progress. One thing for sure is, I do my best to celebrate life each day. This ritual helps me feel that. It helps me get out of my head of all the 1000s of things that still need doing, the I’m not enough shadow voice, that likes to turn my gears. Taking time to create this in my own personal space with no pressure of posting has helped me connect so many dots. If I ever do share these, my goal and intention is to share a few Seeds of my Soul that may help others to join in on this little Root & Flow dream of mine to create a little more love, peace, and healing in our worlds within and the world all around.

Thoughts for December:

These are the days we should slow down, focus on less presents, and give more presence. These are the days we should create a little more wonder and magic. These are the days we should let love grow wild.

ROOT WEEK

This week we are in the Root week of the Root & Flow Calendar. The Root week is when the flow of the month is more in an introverted state in sync with the new moon. This is when energy can be a little heavier and it is time for things to be released. This is when we need to pull back to focus on the flow deep within. We need to take our time to process things. We need to clean out what is weighing us down. We need to welcome the month and create space for opportunities. Sometimes, people picture this as all the big things on the list, but sometimes it is the little things that can have the most impact. The root work can be creating a little more time for breath work; taking time to connect to self and the rhythms of breathing for a moment.

Christmas, a season when we are being pushed at every corner with ads to get more things and many are having to work longer hours in colder, darker days/nights. Do more with less can be such a mixed message. In the mainstream flow of the world, this often means more productivity and more measured “success” (good grades, good financial gains, etc) with less resources (people, payment, etc). In this scenario, the quality of life is often sacrificed to produce the quantity. Connection gets lost in all the rushed moments. People are being worked to the bone. It becomes more about just meeting that goal vs the journey and process of it all. The magic is in the details though. Doing more with less can be a positive principle when applied appropriately. Sometimes, we need less materials and more conscious connections with everything we do from our conversations to our food choices to our approach to work and learning to being mindful of how all the items are made. We’ve probably all heard a parent ask a child, “why are you not happy, you have all these toys”. Really, children do not care about the toys, but they learn to rely on them. This becomes a programmed behavior. What they actually crave is life experience and connection, especially the people they love and trust. When these things are missing and when the time and energy becomes replaced with toys instead of life experiences, then this is what they become attached to and dependent on. This can be controversial, because in a world where everyone is stretched so thin, it can be challenging to meet those needs. I totally get it! Sometimes we need those toys they love to just give us a minute to breathe, but there are ways to nurture this into a healthy, balanced relationship. We explore this a lot on the Wild Rooted Blog, but my point here: children become easily overwhelmed when surrounded by toys, they become dependent on toys when they are promised a new toy to survive a moment or meet a goal, they have trouble making a choice when they are given too many food options and detached from the process of making food, they can feel so many big emotions from the pressures of learning and rising up to all the expectations. The world is still a new place, even as our children become teenagers. There is so much for them to process and understand. Their brains are still developing. They can become easily overwhelmed and over-stimulated while simultaneously under-stimulated because of the lack of outlets and experiences to properly express and understand all that is going on in their worlds within and all around. I know this sounds like adding more pressure to all the things we need to do, but by getting back to the essentials of life, the goal is to ease the pressure on our children and ourselves. It is to create more balance and natural flow in all of the roots and rhythms of life. Children love the simple things (if we lead by example and give our full presence in connection). Things like making a meal together, looking at the moon at night, going for a walk, brushing teeth together, and so much more can go a long way and leave a lasting impression. Engagement from personal effort and presence is all the enrichment they truly need. Everything from the daily rituals we create to the special activities are things they are soaking up like sponges. If we are frustrated about their behaviors and choices, then maybe we need to reflect on all the things are soaking up and why. A lot of times our frustration is not at them, it is at ourselves and all the pressures we are under from the world. The Root & Flow #dailyroots are about daily steps to constructively release and detox that energy, so we can rest, manifest, and restore a nurturing flow. I wrote this method, but I’m not perfect at it. Some days, I do not even feel good at it, because I am oh, so human!!! I do my best to feel good about it though. I try my best to be my best, but those moments when I feel like I do not measure up, I try to pull back and give myself emotional space in my heart and mind to feel this and get to the root of why I feel that way. Personally, I know the roots of why I feel all those things; they are things I have been working on for years and current circumstances I’m working so hard on. Therefore, in my process I have to often remind myself to stop dwelling on the roots of it all, stop putting pressure on myself to overextend and rise beyond my means, and be present, patient, and compassionate with myself and those around me. We do our best to greet the sun with excitement for the opportunities in the day and to watch it set with a grateful heart from what we learned and shared in the day. We do our best to make healthy choices through connection not pressure. We do our best to be the light, find the light, and create the light, but we also say hello to the moods and nights that feel so dark. We learn how to try to breathe through them. Sometimes, those moments are so challenging to find composure and strength. Sometimes, we expect and demand too much from those moments; like finding words or it to be processed by a certain time. We do this to ourselves and our connections. The mantra we use on here a lot is: “Experiences over expectations”!

