Category: Blog-Creativity

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Every Brilliant Thing I Noticed

Some days don’t announce themselves as anything more than what they are.

My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend with a trip to New York City to see Every Brilliant Thing with Daniel Radcliffe.

On the way up, settling into the lower level of the train, I noticed the view. Train tracks, trash, and graffiti on concrete walls. I realized I’d prefer the upper car with a view of the landscape and the brilliant blue sky. This prompted a move at the same time the train gained its own momentum. Swaying down the aisle, in sync with the speeding train, we dropped into a row where I claimed the window seat.

Only to notice that the glass was blurred and no view was available.

Without distraction, our hushed conversation was relaxed. Along the way, I noticed the woman eating her lunch, two people quietly speaking behind me, a woman reading How Proust Can Change Your Life, and the way the light moved across the seats.

There was nothing remarkable about that journey. And yet, it was not nothing.

Arriving in the city, the wind caught my ears in that intense, almost surprising way it does between buildings. Cold, immediate, alive. I didn’t rush past it. I noticed it. And again, blocks later, when the cold turned sharp within my ears.

New York City is not my favorite place. To me, it’s loud, fast, dirty, and a bit abrasive to my system.

I wasn’t concerned with navigating the terrain as I followed my husband’s lead. Leaving me relaxed and free to notice the architecture, traffic, souvenirs, and food trucks lining our path. I saw the street artists, cautious venders of knockoff purses, bike couriers with their food orders, and the unhoused hoping for assistance.

The city felt different this time. Not better or worse, just available, there for the noticing.

We spent a few relaxed moments in Times Square. Out of the way of the crowds and costumed characters angling for a photo opportunity and a donation.

I looked up at the billboards, Broadway show marquees, news feeds, and advertisements. Color, movement, creativity, pleasure, and ambition stacked on top of itself.

We spoke about shows we’ve seen, memories we’ve shared, and new stage stories that looked interesting.

Without the need to plan or make a decision, I enjoyed taking it in as part of the landscape I was moving through. There was a kind of ease in not needing the moment to become anything else. And a sigh of pleasure when dropping into the perfect table in a quiet, warm restaurant. 



A break from stimulation. A nourishment of the body. An opportunity for more enjoyable conversation. 



Followed by a relaxed stroll to the theatre and quiet time waiting in the short line for entry. Settling inside the theater, my sense of delight and awareness broadened and deepened. Without effort, I was inhabiting a new experience.

Every Brilliant Thing is simple in its structure and expansive in its reach.

A single performer on a small stage telling the story of his life with a mother with depression. A list revealed.

Ordinary things that, somehow, hold the weight of living and perhaps, hopefully, invite some realization of the good of it all. Participation from some of the audience and a fair amount of improv all around.

In the center of the back row, I had a birds eye view of the orchestration that was unfolding.
I watched Daniel enthusiastically greet people as they claimed their seats. Offering them an opportunity for participation in this unique show. Handing over an index card with their lines, sometimes elaborating upon what was asked of them.

In real time, I noticed collaboration with the actor, director, and audience members as this specific performance was being set up … for whatever was to unfold.

Not so different from my experience on the swaying train or the bustling city, I was meeting something alive, relational, and in motion.


I could feel the moment when the room was set.

The people were seated. Index cards had landed. The actor and director gazed out from the stage, gave a synchronized nod, shook hands, and the show continued.

It didn’t feel like the beginning, although officially it was. It felt more like a continuation of the day I had already been inside of.

I was enraptured from the first utterance through the last bow. The story itself was brilliant. True. Deep. Joyful. Sorrowful. Real.

And there was room for the entire audience to meet this real experience easily, without effort. At times with laughter at the wit, improv, and generally funny ways humans move through life. In moments that landed through the entire body, like a soft recognition passing through. A slight tightening. A warmth. A pause. A tear. A deep, resettling breath.

The return to laughter, delight, and spontaneous appreciation of the way an audience member showed up. Put on the spot. With Daniel Radcliffe. Imperfectly perfect in that moment.

At times, I felt the stillness of the crowd as if we had been paused in flight. A shared breath held. The joy of movement returning with a well timed laugh. I sensed a current moving through the group, the shared acknowledgment of the depths and heights of human experience, and a recognition of ourselves in a single story.

The truth of it moving through the room in different ways for different people. Without any need to interpret or analyze, it landed. Touched the room. And took flight once again.

There is something about being in a space where life is being reflected back, not as an idea, but as a lived texture.

Small things. Ice cream. A song. A moment of connection. A heartbreak. An unexpected action. The kinds of things that don’t ask for your attention, and yet hold everything.

Throughout this full day, I wasn’t thinking about being present. I was just not somewhere else. And that feels important to say.

Because this rich experience didn’t come from effort. It didn’t come from reminding myself to stay in the moment. It was more like the absence of leaving.

After the show, the city received me again. The same streets. The same movement. And still, that quiet thread of being inside of it continued.

The train ride home was softer. A short nap offered a small kindness to the body after the motion and the movement of the day.

There is a way of living where the meaningful moments are the obvious ones. The show. The peak. The thing you went for.

And there is another way that has been quietly revealing itself.

Where the walking there matters. Where the cold air matters. Where the looking up at a billboard for a show you may never see matters. Where the way your body sits in a chair, or breathes in a room, or softens into a moment is not separate from the experience, but the experience itself.

The events of the day may look ordinary from the outside, yet from the inside, it felt full. Not full in a way that needs to be held onto. Just full in the sense that nothing was missing from it while it was happening.

I am noticing more and more that this is less about creating a certain kind of life, and more about inhabiting the one that is already here. Not perfectly. And certainly not with effort.

To notice not only the moments that move through the day, but where I am standing as they do.

Living inside the life that is unfolding, however ordinary or brilliant it may appear on the outside.

Recognizing that, like that swaying train, crowded city, and engaged audience, life is already unmistakably alive, responsive, and coherent.

Ripe for the noticing.

