When we’re aligned with the seasons and the flow of nature, we encounter similar “seasons” in our interior world. What cracks open my hardened winter shell is the emergence of the pasqueflower in late March. What, or who, is it that brings on each season within you…your muse?

There are times when nature reminds us that not all places are hospitable and real danger exists unless we are fully prepared...more than just physically. The same is true when we decide to face our wounds, hurts, and heartbreaks.  The rewards of taking these journeys can be immense; although few are without sacrifice, turmoil, and tumultuous periods...perhaps equal to the peace we find.

Just as the great weaver connects its web to multiple points for strength and support, our hearts send out energetic links to those closest to us. These strands catch us when we stumble, or when life is overwhelming, reminding us we are never alone...even when there are no others physically around.

The bark beetle's larvae create "galleries" in the growth tissue under the bark, known as the cambium.  Each beetle has its own pattern, or signature. As the last hours of the year tick away, may your happy, moving, gratitude-filled experiences be etched in your memories and living tissue so that no amount of time could erase them.  And, may those difficult times, the heartaches, loss, and betrayals be written in the snow, to melt away and be recycled without evidence they ever existed. On the surface, it may seem easy to identify where you would place each event.  Wisdom asks, "Are you sure..." and invites you to go deeper.

What is this a photo of?  On this first day of winter, I wanted to share the gift of perspective. By shifting your vantage point, looking through another's eyes, or changing your story, your life will change dramatically...even though nothing external to you has changed. This is what it means to step into your divine self, for you are creating everything.

Trees that dare to grow on precipices and peaks subject themselves to strikes from the heavens. The same is true for those who go against the flow, stand up for the disenfranchised, share truth from the heart, and speak for those who don't have a voice...nature.They are often lightening rods for the critics, the naysayers, and those with ulterior motives.  Stand tall, stretch into your truth and what you stand for. You make a difference in the world and are expressing what you came here to do, and be.

This photo may elicit emotions across the spectrum from beauty to repulsion.  Why?  Many of us recognize the putrid, rancid death as aspects reflected in our own lives...where we have held on too long in a relationship, job, or self abuse and watched that part of us die off in an abnormal, unhealthy manner. It is never too late to choose again, in each moment, and claim your integrity - the state of being whole or undivided.

Can you sense my gentle presence as I pull on your heart strings? Listen closely and you will hear the symphony of our commingling and know that we are all creating this as the Uni-Verse...one song.

I love it when something really unexpected shows up...dancing outside the box I place things in, making the old, new. The unique Celtic knotwork, which revealed itself in the roots of a Gambel oak, has caused me to explore the world with child-like wonder, knowing that magic is afoot!

In life, completeness is found in the connection of light and dark within.  The proportions are different for each of us, depending on where our path has ventured.  Many times we seek our wholeness in the exterior realm, through another person or work. At best, those experiences only fill the gap temporarily through the distraction.    

Life seems to have a way of narrowing our focus over time. When we are young, our imaginations create worlds upon worlds, and when asked what we want to be when we grow up, our greatest dreams pour forth as though it's already a given.
Then the dream thief arrives, and one-by-one, steals our hopes until we are left defending the one or two that remain...leaving us focused on a very narrow bandwidth of life.

The bold and bright are always competing for your attention, just as the big issues are undeniable and demand your time and focus. But, it is the little things that often go undetected, which sneak up on you, reminding you of the beauty all around.  When you open yourself to this possibility, an infinite world of the minutiae becomes accessible...all you have to do is slow down enough and go deeper into the crooks and crannies. Once you enter this reality, your life will be painted anew with an entire universe previously uncharted.

Once all the flashy, outer expression has been displayed, a subtler, more refined beauty can unfold. The same is true of us.  After the need to be seen, heard, or understood, an inner beauty of raw reality is exposed...and we finally blossom.

How in tune are you with the subtleties influencing your life?  The downy feather in this photo is so sensitive to the slightest breath of wind, that it is able to reflect its force, direction, and patterns. We are bombarded with myriad demands for our attention every day.  Beneath these highways lie the more refined pulses of life...our signposts, if we are able to catch their voice and see the pathway that lies ahead.

Translucency is about being vulnerable. Not hiding in the shadows for fear of what others might think...and not exposing all, which is overbearing.

For so long, duality has been admonished as something to avoid in the spiritual realms...that the goal is oneness to avoid the pitfalls of polarity. What if, as in this plant, the polarity creates a balance, and that IS the oneness?  How can you know yourself without something to compare it to?  How can you know love in the absence of fear? Duality is the greatest gift, albeit our learning platform, always providing the opportunity to create a whole from the halves.

What would happen if you were able to build a strong foundation, sinking your roots deeply into your passion? Then slowly, over years of time and dedication, the supporting foundation was removed until you no longer needed it?This is the gift of true masters - creating a solid foundation for their students, then gently removing that support by empowering them, until finally they realize their own mastery.  This is the mark of a true master...how many students they bring to mastery, not how many followers they have.

Have you ever felt like you had to "hide" your gifts, or talents? Was it because you didn't think they were good enough; or, perhaps you knew they were but didn't want to show off?
The male peacock reminds us to offer our gifts with carefree abandon...we don't chastise him for his brilliance, but instead, are in awe. The same is true when we fully express that, within ourselves.

This sporophyte field is the asexual phase of moss and does not photosynthate, therefore it relies on the leafy phase (gametophyte) for sustenance. It is the same with our dreams and imagination, which are symbolic of sporophytes, reaching to the heavens for inspiration, yet relying on the physical for grounding and manifestation. One cannot exist without the other; for the physical without creative dreams is merely a shell...and imagination without the ability to manifest is solely a fairy tale.

What happens when we slow our lives down enough to partake in the beauty at the micro level? These trumpet lichen are the size of a few grains of rice, yet their amazing, flared tops are not for capturing moisture, but for anchoring the power of the raindrops to disperse its spores. When was the last time you slowed down enough to experience only a few square yards on a hike...probably when you were a child? What's stopping you now? How are you leveraging your abilities to catapult those metaphorical raindrops?