Again, it is all the little things that matter, but the key ingredient is the heart in the moment. Sometimes, it can be so hard for our heart to be present, because it is fighting silent battles from our own life experiences or present worries. The inner energy work is all about learning how to not be ruled by it and allowing it to bubble over into all the layers of our present life. If it is, then this is when it is time to pull back, reflect, dig a little deeper, and re-evaluate our priorities and needs. It is important to create safe protocols for processing it. Again, I know from my own life flow, how hard this can be. Sometimes, all those vibes have a way of sneaking up on us. Life can be hard and overwhelming, there are times when we break. When we do, what matters is how we do the repair work. The problem is when these become patterns, the auto-pilot process of surviving life. This is when the moments keep happening again and again with the lack of repair work. This is when it may be time to do the deep inner-work of life of what is not working and what is not worth it. Sometimes, the universe is steadily giving us signs of what doors and paths are not meant for us. If we continue to tune-out the signs and over-force our energy to keep filling the same patterns and cycles of life, then our world within and all around will be filled with more and more tension. I love the picture of Bruce learning to listen with his ear. This has become a nightly ritual when he knows it is close for Dada to return home from work. Learning to listen is a skill. There is always more to learn with this skill. Listening is not just about hearing. Listening and processing what we hear is important, but it is crucial to learn to listen to the unspoken; the inner-voice, the body language cues, the things we observe through connection or energy, etc. We had to learn this the hard way sometimes. Too often, the world teaches us not to listen to our inner-voice and to follow what the world needs or expects. It teaches us to react vs take the time we need to evaluate and process. Our goal is to help our son be confident and mindful in listening to his connections with the world within and all around. Speaking of confidence, I struggle sharing these vulnerable pieces of our lives for so many reasons. On the ego layer of life, I struggle, because we may not have a lot of materials or be where we had hoped, but we have so much love and are exactly where we need to be. Ultimately, we received the greatest gift by finally being able to have our son. Our pride still takes a hit at times from the life we had to give up and how we have had to rebuild, but we know all the roots and rhythms to the path and purpose of it all. Our hearts’ gratitude from our choices and effort outweighs the pride. Sharing our life is more of a struggle from a spiritual layer of self though. I consider the life journey to be a very sacred experience. We are very private in our choices, experiences, and plans, because not everyone is on the same wavelength. Therefore, airing out all the laundry is often an invite for judgements, assumptions, and more. People are going to do this whether you share or not, but you have to do it in a way that is best for you and your family. Myself and my family choose to process everything as much as possible behind the scenes and deep within the roots (in an introverted state) before we bring it to the surface. When we do bring it to the surface, we do our best to share it in a way that hopefully honors the sacred journey of it all as best as possible. This is more important than ever, because I try to consider how my son will feel about all the things in our life and what we put out into the world. All I know is: we do everything from a place of love. If others struggle to see or respect that, then that is not an outcome I can control. My goal here is to do my best to live by example and hopefully offer a safe space where those who are trying to ROOT, LOVE, GROW™ a little more each day can connect to breathe, inspire, empower, create, release, and rest.

