Transformation is a fantastic experience. I am feeling the inner shifts from an ego-centric phase of my life to an expanded sense of self; the eco-centric self. I have yet to metabolize the shadows, insecurities and struggles I have and continue to face but the past four years have allowed me time to at least consider the many shades of my identity. I liken the transformation from a single pane view to a worldview through a multi-sided prism! Whoooooaaa now that’s a colourful life.

This personal journey from ego to eco is made possible by tending to my relationship with the natural world. The meditative practice of observing the wind, watching snow fall, being held by a river or laughing with the Ravens has reoriented my identify from being a human ‘on the Earth’ to one who is ‘of the Earth’.

Some parallel transformations: from girlfriend to wife, from candidate to graduate, from forest to school field and from injured to healthy. From paper journal writer to online blogger? So far, this blog practice of putting words into cyber space is a motion of being intentional with my creative writing and expression. I am here to orient my work as an educator, expose learnings, share my misgivings and celebrate the process. Knowing someone might read this, adds weight to my creative process and I hope there are some story threads that you might want to pull on, too.

For now, I leave you with this:

“Given that the human soul is the very core of our human nature, we might note that, when we are guided by soul, we are guided by nature. Both soul and greater nature do guide us in our individual development, whether or not we ask for this guidance.”
― Bill Plotkin, Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World