 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Studies suggest that attending live theater increases empathy and emotional connection, as audiences share a collective experience in real time. Sitting together, responding together, something subtle happens. Even a simple story, told well, can remind us of the depth, humor, and tenderness woven through ordinary life.    

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Reflections In A Venetian Window

You arrive in Venice the way you always arrive in places that have lived longer than memory can hold. 

Not just by plane or train, but by stepping into a rhythm already in motion.

The Duomo rises before you, not asking for attention, but receiving it anyway. Gold mosaics catch the light in a way that feels almost intentional, as if the building itself knows how to speak to the human longing for beauty. You stand there, looking up, letting your eyes follow stories set into stone and glass. There is devotion here, layered over centuries. Hands that built, restored, and protected. A quiet insistence that something sacred matters.

In the main square, the blue clock turns its ancient face toward you. 

Time, but not the kind you check on your phone. This one carries a story. Figures emerge, disappear, reappear. You watch, not because you need to know the hour, but because something in you recognizes continuity. The kind that outlives urgency.

The tide has pushed into the square and you step through the water at its edge. 

Shoes in hand, coolness around your ankles. People laugh, hesitate, complain, adapt. It is all happening at once. Venice does not pause for inconvenience. It absorbs it.

Later, in a narrow alley, you sit outside and eat what you are certain is the best pizza of your life. The kind that requires no commentary. Simple, perfect, immediate. The table is small. The air is close. Voices move around you in languages you do not need to understand.

You wander.

The streets curve and narrow, then open unexpectedly. Every turn offers something. A small shop filled with glass. A doorway framed in flowers. A bridge where someone pauses just long enough to take a photograph and then disappears into the flow again.

You notice the people.

Waiters moving quickly, carrying plates with practiced ease. Some warm, some indifferent, and some clearly tired. Shopkeepers who greet you with a smile or barely look up. 

There is no uniform mood here. Just life, in all its expressions. 

You can feel the weight of history beneath it, not as something romanticized, but as something lived. A place that has known beauty and strain, wealth and hardship, continuity and change.

And then, without planning it, you stop.
A window.

At first, it is simply a display. White masks, dozens of them, layered and suspended in different shapes and expressions. Some delicate. Some exaggerated. Some almost unsettling. The glass reflects the street behind you, so for a moment, everything overlaps. Faces without bodies. Movement behind stillness.

You step closer.

Masks have always belonged here. Not as decoration, but as function.


In another time, they offered anonymity. Freedom. Protection.

A way to move through society without being fully seen. To speak, to act, or to participate without consequence. They held power. They allowed expression that might otherwise be constrained. They served a purpose.

You stand there, looking at them, and for a brief moment, you see your own reflection layered into the display.

And something in you recognizes something. Not as a dramatic revelation that demands attention. Just a quiet noticing of the masks you have worn.

Not the literal kind, but the ones that form over time. The ways you learned to move through the world. To be accepted. To stay safe. To navigate expectations. To belong, or at least to avoid exclusion.

Some of them were subtle. A tone of voice. A way of agreeing. A way of not saying something. Some of them were more defined. Roles you stepped into. Identities that shaped how others met you, and how you met yourself.

None of them were random. They formed in response to something real. A moment, a relationship, or an environment. Each one carried intelligence. Each one served you.

You can see that now.

Standing in front of that window, in a city that has made an art form out of masks, you are not inclined to judge them. Not yours. Not anyone’s.

There is a kind of beauty in them. Although, you notice that you are no longer reaching for them. Nor have you forced them away. Not because you have decided they are wrong. Simply because, in this moment, they are not needed.

You stand there, unmasked, and realize nothing is missing.

No performance is required. No adjustment is necessary. No role to step into. Just presence.

The street continues behind you. People pass. Conversations unfold. Life moves without interruption. The masks remain in the window, as they should. Honored for what they have been. Available for those who still need them.

So you move on without fanfare. Walking, just as you are now, through a city that has seen everything.

And in this moment, that is more than enough.

 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Research in psychology continues to highlight that authenticity supports well-being, with studies showing people who align their actions with their inner experience report greater life satisfaction, stronger relationships, and lower stress. Small moments of honest awareness can gently reshape how you move through your day. Letting your ‘masks’ fall naturally and gradually without judgement or needing to work too hard.

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Entering the Living Architecture of Wisdom

I remember walking into Westminster Cathedral in London, looking up, and being struck still by the vast beauty and scale of the architecture.

People milled around me, some even bumping into me, yet my face remained turned heavenward. I could not move. Eventually I noticed my body returning to its normal sense of size, as if I had taken a journey within that vastness without realizing it.

Wiping the tears flowing down my face, I smiled at my patient husband and we began our exploration.

Centuries of builders, artists, worshippers, and people from every walk of life had moved through that grand architecture. Many were buried within its walls. Others left artistic impressions and stories of their living legacy for me to witness.

Cathedrals have a way of right-sizing you.

You feel both vast and small at the same time.

This experience requires no belief or prescribed faith. It is a visceral sensory perception of wonder and belonging.

The Field of Feminine Intelligence, while vast and full, is not abstract. It too has architecture that can be sensed, related to, and lived within.

Via Sophia, the Way of Wisdom, unfolds within the architecture of this Field of Feminine Intelligence.

Without rigid structures or spiritual rules, you encounter living forms that appear as pattern, rhythm, and relationship. As you enter a relaxed and coherent state where perception softens, many women begin to notice that Life itself has shape. Movements repeat. Thresholds appear. Cycles of emergence and retreat unfold naturally.

When you begin to sense this architecture, you realize your life is not random.

You begin to see that you are already participating in phases and movements shaping your experience. In Via Sophia, the Feminine Spiral of Unfolding reveals these rhythms as they move through every area of your life.

Rather than a ladder of spiritual ascent, Via Sophia offers a spiral of lived participation.

This spiral reflects how life continually unfolds through phases such as softening, differentiation, expansion, coherence, release, integration, and renewed embodiment. These are not spiritual concepts to achieve, but expressions of the natural intelligence already organizing your life.