You don’t have to travel for adventure. Adventure blooms from the minds of wonder, the heart of the inner-child, and a spirit for the love of life. You don’t have to have all the things to create magic and success. You just have to have the things that matter: the conscious you; your creativity, compassion, and presence. Sometimes these things are hard to find or create, like we talked about above, but taking time to find, create, or restore those things is not only healing for ourselves, but influences everything we do and every relationship.

Take a walk on the weird side, where we play lots of music and plan to “live-long and prosper” through our authentic dreams and vibes! We hope to live a long, quality life, but we try to do our best to focus on the moments of the day and how we pour the energy into them.

The blue dragonflies are one of Bruce’s messengers / spirit guides. Prior his birth and currently, we had a lot of experiences with Blue Jays and blue dragonflies. There are many other significant elements of nature and experiences that were all important signs and guides. I will share more about this in the Seeds of our Soul blog. For today’s meditational thought, I am just in awe of seeing him grow and become more of the compassionate human he is. He is such a star-seed (literally, my shooting star) with a deep soul, big heart, and intuitive spirit. Today and everyday, I often find myself just staring with gratitude in amazement that I get to share my life with this fella and his Dada.

LOVE WEEK

This is when we are moving from the state of releasing to resting. We are moving into the waxing crescent from the new moon; a little glimmer of light peeking through the clouds. We are rising from the roots into the core essentials of life. This is still a time when we need a little more time to focus on our worlds within before fully rising back to the surface.

To crEATE is to create the merry magic. Again, like in the above #dailyroots, you don’t have to have all the things and you don’t have to be the best or have the best for it to be worthy. You just need some sprinkles of creativity and the binding elements of conscious connections. In the crEATe project, we will talk about how to do so. Meanwhile, enjoy an easy pre-made recipe:

-Coconut ice-cream or yogurt

-Vegan dark-chocolate syrup

-Supernatural non-toxic sprinkles

-Tate’s bakery gingerbread cookie

It was one of those days when the magic of synchronicity fills the air. Actually it had been kind of a stressful day of us trying to do all the things and I was in my head of worrying over how in the world to do all the things.

That evening at the store, I had an amazing experience that completely lifted my spirits. I rarely go out and I often dread going grocery shopping, because as an Empath a lot of the energy in big chain stores can be toxic and overwhelming. This really does not become an issue, consciously, until you become more attuned to your nature & inner flow. Otherwise, we can absorb the toxicity like sponges and it influences our flow in subconscious ways. However, the extroverted side of me sees these as opportunities for random magic to occur through the power of connections. When those random moments happen is when my soul comes to life and is reminded to give every environment a chance, because we often find things we need, especially connections, when we least expect it. As an Empath, it is often an invite for these opportunities and for people to tell you their story or share their vibes. The girl checking me out was ringing up my items and noticed my craft supplies. She struck up a conversation about how she loves to do crafty things. One thing led to another and we were having the best time. This is what I love. I love talking to people and getting to know their vibes and stories. This is hard in big environments, because in a consumer-based world in a big place like that, highly-sensitive people feel all the struggles and pressures everyone is dealing with, so positive connections can be rare. I typically always do my best to make positive connections, but the heaviness of the world often seeps in.

Side note: We have been in far more stressful environments. We have a lot of experience with heavy circumstances, crisis management response, big crowds, social conditions, etc. However, those experiences awakened our Empath / Highly-Sensitive nature and abilities and further developed our attunement to all the heaviness of life. When you are in a position of steadily trying to extend all of your roots and branches to try to nurture the tree of life in all of those circumstances, you can get burnt-out. Therefore, it is crucial to be mindful of your limits and the balance of the give and take of energy.

