Waypoints

Piece by Peace.

Over the course of several months, I worked with a local family to craft a Coming of Age ceremony for both their fourteen-year-old daughter (see below) and their sixteen-year-old son.

His rite of passage was multi-faceted and included a State Park trail maintenance project, carrying and mark making on a leather satchel gift from his mentor, releasing of symbolic stones to the trail (a burden the men shared in carrying for him), and a story circle with the men that morning.

The men were tasked with carrying a wooden puzzle piece with them on the trail walk and later, reflecting upon a particular adolescent life challenge, and writing their wisdom words upon the puzzle piece about that challenge. They took turns recounting these pieces of wisdom in circle and again during the ceremony as the honoree lit a candle for each during his Sparks of Insight Charge.

During his afternoon ceremony with the wider community, we honored him with words of tribute, poetry readings, a car key presentation by his grandparents, and a closing Branching Out ritual. He loved that his sister had this final gesture in her Coming of Age ceremony three months prior. He was adamant that he wanted the same sort of celebratory benediction moment for his ceremony.

As a gift to everyone present, he took the time as an expert origami maker, to craft intricate origami pieces. It was such a heartfelt experience and so rewarding to watch him beam with pride and joy at all the expressions of acknowledgment.

I wish every teen could be initiated at this integral life threshold and welcomed into the community in such an affirming and personalized way. And I commend this family for bravely pioneering this work in their religious community. The younger siblings are already eagerly awaiting their own Coming of Age. And as well they should be!

What might this world look like if every child was initiated into the community in such an affirming and transformative manner?

Rivers & Roads.

The dream of a Coming of Age ceremony I crafted for a young woman recently was born years prior with her mother’s best friend, who died two years prior. The two women had read The Red Tent together and began to excitedly plan the prospect of a similar gathering for this young woman in their midst. When the teen’s mom first approached me, she admitted that she had been following my ceremony work online and was intrigued about the possibilities to honor her daughter with an intergenerational gathering of girls and women.

A year went by and when we spoke again, it was to begin planning the ceremony in earnest for her newly minted, fourteen-year old daughter. The mother no longer felt comfortable about a Red Tent gathering (it felt a little too intense, pardon the pun) given their Southern Baptist religious views. And so, we began to explore what would feel comfortable and right, which is what personalized ceremony is all about.

We opted to infuse blue and green décor touches, given that those were her teen daughter’s favorite colors. And we ended up having to make a call to turn what would have been a tent gathering into an indoor ceremony.

In the weeks leading up to the ceremony, I tasked the family with having her consider a night alone, camping out on their small acreage property in the treehouse. The family are avid backpackers and so there was considerable comfort in having her be alone “in the wild.” During her time alone, I assigned her a nature project and plenty of reflective journaling prompts. I also had her parents craft her a letter to be read during this time alone.

The reflective journaling and her homework of crafting her own “Where I’m From” poem laid the groundwork for her to reflect upon her journey from childhood to young adulthood, and to prepare to tell about it during the ceremony, a prospect she was initially dreading. The long poem she wrote, however, allowed her to name all the various people, places, experiences, and things that most shaped her identity. It was beyond powerful to hear her share her poem aloud on the day of her ceremony.

Additionally, allowing her the autonomy to construct a multi-tiered River of Life centerpiece altar using various household items gave her added perspective and insight into her own epic adventure through the ebbs and flows of her life. I had her choose four items to place upon the altar as symbol of things she was sad, glad, or reluctant to either leave behind or embrace going forth.

Having her share that aloud during the Origins & Originality opening sharing circle ~ in which we all went around and introduced ourselves in “I am…” fashion by stating our name, matrilineage, fave foods, places of our childhood, and family sayings ~ was a powerful and affirming witnessing experience for her. She was daring to give voice to her core truths to the community at large.

Because of the closed nature of her spiritual community, this was a tricky ceremony to construct, hence my need to slow-cook it over time. Some of her friends were not permitted to attend, because their parents were unfamiliar and mistrustful of such a rite of passage. In the end, a dozen women were no-shows for the ceremony. And that was a blessing because their living room and dining room perfectly accommodated an oval encircling of 28 chairs and no more.

The first thing I did in the ceremony was to pre-ground everyone and have each female reflect back upon their own youth passage in order to recall their feelings about the experience and the words of wisdom they wished had been imparted to them at that time in their life. For the younger teens in the group, I had them reflect upon a recent feeling of disappointment vis-à-vis adults in their lives. For this pre-ceremony Turning Leaf moment, I had them write these words on either side of a fall leaf, as a way to turn the leaf over and enter into a place where they could set-aside whatever feelings of apprehension this ceremony might have arisen in them, in order to be intentional and supportive of the honoree.