Discovering this rhythm and aligning with it brings a deep relaxation to the subtle undercurrent of striving many women quietly carry.

Within this architecture exists another circle-spiral of 13 Mystical Mothers.

Each Mystical Mother illuminates a distinct quality of embodied wisdom. They serve as relational doorways into Temple or Garden environments where particular aspects of Feminine Intelligence become easier to recognize and engage.

One temple may invite compassion.
Another awakens sovereignty.
Another reveals creativity, wildness, humor, or fierce love.

Walking the Way of Wisdom, Via Sophia, invites encounters that are lived experiences within a relational field rather than abstract teachings or distant figures.

The Wheel of Mystical Mothers offers orientation. The Feminine Spiral of Unfolding reveals movement.

Together they help you recognize where you are within the rhythms of your life and how to engage the moment with greater care and understanding.

Over time, something surprising becomes clear.

The architecture within the Field of Feminine Intelligence was never outside of you. It has always been alive within your own field of being.

Temples, gardens, thresholds, and bridges appear as perceptual environments through which intelligence becomes recognizable. They are not rigid structures, but relational spaces that arise as needed.

Just as a map can orient a traveler, these structures help you navigate experience.

The recorded journeys in the class archive provide easy access for exploration and navigation. Yet the terrain itself is always lived directly, and you remain the center of every architecture that appears to support your unfolding.

Via Sophia gently shifts your orientation from managing life to participating with it. From explaining reality to encountering it. From spiritual effort to Living Sacred.

I have explored the Via Sophia architecture intimately over many years, and I am often struck still and right-sized by the vastness and deeply human relational quality of each encounter.

While I still love entering grand cathedrals from time to time, I now recognize the same beauty and wonder within the living architecture of the Feminine Field of Intelligence present in everyday life.

The Via Sophia 16-Week Immersion begins March 31, and three spaces remain in the Circle of 13 women.

Early Circle pricing ends Sunday, March 15.

If something in you resonates with this invitation to walk the Way of Wisdom with me, you can explore the full details here.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Building Cathedrals The great cathedrals of Europe were not built by a single generation. Thousands of artisans, visionaries, masons, and glassmakers contributed their skill over decades, sometimes centuries. Many labored knowing they would never see the finished cathedral. Yet they carved, lifted, and shaped stone with devotion to a vision larger than themselves. These soaring structures were designed to awaken wonder, lifting the human gaze toward beauty and higher possibility. Cathedrals remind us that meaningful work often unfolds across time, and that when many people offer their gifts to a shared vision, something enduring and uplifting can take form.

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Via Sophia. Modern Woman. Ancient Path.

I have been reading a series of novels set in the late nineteenth century that portray the social structures women were expected to live within. 



Hardships were often hidden behind social niceties, beautiful homes, fashionable clothing, and the polite manner considered fitting for a lady of society. A woman’s ability to enjoy simple pleasures such as reading freely, choosing her friendships, or expressing her opinions was often restricted by her husband. Abuse was tolerated, and the risk of being sent to an asylum for “hysteria” was real if a woman challenged the status quo or stood in the way of an affair. 



If they were fortunate, women in those times found ways to connect with one another, offer support, and quietly explore meaning beneath the surface of their lives. 



Some women even learned how to play the social game skillfully. They fulfilled the expectations placed upon them while privately recognizing the petty absurdities woven into many of the rituals of polite society. 



The modern woman may no longer face the threat of institutionalization for her independence or passionate expression, yet every era carries its own challenges. 



I see how much many of you are navigating so many challenges at once. Family, work, relationships, and a wide range of responsibilities often overlap.
When you are raising children, managing a household, preparing teenagers for college, and supporting aging parents, it is easy to feel stretched thin and quietly undernourished.

Perhaps you recognize this feeling yourself. The sense that life is full and meaningful, yet something within you is asking for more depth, more space, or a quieter kind of wisdom.

Current culture asks a great deal of you. Performance, efficiency, and constant self-improvement are often held up as measures of success. These expectations are not only exhausting. They can slowly erode self-trust and create confusion about how to live in alignment with your own inner knowing. 



Beneath this pressure, another message quietly circulates. 



If you cannot manage it all gracefully, perhaps something is wrong with you. If you are still searching for meaning, perhaps you should try harder, optimize more, or elevate yourself spiritually.

Yet beneath the noise and speed of modern life, something older continues to move.

Steady and persistent. It does not hurry. It does not compete. It simply waits to be noticed.

Via Sophia, the Way of Wisdom, explores this natural rhythm through what I call the Feminine Spiral of Unfolding.

This 16 week Immersion will not ask you to fix yourself or become someone new. Rather, the Spiral Path invites a slowing down and a widening of perception.

Through reflection, conversation, and guided experience, you begin to recognize this unfolding rhythm where it already lives in the body, in the Earth, and in the quiet lineage of women who came before you.

The Feminine Spiral of Unfolding reveals patterns that have always been present in women’s lives. A movement of softening, enduring, choosing, releasing, and beginning again.

Via Sophia does not remove you from contemporary life. It strengthens your capacity to inhabit your life more deeply and more steadily.

As awareness grows, you begin to recognize the phases of this spiral within your own experience and within the wider feminine lineage that has always carried this wisdom.

When you live with awareness of this ancient rhythm while remaining fully present in modern life, something changes. Feminine wisdom begins to guide you quietly from within.

If this reflection resonates with you, you are warmly invited to explore the Via Sophia journey.

A small circle of women will gather for sixteen weeks to walk this Spiral Path together, discovering the wisdom that unfolds when you learn to listen more deeply to Life itself. 



A few places remain in this upcoming Circle of 13. We begin March 31st. You are welcome.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Will you listen to me? A growing body of communication research highlights the power of truly listening to one another. University of Mississippi professor Graham Bodie teaches a skill he calls Listening Intelligence, helping people recognize the different ways we naturally listen and where our blind spots may be. Through research and classroom practice, he shows that listening is not passive but an active, learnable skill that deepens understanding and empathy. When people become more aware of how they listen, conversations shift. Curiosity grows, misunderstandings soften, and connection strengthens. Developing listening intelligence reminds us that one of the most meaningful gifts we can offer another person is our genuine attention.