Back to the story: We were having the best time. All of sudden, she said: “you look like a person who appreciates tulips”. I responded with how much I love flowers. Tulips are very special. She was sharing how these beautiful bags of bulbs were on sale and we were discussing the peacefulness of gardening. Before I knew it, she was off running to go grab them for me, and was like “I just have to show you how pretty they are”. When she put them on the counter, my jaw nearly dropped. They were the colors my mom use to always plant in her memory garden of her sister that we lost to brain cancer. Every year those tulips next to the angel came up out of the ground on her birthday. This is odd and significant, because her birthday is January. Sometimes, it was even snow on the ground, but that tulip would be sprouting up. Those experiences were quite spiritual and after it reoccurring for so many years, it was too consistent to be coincidence. Either way, it was comforting.

Neither of us have had time to tend to the flower garden in the past few years due to life circumstances, but we still did other methods for nurturing this connection. This year, I was determined in my mind to hopefully get that flower garden back in bloom for my mom by spring, so for this stranger to pick tulips to discuss out of all the flower choices with me is just a moment of magic. Sure, there are explanations, like maybe tulips are her favorite flower, but think of all the things that had to align. I had to choose her check-out line. She noticed my supplies. We discussed crafting and that led to gardening. She chose to talk about tulips specifically, which resonates with my experiences. Whether, spiritual or simply a part of the random, chaotic universe, it was magic to have that moment. These are the moments that I feel the human spirit, the art of connection, and the divine flow of life (in whatever form you believe) so vibrantly.

When I come strolling out of the store, the sun was setting, the air was light, the sky was cracked with the light peeping through the clouds and it was just a breath of peace, hope, and love. I called my mom to tell her about it. She happened to be outside looking up at the sky in the same moment. When I got home, I was taking my earrings out and realized they were my Aunt’s (my mom’s sister that passed). I use to wear these daily. This was the 1st time I had worn them in nearly 2 years. I texted the picture to my mom. When I looked at the time on the text it was: 5:55. Then, I settled in to do our nightly reading with Bruce. We pick 1 book to read at night to countdown to Christmas. Out of all the books, he chose one that had this proud, tall, beautiful tulip in it just a shining!!! On my Root & Flow Calendar, this is the week of Love & Inner-Power. My oh my was it certainly in the air!!

The essentials help create a comfortable home; heat, air, food, and water, but a cozy home is safe and full of love and adventure.

Lucy, blueberries, cats, yoga, and dancing. I did not push these things, but he just picked up on them and they became a part of our flow. Children are very empathic and intuitive. Some more-so than others due to their highly-sensitive nature (this is determined by our nervous system). It is also a muscle, so when they are in an environment where those muscles are exercised, they are more attuned to their world within and all around. Bruce instantly picked up on all the things that make us glow. We did / do not watch a lot of TV unless we create the time to be fully present with it for special family time. It is never on to just occupy background noise or to entertain him in replacement of us. The one time we watched Lucy, I laughed my head off and I guess he fell in love with that. He now discovered the Lucy magnets on the fridge and laughs his head off when he sees them. He comes running with them pointing at the TV for me to put it on. He always starts dancing and laughing. We also dance a lot to music on tv. He has a few kid shows he loves that we also find educational and we do an occasional movie (normally over a few days, because toddler attention span). We view TV as a resource not as a constant source of / connection to energy. We will cover these thoughts on the Wild Rooted Family Blog. Lucy has become an even bigger part of our family though. She has always helped me through a lot of life, and now it is just fun being able to share that! We typically eat at the table, but every now and then we do have a picnic on the couch together. While teething with some early mornings, his request was mama milk, frozen blueberries, and Lucy. He loves all animals, but has a strong attachment with cats and dogs, because we have two old cats and a sweet, old dog. He has his own lovies, but he found one of my old stuffed cats in the closet and adopted that as his main lovey. One day he just started carrying it around and calling it meow meow. He was constantly hugging it, trying to feed it, and asking for it, so meow meow is now also part of the family. I love that my husband and I are his main sources of attachment for comfort and security, but it is nice being able to share the things that also bring us comfort.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Sometimes you just have to dance.

Sometimes you just have to jump around.

Sometimes you just have to be silly, wild, and free.

Sometimes you just have to sit and stare at each other making funny noises.

Life is fast, don’t forget these moments my sweet boy, I hope you will always be able to create time for that wonder and magic of life!!