From all that this teen and her parents shared with me, I knew that her fierce connection with nature was something we would need to infuse throughout the ceremony. I began to work in those symbolic touches from nature that would lend a kind of rivers, roads/trails, seasonal, and journey motif. And so natural elements abounded in this ceremony which included:

>> the Fall Leaves for the pre-ceremony grounding;
>> the River of Life altar table that the honoree constructed;
>> the assortment of Flowers all held in hand for the opening Flower Communion reading;
>> the closing Salal Berry Branch canopy of love gesture, and;
>> the Blossoms, Berries, and Acorn tags for the blessing tree ritual as symbolic nod for the maidens, mothers, and crones in the circle.

It was a delicate and precarious assemblage. Everything had to be languaged just so, because even to reference the words maiden, mother and crone would have been too pagan sounding. This re-interpretation, together with words that lent biblical connection to the tree motif, proffered them a way to have it be accessible to all the women present.

We paired this ritual with the passing around of a bowl of trail mix for each to imbibe of seeds, nuts, fruit and chocolate, which allowed everyone to appreciate the connection between harvesting the wisdom and bounty of our lives through the lenses of communion, interconnection, and reciprocity.

All told, the ceremony unfolded as a participatory, multi-sensory, and ritually/richly layered experience for all. There were opportunities to infuse a memorial honoring, scripture readings, prayer, her story, and a closing tandem reading by several of her aunts and grandmother.

All the elements were present that day, from the opening candle lighting, where the three generations of grandmother, mother, and honoree lit candles from their predecessor’s candle; to the penultimate foot-washing ritual which her mother and younger sister undertook in service to her; to the gift of clay waterfall pendants that she presented to everyone in closing circle; to the bubbles of joy and kisses everyone got to blow her way as she journeyed though the tree branch walkway (each adorned with black and white photos from birth onwards) representing her life thus far from her childhood to young adulthood, accompanied by the raucous anthem song of “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons.

The symbols chosen deeply resonated with her mother on various levels, from the foot washing ritual they enact each Easter, to the acorns, which are a family talisman that carries meaning and memory. And while all the women left this uncommon ceremony space wordlessly, I held out hope that they had been deeply touched and moved by this profound experience.

The mother and I spoke in depth about it after, and we both agreed that while we had pushed the comfort zone of many in the room, neither of us felt apologetic because: (a) it was so carefully nuanced to ensure it wouldn’t be woo or weird (even as the slightest deviation from their religious norm could potentially be construed that way), and because: (b) this was a ceremony that was, first and foremost, co-crafted for the honoree and her immediate family.

We were both aware of the concentric circles surrounding her daughter yesterday – from the innermost encircling of the youngest, who were the most exuberant participants open to such a soulful ceremony, to that next layer of family members closest to her who felt and exuded the positivity, to the outer encircling of reticent attendees, who were distantly and outwardly polite but who still felt uncomfortable participating in ritual outside the select few sanctioned ones within their weekly church environs.

And ultimately, we were both pleased with how it all landed with her daughter, who came away from the ceremony and the subsequent evening celebration that included food and gifts, feeling seen, heard, and celebrated.

To Bless the Space Between Us.

Ceremonies that honor house and home – be that Welcome Home blessings or Dwelling Farewellings – are some of the most profoundly rewarding experiences. I love to craft and facilitate them because so much of our daily living occurs within these spaces that we inhabit. Countless meals are planned, dreams are hatched, memories are made, babies are born, holidays are hosted, milestone moments are honored, and joyous occasions are celebrated in our homes.

Our homes see and know all as silent and sometimes middle-of-the-night-creeky witness to the stories and days of our lives…cue the sappy daytime soap music. “If these walls could talk” is often a prompt I use with my people to get them thinking about all the moments, big and small, in which their abode has eavesdropped on.

And so pausing at the threshold to say hello, thank you, and goodbye is just good ju-ju for our souls. Because homes live. They carry our stories.

What does that look like? It begins with the intention to honor that new beginning, ending or midpoint with that home. It makes room for the stories – all of them. And includes gestures – be those honorary gifts to the space, altar-setting, or space clearing. And it asks that you see your home with new eyes and that you feel the enormity of how this environment has held and shaped you.