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Via Sophia: Embodying the Mystical Feminine

Via Sophia has arrived.

This “Way of Wisdom” offers an invitation to step upon a Living Spiral Path and discover a new understanding of what it means to embody the Mystical Feminine.

For the past fifteen years I have lived and taught within the Mystical Feminine. I have sat within many circles and immersions with women as we explored how to practically and powerfully engage Feminine wisdom in everyday life.

Listening deeply to the voices of women walking this path, I noticed something important. 



As women partnered with the Mystical Mothers as loving resources, they discovered kinder ways of living. Trust in Life increased. Trust in the Mothers deepened. And trust in their own inner capacity began to grow.

Yet even with these beautiful discoveries, I continued to see something else. 



Women still struggled with self improvement, the pressure to elevate their spiritual approach, and the endless effort of managing complex lives. Greater peace and compassion were present, yet effort, discouragement, and self judgment often remained.

You’re aware that modern culture trains us women to be productive, accomplished, and constantly giving to others, often at our own expense. 



Many of us quietly carry fatigue, fragmentation, and a subtle erosion of trust in ourselves. It becomes difficult to recognize the natural rhythm of your life when societal expectations are loud and certainty about success is constantly proclaimed.

And then Via Sophia arrived.

Not as a dramatic revelation, but as a quiet whisper pointing toward something deeper beneath cultural conditioning, spiritual expectations, and the constant narration of a busy mind.

I listened closely because I sensed there was more to the path of the Mystical Feminine than I had yet recognized.

What emerged was an ancient orientation toward life that is relational, cyclical, embodied, creative, and inseparable from the natural world. Via Sophia honors rhythm over urgency. Integration over reaction. Depth over display.

As I explored this Way of Wisdom, I discovered that the less I tried to manage my life, the more Life revealed itself.

Far from becoming passive, I learned how to participate directly with the natural rhythm moving through the phases of my own life.

Something changed within my work as well.

As women gathered and slowly relaxed together, nervous systems settled and perception naturally expanded. Within that quiet coherent field, clarity returned. Self trust strengthened. Capacity widened. With less effort, women began to align gently and steadily with what was most important.

When striving softens, you begin to recognize the deeper rhythm already moving through your life.

Via Sophia: Embodying the Mystical Feminine was born from this lived recognition.

 

The Via Sophia 16 Week Immersion offers an intimate Circle of thirteen women a path of discovery about what embodying the Mystical Feminine actually means.

It is not about transforming yourself or rising above your life. It is about inhabiting it more fully in a practical and very human way.

You will explore direct relationship with the intelligence that animates life while remaining rooted in the ordinary.

Along the way you will meet thirteen Mystical Mothers, each illuminating a distinct quality of embodied wisdom. Through guided temple journeys, experiential practices, and shared reflection, you will begin to recognize what has always been quietly alive within you.

Via Sophia unfolds as a Living Spiral. A path of return, deepening, refinement, and integration.

Each encounter with the Feminine Creation Cycle, the Field of Feminine Intelligence, and the Mystical Mothers becomes less about transformation and more about inhabitation. You begin to recognize how compassion, courage, humor, sovereignty, devotion, and beauty naturally arise within ordinary life.

If something in you recognizes this invitation, I invite you to explore the Via Sophia 16 Week Immersion.

You may read the full details on the Via Sophia Immersion page.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Researchers from the University of Otago explored the connection between lifestyle choices and well-being.  Survey data from over 1,000 New Zealand adults recealed that people who embraced simpler, more sustainable ways of living reported greater happiness and life satisfaction.  “Voluntary simplicity” shifts focus away from constant consumption and toward experiences that foster connection, such as community gardens, shared resources, and collaborative exchanges.  Researchers noted, “It’s not directly the commitment to material simplicity that leads to well-being, but the psychological and emotional need for fulfillment that derives from relationships, social connection, community involvement and a sense of living a purposeful and meaningful life.”

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One Question Changed Everything

When my daughter was in eighth grade, she and her Girl Scout troop were beginning to explore ideas for their individual Silver Award projects.

Around our dinner table, we tossed around possibilities. Nothing landed. Nothing stirred real interest. So we encouraged her to do what we have always trusted. Stay open. Listen. Pay attention to what people are talking about in the world.

Often, the idea that will matter most arrives sideways.

That moment came when we listened to Ahaji Schreffler speak about her experience volunteering in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. She told the story of meeting Gabriel and the children of Love Orphanage.

Gabriel, who is Haitian, had been working as a translator in Miami, bringing volunteer groups to Haiti. In the aftermath, he returned to check on his family. What he encountered broke his heart and changed the course of his life.

Countless children were orphaned, hungry, and traumatized.

So Gabriel stayed and opened Love Orphanage with almost nothing. One room and three malnourished children.

After Ahaji’s presentation, my daughter asked if we could speak with her. While she wanted to learn more, there was one question she couldn’t shake. She asked how the children were doing in school.

Ahaji paused and gently explained that none of the children had ever been to school.

I will never forget the look on my daughter’s face as she turned toward me, eyes wide, silently asking if that could really be true.

It was a moment of lost innocence, one of many in a lifetime. When the realization that what you assumed was “normal” is not universal. That access to education, something she took for granted, is a privilege many children never receive.

On the drive home, she asked a simple question. “Mom, do you think it would be possible to send these kids to school?”

That question became her Girl Scout Silver Award project and the beginning of what is now the Be a Difference Maker education program.

That first year, every eligible child at Love Orphanage was enrolled in private school. They received uniforms, backpacks, books, and sneakers. A small library was created in the home, complete with art supplies and space for creative expression.

In the years that followed, her Girl Scout Gold Award project expanded the original vision.

Not only did the Be a Difference Maker program support sustainable education, it also funded four summers of Culture Camp experiences and planted the early seeds for vocational training.