Tea, nature, water, and journal writing are my essentials for my emotional, mental, and physical health!!!

Mornings are for art and dancing!!!!

GROW WEEK

This is when we are starting to feel a little more energy in our flow. We may feel like being more social or creative. Thoughts may be clearer. The moon is on its way to becoming full. We did the root and inner power work to be able to focus on the things we need to manifest. We have a better idea of where we are on that journey.

Seeing these pictures from last year blow my mind!! How has it been a year? Life is so incredibly fast, even when you have pulled back to try to create a slower - paced more intentional life. One thing for sure, I highly doubt I will make the yule log recipe this year, but I will try to dig it up for the blog.

A few reminders for #hoursofpower!

With life being so incredibly fast, one of my mantras in motherhood has been: “this is such a short time in a life time”. (I saw that quote passed around a lot from multiple sources). We will not get these days back. They fly and growth seems to happen over-night. A lot of what I talk about in the Root & Flow Method is to remember that growth happens in multiple directions; not just what we see bloom and how much things grow above the surface. Things are also growing below the surface; the roots deep within are creating pathways and processing things. This is the process of life that often gets rushed, forgotten, or taken for-granted. Confident independence occurs in gradual steps, not by forcing the matters. When we force things to be a certain way, to “fit into our expectations”, then it often has the opposite effect. Creating space through consistent, loving routines and rituals (daily roots) allows the opportunity to explore daily habits and responsibilities through gradual steps. It can be our instinct to over-control, but we have to allow room for problem-solving and freedom of expression. We have to nurture connections and conscious choices. We have to try to focus on experiences over expectations. Again, I am no expert. Most days I do not feel like I am enough, because I still have that shadow voice of making me feel less than. I know these shadows. I’ve danced with them and done the root work for a very long time. One thing I do know, I love my folks with my whole soul, especially this shooting star of mine, and I try my best to create a conscious, mindful life in the hopes that he will have less things to heal from and more space and energy to be able to focus on creating a life of love and creativity. A path where he can tap into his spirit and calling with ease. That’s a hard thing to do in this world, so the goal is to try to eliminate the pressure and dance with the journey of it all. There is no choreography, just intuitive movements of figuring out the roots and rhythms.

Things made of love are simple and sweet. Anything we do from the #heartofthematter can move mountains, lift the fog, and find the light in it all. Kira, the dog, was afraid of hearing the rain on the tin roof (she was a rescue from a hurricane). Bruce wanted to go sit with her and comfort her. He was asking for Kira. I was describing why she was afraid of the rain. He went running down the hall to just be by her side. She stopped shaking and was more at ease.

Fresh squeezed lemonade, the magic of bubbles, art, life skills, made-up games, unfinished projects, hiking, eco-connections and more; our #wildrootedadventures of #messesandmemories !!! You don’t need a lot of toys to make memories; just time, energy, and connections. At this age, a hair clip can be entertainment for hours, especially if they are learning how it works and most importantly, sharing that experience with you. He loves trying to “fix my hair”. The cat looks highly concerned, because the stuffed cat, Bruce’s “meow meow”, was getting the treats, hehe!!!

When the right vibe hits it is amazing the shifts that can occur! Sometimes the right vibes are hard to come by though, because we get focused on the running lists of: “what we need to do”, “what we have not done”, “what we need”, “what others need”, “what we want”, and the beat goes on and on. All of that is even stronger when you are still in the middle of your “life transformation”, the space between your past and your future. We all are, but some of us have settled roots; a space we have long been in and a clear path to proceed on. Others of us have lived a life of uprooting and are having to cultivate the spaces to plant the new roots.

We are a little strange. Life can be unusual, but sometimes, in the best kind of ways!!!! Hope you have a far out holiday season!!!! “The truth is out there”! (- X-files)

FLOW WEEK

The enlightenment, calm, and restoration after a full moon. The full moon often brings a lot to light; it is vibrant and full of energy. It can be a time of empowering enrichment and also chaos. The gravitational pull of it all brings things in full flow to the surface. We may be feeling all the things and wanting to do all the things. It can be such a high, but then when we come back down from all those vibes, it can be exhausting. The key is to prioritize and focus the energy into what needs to be released and what needs nurturing to create a balanced, restoration. We are life in motion, so balance only last a moment. We must co-create this process again and again in each moment.