Realtors are busy helping people buy and sell homes with little thought, beyond the economics of it all, about what those threshold moments mean for these individuals, couples, and families. Building a small ritual pause before and after the moving truck comes or goes can make all the difference.

People often don’t know how to go about constructing these hello or goodbye moments. And so, enter your friendly neighborhood celebrant, who can help mark these moments.

I still remember one such house blessing moment with a smile. I was heading out the door with my house blessing basket of goodies and my daughter, aware that I would be doing some energy work to reconsecrate a home space for the owners, said, “you go, Mom! Go kill some house demons!”

I’m not about exorcisms but I did laugh at the thought that maybe I should have been exchanging my rosewater spritzer for a water pistol.

Hey, whatever works to bless the space between us.

What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.”
excerpted from “Käthe Kollwitz” by Muriel Rukeyser

The Courage to Heal.

Effective personal ceremonies do not always have to be in-person affairs. Such is the power of technology.

For those who seek to a healing ritual for a long-held relationship wound, loss or trauma, and for whom geographic distance is a factor, I offer online and phone consultations. During the initial consultative call, I determine the type of release and renewal rituals the honoree is seeking and from there, we set about co-crafting a mini-ceremony (filled with custom readings, resonate music and powerful symbols) that feels just right.

These ceremonies entail pre-homework and a bit of set-up and preparation. We overview the ceremonial logistics so there is an understanding of what will happen when and then come the day of the ceremony, we both set a healing altar and light a candle.

Assuming there’s a strong Wi-Fi signal, my Healing 2.0 ceremonies can work via Skype, Facetime, Facebook video Messenger, or if there are multiple people in various locales, via Zoom.

I structure these multi-sensory ceremonies to allow for wound story sharing, a ritual or two of release and transfiguration, as well as silent time spent re-centering/empowering oneself in the body. I then close with a ritual of renewal, a gratitude piece, and time for self-reflection. Each ceremony is intensely intimate, incredibly empowering, and invariably proves to be an ode to the resilience of the human spirit.

The visuals above are from of one such ceremony I helped a woman to enact. We worked with the five elements of fire, water, earth, air and ether. After the ceremony, she admitted to being in “awe of the self-transformation” that took place and confessed to feeling “like a new woman – light and free!”

This, of course, is testament to the power of healing rituals to help us shift from our stuck places when inertia, hurt and confusion can feel overwhelming. Giving ourselves permission to let go of these old wound stories, not as a way to unrealistically banish them forever, but to transfigure them into narratives that no longer bind us to the past, is a gift we give ourselves when we choose to honor ourselves and ceremoniously.

What long-held relationship wound are you ready to attend to? Call me and together, let’s set about healing that piece of your beautiful heart and soul.

A Good Goodbye.

One of my favorite release & renewal rituals is a Despacho ceremony (loosely translated as ‘dispatch’). I enact it for a plethora of ceremonial purposes – house blessings, milestones and transitions, healing and grief rituals, and more recently, a bon voyage gathering.

Goodbyes are bittersweet, especially when they entail downsizing one’s possessions and bidding adieu to a beloved city like Seattle. To help a dear friend honor this important life transition, a group of us gathered for a farewell potluck to lend laughter, tears, ritual and closure to her time in the PNW.

We chatted about various release and renewal rituals that would help her reflect on all that she was letting go of and looking forward to in Montana. Being a nature-loving gal, she expressed an interest in a kind of urban Despacho ceremony, and thus, a farewell to Seattle rite was born.

A Despacho ceremony, practiced by shamans of the Andean peoples of Peru, is an act of sacred offering that honors Pachamama’s bounty and blessings. An earth-based gratitude bundle is created and burned, and the prayers and wishes of the participants are then dispatched to the ether.

I invited her to forage goodies from her favorite hiking and outdoor locales to place inside her bundle, as part of her own process of saying goodbye to this neck of the woods. The most important piece for this reticent wayfarer pal was the mandatory fun of crafting a letter to life, the universe and everything, expressing her gratitude for this phase of life and all that her time here had bequeathed her, as well as to catalogue all that she was letting go of together with what she hoped to embrace on the other side, two states east.

We began our ceremonial circle with a reading of Mary Oliver’s “The Journey,” which I invited the hostess to read, and that kicked off words from the honoree and a circle moment of symbolic gift sharing – everyone had brought a small token for her to keep on her altar in Montana. These were lovely items, ranging from rocks to gemstones to Montana copper jewelry, to a Washington State puzzle piece and a bundle of traveling altar items and blessings for the Way from yours truly.