Our entire family and all the Difference Makers who traveled to Love Orphanage for Culture Camp witnessed the impact first hand. We all were irrevocably changed.



Fast forward to today. 



According to We The Village’s 2025 Annual Summary, this year marks the thirteenth consecutive year that every child at Love Orphanage has had access to private education through the Be a Difference Maker program. All thanks to the generosity of so many Difference Makers.

That fact alone is extraordinary in a country where most families cannot afford school, where poverty is widespread, and most people live on just a few dollars a day amid ongoing civil unrest.

Today, there are nineteen children at Love Orphanage.

They are healthy, healed from trauma and malnutrition, and fully capable of love, joy, play, and connection.

And they have grown up knowing something essential – that Gabriel, Rodeline, and the Haitian volunteers love them and consistently work so that they may live well.

They also know that people across the ocean, most of whom they’ve never met, care enough to support their education, wellbeing, and possibility for a future.

 

In conversation with Ahaji and my daughter, it became clear that the long-term sustainability of the children’s education depended upon committed educational sponsorship through the Be a Difference Maker program.

Our family knows this firsthand.

We have had the quiet joy of sponsoring children through Love Orphanage over the years. Whether a special memorial or our monthly contributions, we recognize something wonderful is happening across the ocean. 



Children in green school uniforms are safely seated at desks, learning, growing, and being given a chance at a future that includes independence and meaningful work.

It is remarkably simple to make this happen. And I really hope you consider this.

For us, this decision is easy. We have participated in every aspect of the program over the years, including the time spent in Haiti with Gabriel and the children. Those experiences brought a richness to our lives that has stayed with us and continues to keep us connected to this beautiful extended family.



Most of you do not know Gabriel, whom I affectionately call the Angel Gabriel for his extraordinary heart and commitment. You have not stood in the courtyard with these children or watched them laugh and play. 



If you visit the Be a Difference Maker page and view the Culture Camp slideshows, you will see something important.

You will see healthy, vibrant, joyful children. Ordinary children living a life very different from most children in the United States. They are thriving because people chose to care about them.

Today, we are looking for 14 Difference Makers (people) to sponsor a child’s education for one year.

There are two ways to do this: A monthly automatic contribution of $30, or a one-time donation of $350, which covers private school tuition, uniforms, shoes, and books for the year.

This support also helps sustain vocational training for the older children who have graduated from high school.

14 people. That is all it takes to sustain the Be a Difference Maker Educational Program for the year ahead.

All contributions are processed through We The Village, the nonprofit organization created by Ahaji Schreffler solely to support the children of Love Orphanage. Here is their mission: “We The Village uplifts the lives of children at Love Orphanage by supporting education, living essentials, and safe space for living and learning.”

Please note that I do not handle funds and do not have access to board decisions or contributor information.

If you feel moved to explore how you may assist, please visit the Be a Difference Maker page to watch the videos and set up your sponsorship.

Sometimes, the most meaningful change begins with a single, sincere question. “Mom, do you think it would be possible to send these kids to school?”

And sometimes, the answer is simple: “yes.”

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

A key 2025 goal for We the Village was to expand health education for our adolescents. Here is the update: “We were thrilled to bring this vision to life. With the support of a Haitian nurse experienced in community health work in the Dominican Republic, we developed a series of engaging health education videos focused on sexual and reproductive health. These videos were thoughtfully designed to be age-appropriate, accessible, and culturally relevant. Our adolescents responded with enthusiasm, asking thoughtful questions and expressing interest in future topics that matter to them. We are proud to continue building on this work and plan to expand the project further in 2026.”

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The Art of Nourishment


Life has a rhythm. It speeds up and slows down according to mysterious forces.

Your personal rhythm dances with the celestial bodies, seasons of the year, developmental phases, and the pulse of your Soulful evolutionary process. Living in harmony with these rhythms is in many ways hard to understand as it is a complicated and deeply personal process.

Your rhythm dances with everyone’s rhythm in the grand Cosmic Dance.

There is a Way of living in harmony, ease, and joy. Yet, most people in society have lost their rhythm and, thus, the wisdom of how to flow harmoniously each day.

No one is to blame here. It’s a natural side effect of technological and societal progress.

Most of you are living in comfortable homes, commuting on well established roadways or railways or airways, purchasing food and clothing from big box stores, and having anything delivered (quickly) to your door. Electric lights, 9-5 work days, 24 hour connectivity, news accessible at your fingertips, and a polluted environment has disconnected you from nature and the natural rhythms.

All of this has you moving fast. Perhaps thinking fast. Feeling fast. Eating fast. Relating fast. Getting bored fast.

The requirements of living, working, playing, and achieving as fast paced humans leaves little time for noticing Life’s natural rhythms.

Let along moving in sync with them.

When you move at a fast pace or spend your slow times recovering with social media or streaming shows, you don’t perceive the information the Cosmos is offering you.

You miss the clues and invitations that support the cultivation of a vital life imbued with meaning and joy.

When you’re dancing in tune with Life’s rhythms, you recognize when to dream, create, and produce. And when to rest, receive, and rejuvenate.

Life holds all speeds and levels of intensity. You’ve experienced this continuum.

At times, you’re drinking out of a fire hose there is so much going on. Other times, you are floating down the lazy river without a care nor desire in the world. And all things in between.

When you’re consciously aware of the rhythm, you join in with awareness since you understand how to dance.

Yet, when you’re moving within the societal schedule of movement, production, and achievement (in every category of living), you’re typically out of sync with the natural rhythm. So times of intensity may be too stressful and slowness may leave you bored or uncomfortably feeling you should be doing something productive.

Imagine if you were so in tune with your own being as part of the Earthly and Cosmic ecosystem that you knew when to move or still.

You’d recognize when to dream in unison with your Soul, create from the fire in your belly, or slowly savor the beauty of everyday existence. You’d know when it is time to replenish a tired system, strengthen a personal relationship, or explore a new area of learning.