Eating is such a big relationship. It rules so much of daily life. It really is the roots and rhythms of nearly everything we do. It is survival. It is expression. Being a provider and guide of the food journey from day 1 is the experience of my lifetime. In such moments, I have learned so much.

Understanding childhood development is not just a parenting matter. Everyone should have access to a diverse education on childhood development. It is more than just learning how to be a good parent or caregiver, it is learning and/or relearning how to be a good human. Sometimes, it is also about unlearning the things that were not best for our own roots and rhythms in our own development stages. Reconnecting with our inner child to heal and grow is essential for being more aware, patient, and empathetic towards our own needs and others.

Sunshine + Fresh Air = vital for the flow of the world within and all around. The weather may not always be ideal. Lately, it is quite unpredictable from day to day. It doesn’t have to be perfect to enjoy it. Magic and wonder flows when we let go of expectations and just allow ourselves to explore and discover with fresh senses. In this, we will often find the perfect moments!

Never would I have pictured myself sharing vulnerable photos. I am typically quite the private person. I am extrovert when I warm up in settings. When it comes to my day to day personal flow of life, I prefer introverted practices. Pictured above, 22 was a magical day of hiking and family time. However, at times throughout the day I had to keep shaking off the pressure and burnout I was feeling from the months of preparing for the holidays, and the ever-constant juggle of trying to be a fully present stay-at-home mom with a strong, responsive attachment and a small business creator. Lol, it has been in the creative stages for some time, because family first! However, with our flow of life, it is not really a business. The goal is for it to be a community, a resource hub, but sustainable. Every little piece of it is a seed that grew all these deep, intertwined roots in my soul and it has been a process to garden it all. Topics for another day. The gist of this post though is, the days leading up to the 22nd, I was having so many deep alignments (in my empath / medium life). These things were calling to me and pulling my energy to be present with them. I knew I needed to tune in. I was putting so much pressure on myself to try to create time to do so, which = a lot of nights of insomnia and staying up to try to do so. Bruce, my little Empath, was also feeling the ripples of this. I was doing my best to be fully present with him, then with my own energy when I could. After a strong, empath experience in the middle of the night of the 22nd, things finally came to light of why I was feeling such a strong pull to open the gateway to the spirit world that I try to carefully choose how and when I do so, because of how overwhelming it can be to the flow of my life. With now knowing what this call was, I had to open the gateway to be a medium for it and root through the energy of this powerful presence. In those moments, I found the answers and I found peace for the matter, but by this point it was nearly time to start the day with little rest. Thankfully, Bruce had slept pretty well, but my burnout was feeling real. In times like that/this, the best thing you can do is try to acknowledge the burnout. Don’t try to force yourself to just pretend it’s not happening or force your energy to be positive. Try your best to be mindful and patient with the process. Choose activities that can help you keep your cool. If you get over-stimulated, give yourself a few moments to breathe before you react. Sometimes, when we reach these places, the fear can creep in that we’ll get stuck in those emotions. We can feel like we’ll never be able to find our rhythm again. Too often fear of not ever being okay again is what is feeding the cycle. If we can do our best to stay grounded to these feelings are simply what is present in this moment, but we are rooting through it, and we will rise again. It may not be tomorrow or the next day. There is not timeline in the root work, but if we keep rooting, we will find our way through it. Often, it is the fear and the avoidance of the root work because of the fear of feeling all the things, is what takes up our time and energy. This can cause the feelings to grow and grow and the cycles to continue and remain longer. We cannot simply dismiss fear. Fear too is a feeling and we dismiss it, we are feeding that cycle of dismissing how we feel, so we must acknowledge it: “hello, old friend, oh fear and darkness why have you come again? Okay, well, since you’re here, let’s dance, let’s talk, let’s rest, and then, you must go”.