After that sharing circle of wishes, heartfelt sentiments, treasures, memories and beloved stories, I then teed up the closing Despacho ceremony with yet another Mary Oliver reading, noted below.

Most in the room were unfamiliar with the concept of the Despacho, so I took a moment to unpack the intention behind it, together with the gorgeous layering of earth’s bounty that formed the mandala she had created.

And it was a veritable earth bounty: oatmeal, rice, brown sugar, coconut flakes, coffee beans, dried wild blueberries, banana chips, chocolate pieces (Pachamama loves sweet treats!), tea leaves, sage, tobacco, lavender, maple leaves, cedar bark, mini-acorns, cedar boughs, driftwood, gerber daisies, rosebuds and two miniature candy canes, which formed the heart at the center, her letter and blessing/wish words all found their place within this burning bundle. As she placed everyone’s wish slips and paper hearts upon the bundle, I invited each person in the circle to share their wish word/words for her aloud.

Our friend then folded and bundled her Despacho packet in decorative white paper, tied it with string and attached her own hand-painted heart wish tag to the top, upon which she had inscribed her own wish for herself: Delicious Journey. I noted how these wishes would be transfigured by the fire to go up the chimney in smoke, and then be carried out into the ether and out onto the eastern winds, where they would be awaiting her arrival in Missoula.

Ceremony always offers a magic moment, does it not? That one moment you can’t possibly script or anticipate. There were many that night but the highpoint for me was in watching her Despacho bundle burn in the wood-fire stove and immediately noticing the heart tag and cedar boughs from within the bundle illuminated by colorful flames.

As we shared time and again in our words that night, love is all there is. And trees. This wood stove image exquisitely encapsulates Mary Oliver’s love and trees line.

Storage } by Mary Oliver

When I moved from one house to another
there were many things I had no room
for. What does one do? I rented a storage
space. And filled it. Years passed.
Occasionally I went there and looked in,
but nothing happened, not a single
twinge of the heart.
As I grew older the things I cared
about grew fewer, but were more
important. So one day I undid the lock
and called the trash man. He took
everything.
I felt like the little donkey when
his burden is finally lifted. Things!
Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful
fire! More room in your heart for love,
for the trees! For the birds who own
nothing — the reason they can fly.

Thy Queendom Come.

I was gifted the rare opportunity of helping lend closing ritual and spiritual sustenance/substance to a women’s retreat with a “Queen of Your Life” theme.

A couple of the ways I chose to incorporate the theme was to share stories of my own self-sovereign journey from childhood to midlife, as well as to lead the women in song with a custom-crafted rendition of “God Save the Queen,” entitled “Thy Queendom Come.”

I included a reading of Nancy Tillman’s picture book, The Crown on Your Head, which, paired with the closing reading of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, “The Crown” (crafted for the 60^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation), helped the retreat attendees recognize how integral such acts of claiming one’s self-sovereignty and donning a crown are to the process of soul reclamation.

For the culminating Mirror, Mirror and Crowning Achievement rituals, I invited the women to form a circle, we passed a gilded black mirror around, and I asked each to look into the mirror and share an essence word or phrase about her own reflection. The women then took turns adorning each other’s wrists with a silver crown charm bracelet, and considering which self-sovereign wish or intention word they wanted to hold, going forth back out into the world.

All told, it proved to be a lovely and inspiring closure for their annual retreat, and is a rich ceremonial theme for midlife and beyond passage points. Helping empower women to honor their feminine power and wisdom through ritual and celebration, and embolden them to own their throne at every life stage from girlhood to cronehood, is one of joys of this work that I do.

After all, if the crown fits, why not wear it with pride, ladies?!

Orange You Glad?!

The dubious joy of having a mother who is a celebrant is that all life’s milestones both large and small are cause for ceremony.

After much red tape regarding the importing of a family vehicle from Canada – an orange Suzuki SX4 – our teen daughter was very excited at the prospect of becoming a car owner. Her preference would have been just to see the car keys handed over, but where’s the fun in that?

What did seem ceremonious, however, was to gather as a family in the garage next to the car in order to wax nostalgic about when we used to take her for wagon rides as a baby or the first time she drove a bumper car at the local amusement park.

This led to reading her a custom-crafted Orange You Glad? blessing poem, having her sign a rules-of-the-road contract, as well as inviting her to craft a gratitude note to her grandparents, cut an orange ribbon, spritz her car with essential orange citrus oil, affix a Jesus bandage to the underside of the steering wheel (a kitschy but mandatory family tradition), and place her great-grandmother’s heirloom blanket from Switzerland upon the backseat.