The clues or signposts Life always offers would be bright and easy to read so your path was clear, enjoyable, and, dare I say, magical.

How then do you return to noticing and living in sync with the Soulful intersection of your personal rhythm and that of Life? It requires deep nourishment, stepping off the mind numbing treadmill, and leaving the box of habitual living.

It begins with you and you can begin right now. One simple breath gets you through that doorway.

The Art of Nourishment (downloadable pdf) offers gentle guidance about how to reconnect with yourself, your Soul, and the rhythm of the natural world.

A practice of deep nourishment leads you back to yourself and the capacity to be present in the moment and in the environment you are residing in or moving through. With intent, youmay wee use the minutes, hours, days, or weekends to enhance your lived sense of realignment and rejuvenation.

Remember this important truth: you’re always wise, intuitive, and connected to the pulse of Life. You’re likely just too busy living a certain way to notice.

Society (and every expert) can always tell you how to behave and what is normal. Living that way is a rhythm buster for sure. Yet, what way of living is right for you? The wise one residing within knows this answer if you give her/him/them a chance to emerge.

Begin with 30 seconds or 1 minute. Practice building your nourishing attentiveness to yourself in the moment and environment you’re actually in. 5 minutes. 1 hour. 1 day. 1 weekend.

Imagine that. Small practices creatively applied throughout each day lead to a shedding mind numbing, body tiring, and Soul tightening habits. Awakening you to a spacious exploration of your interaction with self, other, time, place, dreams, and limits.

There is no set path, practice, or prescription that works magically for everyone.

A few key components such as slowing down, engaging curiosity, reconnecting with nature, inviting self enjoyment, communing with the Sacred, and exploring what feels good or right for you are important. Even these vary person by person or day by day for an individual.

Think of this as more of a game in the neighborhood than a goal oriented work task. Have fun. Explore something new.

Stepping out of habitual living and societal conditioning doesn’t mean you quit your job, miss your kid’s soccer games, or forget to feed your family.

Rather, it’s the embarking upon a free for all discovery of what brings you into a sense of vital aliveness, sense of wonder, deep peace, loving exchange, and enthusiasm for the moment however magical or mundane.

The Art of Nourishment (downloadable pdf) is a simple list of suggestions for when you have just a few moments or longer to explore where the practice of deep connection with self, others, nature, and Life Itself may lead you.

In time, you’ll begin to notice the synchronistic invitation to dance with what is meant for you.

As the song says, I hope you dance.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Your brain likes to meditate. Silent contemplation, or simply closing your eyes and breathing, activates neural pathways that support calm. These pathways underlie beneficial traits such as feeling present, grateful, and steady. With meditation you can deliberately stimulate that circuitry and bring such experience into awareness. Activating calm, steadfastness, and contentment within your body actually converts those experiences into lasting change in neural structure and function.

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Building Cathedrals

How’s your perspective these days? 



Especially in the midst of upheaval in this country, famine and war in the world, and an unbelievable swing toward hatred, greed, and cruel behavior. That is before you consider your everyday stress or the big challenges your and your loved ones may be facing.

When stress rises, perspective shrinks. 

It’s the brain’s natural response to survival signals.

You hyper focus on essentials like food, funds, work, and family (unless you’re ready to toss your family out the window, but that’s another story. Hang in.)

This contraction is understandable. Yet, the invitation is to remember to take a breath, soothe your system, and connect to the wisdom within and beyond you.

The Self Soothe System is free and available to assist you. Get that free resource here on my site here.


When your system is disorganized, harmony is unavailable. 

The Soul’s vision becomes cloudy. So the first move, always, is to harmonize. To come into coherence. Then you can see more, know more, and be more. This matters, not only for you, but for all of us in this interconnected family.

From this Soulful perspective, beautiful questions arise:

What am I learning? 

How may I grow, mature, evolve during this challenge?

What might I offer others without compromising my own wellbeing?

What is asking to be healed within me so I can transcend the smaller story of my life?

That last question – it’s a big one. In the midst of this turmoil, your patterns are likely activating.

Perhaps you may view your vulnerability as your Inner Healer trying to catch your attention. Once you’ve soothed the stress response, you’re more likely to become curious.

More Beautiful Questions arise:


What belief or pattern is creating this tension?

Do I want to carry it or is it ready to be released?

Am I carrying burdens that aren’t even mine? 

Am I still listening to that societal voice that tells me I have to hustle and achieve to be worthy (such a silly idea, but we’ve all been snookered)?

This moment is potent and rich with possibility.

So, do the work with yourself, a friend, a mentor, or a celestial ally.

You may be just fine right now as you read these words with a full belly, safe house, cell phone, and a few dollars in the bank. But, don’t miss this energetically charged moment because there’s something deeper waiting to be freed — something beautiful.

Recently I recalled receiving a strong perspective jolt (mini lightning strike) during the pandemic. (Remember that crisis and how we weathered it together?)

I had come across a youtube video of Andrea Bocelli’s Concert of Hope. In the isolation of quarantine, he stood before the massive Duomo Cathedral in Milan. 



Singing. Alone. To the world.

His voice carried across silence, through distance, across grief and hope. His open heart awakened hearts across the globe. Tears. Prayer. Awe. Beauty. Google it and you’ll see the image. 



Tiny human. Massive Cathedral.

Humans have built cathedrals to the Divine for millennia. Imagine it: a Soul envisions a Sacred monument. Artists, funders, and masons gather. Grandfathers, sons, grandsons labor generation after generation to honor something greater than themselves.

A cathedral was sparked by a simple person who was moved by a Divine impulse.

Infused with imagination and devotion, they gathered others to build something magnificent for others to inherit.

It humbles me every time every time I see a cathedral. A sense of majesty that unfurls when you widen your view.

When you open your heart to the mythic operating within the mundane. When you honor your vulnerability and your magnificence. Both together as one Sacred human journey.

When you let your Soul move you, everything changes.

Andrea Bocelli, a tiny human with a huge voice, offered hope his way. This is what generous beauty does. It wakes you up and returns your focus to what matters. It’s a good time to wake up to what deeply matters and ask the beautiful questions that lead you to offer your song to the world.

