[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The astrologers are saying that this is the year we will see the evolution of the world. This is the year that all things broken will crumble and requires some creative new forms and structures. This is the year we will decide that pushing a huge rock up an insurmountable hill is an unhealthy struggle, […]

I live at the edge of the Bonnechere River in the Ottawa Valley, and although I have been slow to prepare for the approach of winter it is clearly in full swing out by the water. This morning’s visit to the water revealed bold interwoven patterns of ice crystals expanding about 20 feet out from […]

Have you noticed how creative life gets, once you suggest a playground that you are wanting to explore? In my last column, I commented that the year ahead is going to respond quickly to our focused intentions and I announced I was ready to change how I turned up. No sooner did that get published […]

I like to spend these summer days happily working outside in the bush harvesting plants for Algonquin Tea Company. I am also planning a number of camping trips in the coming months. This year I will be doing my outdoor adventures with a higher level of mindfulness than usual because Lyme-bearing ticks are on the […]

While having lunch with a group of friends recently, I had been sharing how challenging it can be to stay optimistic in these times of change. Someone in the group joked that humans might be a bit slow to outwardly show any strong markers of evolution, but animals are clearly teaching us the way forward. […]

Since I moved up to the Ottawa Valley from Toronto 20 years ago, the winter temperatures have definitely been getting milder. When I first arrived, the locals used to measure the quality of the winter by how many days were -40C  or colder, and when it’s that cold it doesn’t snow. Now a temperature of […]

Here we stand at the prow of a new year, and already we can feel the currents of change ahead of us. From a numerological perspective, 2017 (2+0+1+7), is the beginning of a nine-year cycle of new growth. I would add that – energetically – all those endeavours that hold more light (serving the highest […]

By the time you read this, Mars will no longer be retrograde (which it was from April 17 to June 29). During this retrograde period, there was also a ‘grand cross’ smack in the middle of it. Did you notice during this period that you found your personal story being taken apart in such a […]

My Mom died at dawn on May Day as my sister read her a poem by Rumi. It’s the same poem that was quoted in last month’s Sacred Journeys column. Mom loved poetry. Over the years, we often heard her quote from a poem by Robert Frost: “Like a piece of ice on a hot […]

Here we are in February – heralding the season when we take time to acknowledge the power of love (especially romantic love). Over the last seven years, I have been either ‘lightly’ dating or spending time on my own. Last spring my beloved turned up, and since then love and I have been on quite […]

Local friends of mine began meeting last month to plan an invitation for a Syrian family to our neighbourhood. The sense of community is strong here. To sponsor a Syrian family we are required to come together as a group and commit to caring for them financially and socially for a year. It is very […]

Everyday Rituals & Celebrations It is so wonderful to experience the fecundity of the flower and vegetable gardens. My only regret is having to weed out the sweet green plants that are passionately expressing themselves between the lettuce and arugula, and among the flowering perennials. Here are these plants, full of hope and expectation, and […]

This year I did not consciously decide to do my traditional spring cleanse. Instead, it seems that my body began the process on its own, while I was busy thinking about other things. You know that moment when you realize you must have invisible handlers who get you to the right place at the right […]

What extraordinary times we live in, ‘time’ being the operative word here. This summer the energies have been intense, fluctuating between highly charged and periods of inertia. In the highly charged periods I am so full of love for humanity, and the blue of the sky, I will burst; then I am filled with tears […]

Everyday Rituals & Celebrations I have been asked recently to describe what I imagine might happen in 2012, when the Mayan Calendar comes to an end. It’s a great question. I’d love to ask a lot of people, too. About 25 years ago, in fact, I wanted to make a documentary series about this very […]

Everyday Rituals & Celebrations Here is a favourite quote from my kitchen blackboard: “God gives you on a daily basis an unlimited amount of electrons to create your life with, and you are always free to create it in any way you want.” (Telos: Aurelia Louise Jones) These days, as we all know, life is requiring […]