Small car gifts were then presented to her from all (a funny air freshener, a small garbage pail, etc.) and she indulged her brother by permitting him to blow celebratory bubbles in her direction. The ceremony then ended with a closing reading by her brother from Go Dogs, Go!, together with a culminating toast of orange soda, and the presentation of the car keys on a lanyard. All told, this ceremonious torture equated to about 10 minutes of discomfort for her, and priceless, amusing witness for the rest of us, for what truly is a milestone rite of passage in any teenager’s life.

And it will be remembered – either in therapy or elegiac commiseration – as both she and her brother will, one-fine-day, recall how they were made to endure such an embarrassing experience during the high, holy height of their teen years.

To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to lov

Altared Moments.

Looking for a cure for the winter blahs? One indoor activity that offers escape from the rain in these parts or wind and snow in other regions, not to mention a welcome distraction from purging and cleaning, is to create a seasonal altar. Chances are, you already have a corner or space dedicated to this in your home, either formally or informally. One friend I know has been doing this for years. She changes up the wreath on her door, her fireplace mantel décor, and she even switches out her wall art to reflect whatever holiday or holy day she has coming up on her calendar.

Another friend of mine has what I would call little altars everywhere throughout her home and office space. Some of these are curated collections of art on her walls (a collection of cross shrines), while others are corner and feature table shrines. My favorite of her shrines is her egg and nest shrine. Not only is it a gorgeous display feature in her front sitting room, but it also serves as a spiritually-centering altar in this space that is ideal for cozying up with a book or meditating.

I have a handful of altar nooks in my home. I keep two in my office: one of my window ledge and a smaller one in front of my computer screen. My desk altar is my ceremony shrine. I keep my talking stick here, a small bell, and a glass vial with a painted scroll with the word Love inscribed on it. I light a scented candle on this desk altar (even as I know scented candles are carcinogenic) when I’m writing my wedding couple love stories or celebration of life stories, and I place a small photo of the couple or deceased person on this altar to stay intentional and devotional in my writing for them.

My window ledge shrine features items from nature – a nest, Mala beads, rocks, a shell, a feather, a couple of twigs and some fern. And my living room shrine is alive with other totems, ranging from my collection of inuksuit (check out the ‘About Waypointing” section on my website for details on these), to candles to Buddha figures, to mini-framed art, to my decorative tree.

Creating your shrine is a personal and intuitive process. It begins by discerning what intention you wish it to serve. If it’s merely decorative, then your selection of altar items will likely be chosen for aesthetics and nostalgia, as per my first friend. If you intend it to be a space that grounds and spiritual renews you, your altar items will be more spiritual and ritualistic in nature. A seasonal altar is a hybrid of these. You will certainly want to look to the season for color palette and altar item inspiration, as well as the gifts the season offers.

Winter is about darkness and introspection, spring speaks to renewal and growth, summer lends itself to color, light and full-bloom living; and autumn is about bounty, gratitude and transfiguration. Each of the elements factor into how you design your altar. For example, this year I have assigned air to winter, water to spring, fire to summer, and earth to fall; so I will ensure each of my seasonal altars feature a defining aspect of this aligning element. That said, all my altars have a candle and some earth-based and living symbol.

The focal point for my winter altar is my small decorative tree, and the palette that I have chosen is black and white. I hang ornaments, pictures and other symbols from it. My altar also includes a commemorative photo of my father, a clay crow I crafted to hold my fears at bay, a small vase for a single white flower and sprig of cedar, my white Buddha candle, a small Snoopy ornament (Snoopy is my spirit animal) as well as a seasonal SoulCollage® card as wisdom oracle for what the season has to teach me. Check back next month though and it’s likely that I will have played with it a bit.

There are no right or wrong ways to create a seasonal altar. I advocate for looking around at the items you already own and display, and for taking yourself on a field trip to your own backyard or nearby nature space. Which small treasures and trinkets resonate with or empower you? Which ones carry significant meaning? Place those there and don’t be afraid to keep tinkering with your altar until it feels right. There are ample resources on altars. Here are a few to get you started. Start small and simple, and see where it leads!

A Labyrinth is Born.