By the time you’re reading this, I’ve flown into Milan and traveled to the Temples of Humankind in Damanhur, Italy.

Here, I’m committed to listening to both my Soul and my stress. 



I’m going to walk amongst the builders of another epic cathedral buried deep within a mountain. Over 45 years ago, one idea sparked 70 people in the Damanhur community to create the inexplicable and make the impossible possible. I’ve walked in the Temples of Humankind which are dedicated to awakening the Divinity in all people and honoring every wisdom tradition. It’s extraordinary and inspiring. 



I’m grateful to bring the Q’ero shamans from Peru to Damanhur so they may add their magic, ceremony, vision, and love to the Temples, Crystal Labyrinth Project, and Damanhurian community.

I’ll walk in silence upon and within that place of power so that I may listen and perceive the mythic story that wants to birth through me.

Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, I’m committed to building cathedrals, not walls. I hope you join me in that idea, however you do it.

And a reminder. Breathe and soothe your system when life gets inexplicable and overwhelming.

If you need support, ask for it. Reach out to me, to someone. Don’t go it alone. Not now. The world needs harmonized people in tune with their inner wisdom and open to the Divine Spark that may launch a simple action or a magnificent project.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Have you read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It puts generational cathedral building in perspective. Story style. What are you creating for your great, great grandchildren?  Just a thought. I’m full of ideas. Perhaps we’ll build together. 

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I Am A Dog

I was playing the game “Headbands” with my dog the other day.

You may have played the game with your kids. You choose a card with an image and statement “I am a …..”. Sticking it upon your ‘headband’ facing others, your playmates offer clues and you have to guess what you are in the moment.

Playing board games and interactive games like charades are good fun.


They engage humans without screens, encourage positive social interaction, activate the creative brain, and produce feel good chemicals via lots of laughter.

Given my kid has flown the coop, we hoodwinked our dog to play a rousing game of Headbands with us. We even let Milo choose the first card, but he seemed to have a hard time guessing what his card said. 

Australian Shepards are supposed to be smart, so I wasn’t sure why he was having such a hard time.

He played the game well as he sought clues in the yes/no answers to his questions.  “Am I an animal?  Do I have four legs?  Do I chase balls?  Do I  live with a great family?”  Yet he couldn’t seem to grasp the correct answer … “I am a dog.”  I thought maybe he was losing his mojo. 

Then he looked at me with that all knowing gaze and I finally got it.  He was beyond smart. 

He was wise. Playing the game while knowing the whole time it was a "game."

So when he asked me the next question “Am I the infinite, interconnected, harmonious flow of energy that many call LOVE also know as the fabric of the Universe?”  I simply said yes.

We stopped playing the game at that point. 

Instead we walked outside marveling at the how the natural world was waking up in unison as if it knew exactly what to do and how to do it.  I had plenty of time to notice the sights, smells, colors, and surprises as he frequently stopped to “smell the roses” and water everything else.  It was really more of a meander than a walk. I recognized that I experienced more of nature’s gifts with him than walking on my own.  So wise, this D-O-G. 

Sometimes he surprises me. Like the day he taught me that sweet treats are to be shared.

I thought my frozen yogurt was safe in the middle of the coffee table, yet I forgot how quickly those paws could jump up. My miss was his reward as he enjoyed the top half of my dessert. When I suggested his behavior was unappreciated, Milo gave me the side eye and wandered off to enjoy his sugar crash in his comfy cabin.

I also appreciate how Milo demonstrates how to Be in the Now. 

Eckhart Tolle has nothing on him when I walk in the door to be greeted as if I appeared out of thin air.  What a celebration of the miracle of “walking in” to a new scene … a new moment.  The energy is contagious and I totally understand why dogs wag their tails and people spontaneously speak that sing song voice offered to babies and pets.  When I return to the car to get my last bag and return 15 seconds later to the same response, I don’t know whether to value the ability to be truly and delightfully present or check for dementia. 
 
Just when I think I know something, Milo reminds me that not everything is as it seems. 

Like when he quizzes me on the nature of reality with questions like “what is real?” and “who am I really?”  I just never know what “game” he will come up with next. After our rousing game of Headbands, Milo suggested I meditate upon the nature of anagrams. Hmmmm. D-O-G. That explains a lot.

One thing I know for sure, I have a lot to learn from that wise being I thought was a dog. 

 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Turn off those screens. Game playing as a family enhances wellbeing and the potential for creative navigation through life. Game playing indoors or racing around for a hilarious game of hide and seek develops “soft skills” which improve social navigation, creative problem solving, and working together as a team. Collaboration, delayed gratification, emotional intelligence, and ingenuity are only some of these soft skills which support success in formal education and workplaces. As the brain has the potential to change and grow through the lifespan, game playing which includes enthusiasm, learning new skills, creativity, and laughter are good medicine.

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Cosmic Alchemy. Making the Impossible Possible.

In September, I’m returning to the Temples of Humankind in Damanhur, Italy. It feels like an understatement to claim that this is a place of power, mystery, and majesty.

Yet, I’ve found this to be true for myself and those I’ve met who’ve traveled within the extraordinary to the Temples and the community of Damanhur. All of this was founded on such lofty dreams that they are almost unbelievable, yet there is a thriving community of 50 years which suggests otherwise.

Every component of the Damanhurian physical structures, philosophy, spiritual practices, businesses, and community living are built around an intention to empower the reawakening of humanity.

So all beings may recognize their Divine nature, activate their extraordinary potential, communicate directly with the cosmic wisdom, and participate in living in harmony with nature and one another.

It sounds lofty, familiar even, given such intentions are shared by many people on the planet. “Now is the time and we are the ones.” That is sentiment for some, an intellectualized idea for others, and a daily commitment to engage an innovative, radically new way of being for a few.

Damanhur was founded by Oberto Airaudi, known as Falco, who also served as their spiritual guide until his death in 2012.