Another root source of burnout is: doing all the things. It can be easy to say we are going to reduce our patterns of too many expectations, too many priorities, doing better at setting boundaries, and delegating where you can, but when this is such a huge part of how your life flow was developed, it is hard to break those cycles, no matter how much root work you have done. It is always a work in progress. Learning to be more realistic and sustainable requires daily effort, because each day our perceptions, needs, and capabilities are different. However, when we accept this, the more intuitive we can be in our approach to own and honor this. So you fell into that pattern again, but the difference is: you are aware of it and you are actively doing the work to root through it. It is different when we are aware of such things and still purposely make poor choices. It is also different when we are not self-aware of such things and unconsciously flow according to our programming. If you are doing your best to do the root work, but some old or new subconscious programming patterns rose to the surface, that is okay, and part of the root and flow work. You are not 100% self-aware. Each day we are learning, growing, and doing our best to make conscious choices.

Happy Holidays from a cute little moose, his dog, and his dada! Oh, and me, the mama, the writer and creator of this “documentary” (lol) of our #wildrootedadventures!

I am still feeling quite burnt out from lots of things. Devin works another 12 hour shift today and tomorrow, so this is me conjuring up my energy to be the best mom I can be in the ways I can today and to also be a little more nicer to myself. I also am so dang grateful to have the sweetest, empath boy that sees me trying and celebrates in my joy of making me a cheerio necklace. I am also walking on the moon with gratitude from Devin surprising me with a matcha latte on his lunch break! Oh and that hug & kiss was also pretty good too!

Devin had to work last Christmas too, but thankfully, Bruce is at the age where we can celebrate the big days without it being the actual day. We also do our best to sprinkle a little wonder and magic in each day. We do not believe Christmas should be something everyone looses their minds over. It should be something valued and appreciated through mindful connections and gestures. The older he gets, we will do our best to be together as a family on the actual day, but for these past two years, it is what worked best. Last year, there was kind of something magical about just the two of us celebrating the actual day. This year, I was excited for it, but anxious because of my still present burnt-out feelings. I had a pep-talk withmyself though, took some deep breaths and reminded myself, there is no pressure, just be present with love and it’ll be okay. So, we got up, we danced, and we started making a festive, french toast breakfast. At that time, there was a knock at the door. Surprise! It was my mom! She was able to be with us for about 2 hours and I was able to have about 30 minutes to myself to just regroup my vibes and prepare for the festivities of the following days. This was like a vibrant makeover for my mood. Sometimes, you just need a moment to rest while thinking about things. My energy was fully restored and Bruce and I had a magical evening of cooking, dancing, and playing. Then, we went to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with mom, dad, and Nana. Devin was able to join us after work. There was more dancing, eating, cooking, and playing! I have so much gratitude for an evening of magical experiences. We exchanged a few, very meaningful gifts, but the truest magic came from the moments with those things, but most importantly, with each other! The joy comes from the energy you bring to the table. If you are feeling numb, empty, burnt-out, or overwhelmed, then it is vital to try to create a little time to address such things, because you do not want to serve that to others. Self-awareness and work is so important around the holidays, because priorities and responsibilities have often increased, and sometimes the scales of the workload are not balanced. Too much attachment to expectations is also very high during this time of year. Thankfully, I have a partnership where my husband and I can work as a sustainable team for the workload and mental load, but it is always a work in progress that also requires constant work and effort, so that too is part of the load. Also, a lot of times, both plates can be very full from the nature of our life flow, and those are the times where we do our best to put the most work in keeping our communication flowing and open to handling all the things. The holidays are often when the root and flow work is at its peak in its need for attention to detail and its call for shifts, realizations, and transformations. As we approach the end of the year, so many deep roots can rise to the surface, and more leaves can fall. It is a natural time for self-reflection, so we feel it all that much more!