A gray fall day in Seattle saw the inaugural stones placed and steps walked as part of a small dedication ceremony I officiated to launch an outdoor church labyrinth here in the Puget Sound. A local labyrinth designer, aka the labyrinth whisperer, as I took to calling him, spent time measuring, pinning and staking the pegs in preparation for congregants to then lay the stones. I asked the oldest serving community member to lay the first stone and a young member to place the final ceremonial stone as symbol of the future generation of labyrinth users. The other inaugural stones were placed by a key representative from the various staff, committees, board of directors, and visitors. The intention was that once all the stones were laid and the ground preparation complete, this meditative space will be publicly listed on the Labyrinth Locator map for all to enjoy.

Make a nesting now, a place to which the birds can come…”
David Whyte, “Coleman’s Bed” from River Flow: New & Selected Poems

Make a Nesting.

In the realm of house and office blessings, it sometimes proves difficult for people to know how to go about consecrating the new space and crafting a ribbon-cutting moment. Should I invite others to bear witness to the moment? Should there be stories? Champagne? An actual ribbon to cut?

In all ceremonial cases, one of my first consultative steps I embark on is to craft a questionnaire for my clients, which helps them get clear on what it is they want for their space blessing. Their answers to those questions invariably elicit a plethora of theme possibilities, ritual ideas and inspired readings.

When my dear friend Carol asked me to create something to mark the official double-French doors opening of her new home-based art space for Little Wing Studio, I didn’t need to dig deep for a ceremony theme. Her art-filled home is filled with bird motif artwork, ranging from egg and nest altars to bird shrines to feathers and wing-inspired art. Her back garden oasis, replete with many bird feeders, is also a sanctuary space for a conference of many-feathered birds. “Blessing the Nest” naturally emerged as the obvious and fitting theme for this ceremony.

And even Jimi Hendrix had a hand in things, as I shared in this excerpted piece from the Building the Nest story I wrote for the midpoint of her ceremony, as a way to tell the once upon a time tale of her creative journey, the birth of the studio and significance of the name, Little Wing:

And so finally, they began to find common ground as they searched song lyrics. Their wall stenciling (and artist mantra if ever there was one!), of “Excuse Me While I Kiss the Sky” helped point the way – and not long after, the name revealed itself. Little Wing, not surprisingly, gives nod to its namesake song by Jimi Hendrix on his Axis: Bold as Love album. It’s a song that speaks of the precious essence called Little Wing and it is an anthem to the Muse herself: cloud walking, a circus mind that runs wild, the most gorgeous and miraculous of creatures and things like butterflies and zebras, moonbeams, fairy tales, a thousand smiles and endless flight.”

Carol shared that she was seeking a celebratory tone and an energetic lightness to the ceremony. In marking this beginning and opening, it was very important for her that it be witnessed by close creative friends and family. After deciding upon the ceremony elements ~ which included writing and telling her creative journey which led to the studio being born, a custom final blessing, and of course, a culminating champagne toast ~ I wove in a nesting ritual as the special moment in the ceremony. To prepare for this ritual, I asked Carol to forage branches from her yard, which she then snapped into small twig pieces. She chose her beloved cottonwood tree as the benefactor for this nesting rite. Following the story piece, I then invited everyone to go around the table, take a twig piece and share their wish or intention word for this new space. These twigs were then placed in the basket of other twigs. A mutual friend agreed to play the role of nest builder, and as I shared the Celtic legend of St. Kevin and the blackbird followed by the David Whyte poem, “Coleman’s Bed,” she began the good work of building the cottonwood nest, twig by twig, in Carol’s cupped hands. After crafting the nest, she then ceremoniously placed a decorated nest egg in the center, as fertile symbol of this becoming and future prosperity. It was a powerful and hushed moment for all to bear witness, in symbolic form, to Carol’s own twig-by-twig creative journey.

After toasting her new space and venture with champagne and the poetic words, “Ching, Ching…to Little Wing!,” we then gathered for a small celebratory luncheon and reconvened in the studio to decorate and write blessing words on strips of fabric, which Carol then tied to a branch. It is a gorgeous art installation and ceremonious reminder that now proudly adorns her outdoor patio wall adjacent to the studio space.

*********

Setting aside a half hour to utter words and enact small yet meaning-filled rites for such life occasions may seem insignificant, but relative to key moments on our vocational path, they prove to be just the opposite. Since opening the doors to Little Wing Studio, Carol now hosts an array of sold-out art retreats, art journaling workshops and creativity classes. And if these excerpted words from the closing Blessing for Wings I penned for her are any indication, all our collective wishes, hopes and dreams for the studio are, indeed, taking bold flight.

May these walls inspire abandon, magic and play,
Whisper peace and possibility,
Privilege practice over product and perfection,
And may they bolster an undeniable urge to be bold.”