Not viewed as a guru, but rather a man who had reawakened ancient memories, researched alchemical technology, and encouraged others to awaken inner mastery through study, research, shedding the societal conditioning, and expressing their higher human potential.

There are many fantastical stories I could share about Falco and what he and many Damanhurians have achieved. That’s the type of discovery and mastery I’m talking about. It’s fantastical and apparently quite possible. If you’re interested in journeying to Damanhur with me in September, you’re going to hear about AND witness manifestations of these stories.

Falco was 10 years old when he had a vision of a new civilization with extraordinary temples at the center of the dream. (What were you dreaming up when you were 10?)

As he grew, Falco remembered ancient knowledge, experimented as a healer, artist, philosopher, and alchemist, and explored the potential for bringing this dream into form. In other words, he explored how to make the impossible possible.

This vision grew over time and Falco traveled the world to places of power, such as Japan, Africa, Peru, and India, looking for the perfect place to build this Temple which would serve as an antennae and magnifier for cosmic communication. It would also serve to enhance other sacred structures built upon power places, such as the pyramids, Machu Picchu, and Stonehenge, and connect all more strongly to the cosmos.

Falco was seeking the intersection of four Synchronic Lines. These are described as rivers of energy that spiral horizontally and vertically within the planet and around the poles to link Earth with the galaxy.

Imagine these as spiraling cosmic super highways carrying spiritual energy known as dreams, intuition, creative ideas, and ways of thinking across the universe. A complex, multidimensional communication across planets and celestial bodies sharing information and enhancing potential.

Falco found two places in the world where 4 synchronic lines intersected.

One in the Himalayan mountains and the other in the Valchiusella valley and foothills of the Italian Alps. Interestingly enough, this valley was just North of Falco’s birthplace of Turin.

In 1978, a small group of Damanhurians began constructing the Temples of Humankind within the mountain.

By hand and in secret, they built where 4 Synchronic Lines intersect within the black asteroidal mylonite inside the mountains. Governmental geologists later described this strong foundation as some of the oldest formations on the planet, formed when Earth’s original mantle congealed.

One by one, 9 halls were dug within the mountain. Alchemical metals, sacred geometry, hidden doors, energetic circuitry, sacred symbology, and artistic depictions created a wonder to behold.

As Falco intended, the Temples of Humankind and so many aspects of Damanhurian life reveal what a shared dream, positive outlook, and expanding human potential can create. These discoveries go beyond what is deemed possible by society and elevate all who enter.

The Temples may be described as a living library, a three dimensional history of humanity, a modern cathedral honoring all wisdom traditions, a portal to the cosmic intelligence, and an alchemical vehicle. All of which acknowledges the preciousness and potential inherent within all humans.

Whatever descriptors are used, I know one thing to be true. When you enter the Temples of Humankind you realize all of this and more. The Temples, the Sacred Woods, the circuits, the open temple, the Crystal Spiral Labyrinth, and the powerful land offer you far more than words can depict.

I could speak for hours about Damanhur and only scratch the surface of what is happening there.

The Temples provide the cosmic power to activate an alchemical process so powerful that you’ll rapidly evolve your individual human potential.

The depth and breadth of this transformation is hard to define.

I’m still unpacking the impact of my first stay at Damanhur over 15 years ago. And I’m in the midst of what’s unfolding from my recent immersion and participation in ceremonies, healings, and journeys within the Temples.

I’m bringing two groups to Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind in September, 2025 for an extraordinary adventure of a lifetime.

These are immersive journeys of awakening and designed to launch your spiritual evolution and practical engagement with life with new levels of power, harmony, and love. You’ll be offered experiences and access that are not available to those visiting for a tour of the Temples. In partnerships with many Damanhurians, I’ve curated these marvelous adventures to supercharge your joyful engagement with life, spiritual evolution, and personal service to this lovely, beleaguered planet.

The first Mystical Adventure of Awakening accelerates Spiritual Awakening and Visionary Dreaming. September 3 – 11, 2025.

The first Journey is for you if you’re lighthearted and serious about your spiritual evolution and ready to dive way deeper into the Mystery. Personal healing, empowering service for others, fulfilling dreams, becoming a change agent are just part of what is possible for you. Whatever you think is waiting for you, I’ll tell you that more is in store.

The second Mystical Adventure invites you to engage in Visionary Dreaming with the Master Shamans from Peru. September 12 – 19, 2025

This is for you if you’re a shamanic practitioner, mesa carrier, or Munay Ki Practitioner who is ready to evolve their path, strengthen their unique medicine, and accelerate your vision how to share your gifts with the world. You’ll be traveling with the Peruvian shamans and learning advanced shamanic practices and ceremonies and receiving the Munay Ki activations known as the high rites.

Both groups are participating in the Crystal Spiral Labyrinth Project.

The Damanhurians built a crystal spiral labyrinth with crystals from all over the world. For the past 10 years, indigenous shamans have come to the crystal spiral to encode or download their living wisdom into the crystal associated with their tradition and land. We are privileged to participate in this project as we bring the masculine and feminine wisdom of the Q’ero Andean Medicine Tradition to Damanhur.

Do yourself a favor. Look at the Journey pages. Let the invitation and energy sink within you. Ask your Soul if you’re called to join.

If yes, even if hesitant for any reason, please reach out and talk with me. If you’re meant to join us, we’ll find a way together to make this happen. I’m happy to send you a video that gives you an even broader experience of this 8th Wonder of the World. Email me directly if you’re interested.

“Make the impossible possible.” This is Damanhur’s mantra and what they live.

I can’t think of a better point in the history of my life than now to explore that promise. Your Soul will let you know if it’s for you. I hope you join me.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Exercise is a form of physical stress. Yet, it helps not only helps relieve stress by reducing stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, it stimulates the body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters known as endorphins. Studies have found improvement in mood, self-image, energy, and discipline. It has been found to improve resilience in the face of challenge. Movement or exercise that is enjoyable is more likely to become a habit and offer sustainable positive benefits throughout the lifespan.