Ahhhhhhh, holiday mornings like this, may it be so forever and always! Slow and steady of savoring time together! Taking time with each gift before moving on to the next to really explore it and discover it together. There is no rush! Life always focuses too much on just getting on to the next without appreciating the one thing that is right in front of us. We do our best to make sure we know that the thing in front of us; another human or an item is appreciated. It is also okay if you are not a fan of something, not everything nor everyone can be your cup of tea! There is no pressure. You don’t owe us or anyone else. We, and others, made these choices. I trust we are raising you to make conscious choices to be honest with setting boundaries when something is not comfortable for you and showing true appreciation or interest when it is. Most of all, may you always know, the thing most valuable to us: is you! I know, right now, you feel that way about us. The thing you want the most is time together. We soak that up! We know the older you get and the more you experience the outside the world, the more roots and rhythms there will be to tend to. I know we will still be doing our best to prioritize time with one another, but while I am in the present, I am going to just hold on to these moments for as long as I can while welcoming our journey into the future!

“This kitchen is for dancing” ! Sometimes, to feel the vibes, you have to move with the vibes!!!!

I love seeing your personality bloom!!! This empowers me each day!!!!

There are moments of synchronicity that make you stand still or feel like you are watching your life from somewhere else.

Before we uprooted our life with major career, location, and lifestyle changes we were having many premonitions of things to come. As Empaths we had always had a strong link to the “spiritual movement” or energy movements of things. The more we detoxed from the mainstream flow of the world, the stronger such vibes and visions came into focus. The picture of Dad and I dancing is right before we moved back in the town square under the full moon. The vibes were extra strong that night. I took in every minute of that dance, because I knew soon our life and the state of the world would soon be changing. I did not have a clear path or have all the answers to everything that was going to unfold, but some pieces were quite vivid visions. It all pointed to a very clear message though. It was time to fully uproot and get back to our roots and rhythms and the essentials of the art of living.

One of the the clear visions I had was seeing my Dad with full blown tremors. One night it was such a vivid vision of things to come, I called to make sure he was okay at the moment. He was at that time. Shortly, after we moved back, things I saw in my vision were starting to occur and unfold rapidly. He was soon diagnosed with Parkinson’s. By finding the right Drs. and treatment we were able to slow the progression and get it to a manageable state.

He is still working and dancing. One of the greatest visions I kept having was of our child. We had struggled to conceive, but I could feel the connection to my little one waiting to come Earth side, I just had to keep doing the energy work to make it happen. Nowadays, this little guy is enjoying dancing with his “Umpa” or “Bop Bop” in the kitchen. These last few days the synchronicity has been strong. Dad had given us a cool, daily quote book to read together. He got one for us and him, so we can read it each day and share in the vibes of it. He gave Devin a father squirrel book that is perfect for him and Bruce. We have a lot of squirrels around here. Bruce has quite the obsession with acorns and watching the squirrels. The book also says “stuck” a lot in regards to the acorns and the little squirrel always getting stuck and needing help from his Dada. Again, perfect, because Bruce says “stuck” a lot in regards to the acorn hats and also says, “I stuck” a lot when he is trying new movements. Last year, we were not able to really be together in Covid world, but Dad colored Bruce a Charlie brown ornament, because Bruce had taken up saying, “Good grief” from his Charlie Brown book. Charlie Brown is also Dad’s favorite. We did not see each other often, but the moments we do share with family really stamp a strong note on Bruce’s heart, my strong little Empath. After sharing in the books and dancing one of these past evenings, I was looking through pictures when I got home and then jumped on Instagram for a minute. This was the 1st post to pop-up. Thankfully, this is not my circumstance, but it reminded me of the vision I had before we moved back home. Things like this always puts perspective on what matters most.

Awwww RIP BETTY WHITE !!!!! You were such a GOLDEN GIFT to this Earth!!!!! We will be reading about your good-natured work, laughing at your wit, dancing in the bubbles, cooking, hugging, and snuggling with animals to celebrate your life. Thanks for making this world a little brighter place for many! Sad to see ya go, but glad it was peaceful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE TO ALL!! GOOD HEALTH AND FORTUNE FOR 2022!!!!