Totem Org

03/22/2026

✨ Looking for a safe place to pause and reflect this week?

Our Spaces for the week are now live, and each one is designed to meet you exactly where you are. Here’s what we’re holding space for:

Monday, March 23rd
• How to Have Hope Without Naivety — with Jesse
1:45 PM EDT / 10:45 AM PDT
• Spring Cleaning: Clearing Emotional Clutter — with Heather (she/her)
4:00 PM EDT / 1:00 PM PDT

Tuesday, March 24th
• Alcohol: An Honest Reflection — with Heather (she/her)
7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
• March Check-in: The Art You’re Afraid to Make — with Vanessa Rae
10:00 PM EDT / 7:00 PM PDT

Wednesday, March 25th
• Finding Your Personal Style — with Jesse
6:00 PM EDT / 3:00 PM PDT
• Grieving Someone Who is Still Alive — with Vanessa Rae
9:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM PDT

Thursday, March 26th
• When Anger Fills the Room — with Vanessa Rae
6:30 PM EDT / 3:30 PM PDT
• Burning Bright, Not Burning Out — with Heather (she/her)
7:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM PDT

Whether you're navigating uncertainty, processing something heavy, or simply looking for a space to be seen — there’s a place for you here.

Come for yourself.
Stay for the community.

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03/19/2026

Budget cuts. Layoffs. Policy changes. Services and programs dismantled.

Trying to support others while supporting yourself is harder than ever. We see you, and we feel it too.

Join Heather Lillian Gressett tomorrow for an hour in community with others who get it.

🕯️Together, we’ll explore how to burn bright in a world trying to burn us out. ✨

Register and join from anywhere: https://www.totem.org/spaces/kdy842oud/?utm_source=link

03/18/2026

What if the problem was never your body—but the standards you’ve been taught to measure it against?

From unrealistic social media expectations to everyday self-talk, Vanessa Rae’s blog explores how to reclaim your narrative and build real self-esteem.

✨ Plus: 20 powerful quotes to remind you of your worth.

🔗 https://www.totem.org/blog/eiz629lrn/

03/08/2026

🗣️ What does it mean to create space for women to be heard?

On International Women’s Day, we’re thinking about the moments when women choose not to look away—when they speak up, organize, advocate, and support one another in ways that move communities forward.

At Totem, we’re constantly inspired by the women in our network: the ones asking hard questions, building spaces for honest dialogue, and turning lived experience into action.

Progress doesn’t come from a single voice. It grows when people share their stories, challenge assumptions, and create room for others to step forward.
Today we’re celebrating the women who do exactly that—every day.

💜 To the women advocating, leading, questioning, and building community: we see you, and we’re grateful you’re here.

✨ Who is a woman who has shaped the way you see the world?

Tag them or share their story below.

03/07/2026

🔥 What makes someone turn anger into advocacy?

Our newest Totem blog post, How I Turned Anger Into Action: My Journey Into Advocacy, shares Jesse's story. Jesse writes about the moment she realized she couldn’t look away—and how that moment reshaped her path.

Her blog and our Politics, Society & Advocacy Space is live!

📖 Read the blog:
https://www.totem.org/blog/pyw190dco/

📣 Join the conversation:
https://www.totem.org/spaces/ycq928hky/?utm_source=link
🗓 Monday, March 23 @ 12:45 PM CST
💜 How to Have Hope Without Naivety

What was your “I can’t look away” moment? We’d love to hear your story in the comments.

03/05/2026

🌸 A few spots are still open for This Body Is Good: A Six Week Series. If your body has been asking for care, this is your invitation. 🌸

Session One of This Body Is Good has already begun, and something beautiful is unfolding in this space, and it’s not too late to join us.

Register and join the space with Heather Lillian Gressett for Week Two, where we’ll explore movement and relationship.

📅 Mondays, 7–8pm EST (join from anywhere)
✨ Next opportunity to join: March 9
🔗 Save your spot and register ASAP: https://www.totem.org/spaces/dcp103pfs/?utm_source=link

Many of us have forgotten that our bodies are not problems to solve. This series is an invitation to find refuge in your body again — maybe even for the first time. You're welcome here. 💟

02/23/2026

02/04/2026

✨ New Totem Space: Support for Parents of Children with Diagnoses ✨
with Heather (she/her)

So many parents raising children with diagnoses are carrying more than they have space to name — and doing it alone.

This new Space was created from that need.
To be seen. To be heard. To hold grief and victories side by side.
Parenting is already heavy. Adding a diagnosis can make it feel impossible — and it shouldn’t have to be done in isolation.

Support for Parents of Children with Diagnoses is a free, virtual, small-group Space for parents and caregivers navigating life with children who have CP, Down syndrome, or other complex developmental or medical diagnoses. Wherever you live, and wherever you are in your journey, you are welcome here.

🗓 Meets bi-weekly on Thursdays at 7:30 PM EST
🤝 Held by: Heather (she/her)
💸 Free & virtual

🌱 First session: Introductions
📅 February 12
This first gathering will be simple and gentle — a chance to get to know one another, share who our children are, their ages, and when they were diagnosed. You can show up exhausted, hopeful, scared, or somewhere in between.

This is not therapy or a medical support group. There’s no fixing, advising, or pressure here. Just a shared space to pause, be honest, and feel held by others who understand this kind of weight.

We know energy and capacity change day to day. Join as you are, when you can. Cameras are optional. Confidentiality and care are central.

🔗 Learn more & register: https://www.totem.org/spaces/zgo631dls/?utm_source=link

(Registration is required to receive the join link.)

Come for yourself. Stay for the community. 💛

02/02/2026

✨ This week’s Totem Spaces are live ✨
Free, virtual, small-group sessions led by Keepers with lived experience. Join what’s calling to you.

⸻

Loving on Empty: When I Have Nothing Left for the World I Want to Create
with Heather (she/her) · Thriving in Motherhood
📅 Mon, Feb 2 · 🕒 4:00 PM EST
For the days when you’re depleted and still expected to give.

⸻

Vibes Check: One Month Into 2026
with Claire · Transition: Panic. Pause. Pivot. Repeat.
📅 Wed, Feb 4 · 🕒 6:30 PM CST
A grounding check-in for how the year is actually landing.

⸻

February Check-In
with Vanessa Rae · 😬 Self-Sabotage
📅 Wed, Feb 4 · 🕒 6:00 PM PST
Honest reflection, accountability, and naming what’s looping.

⸻

Burning Bright, Not Burning Out
with Heather (she/her) · Helping the Helpers
📅 Thu, Feb 5 · 🕒 12:00 PM EST
For caregivers navigating purpose, fatigue, and sustainability.

⸻

OCD: Living With the Thoughts That Won’t Let Go
with Jesse · Anxiety & the Inner World
📅 Thu, Feb 5 · 🕒 4:30 PM CST / 11:30 PM CET
Making room for intrusive thoughts without shame or urgency.

⸻

Naming the Critic: Externalizing Shame & Fear
with Gabe Kenny · Taking Up Space
📅 Thu, Feb 5 · 🕒 6:00 PM PST
Separating who you are from the voices that try to shrink you.

⸻

Dramatic Irony
with Vanessa Rae · 🖋️ The Writer’s Room
📅 Fri, Feb 6 · 🕒 1:00 PM PST
Exploring what the audience knows—and how tension is built on it.

⸻

🔗 Browse sessions, share & register: https://www.totem.org/spaces/?

(Registration is required to receive the join link — Facebook Event RSVPs don’t send access.)

Come for yourself. Stay for the community. 💛

Join Totem’s online peer support groups. Guided, supportive spaces to share your story, find connection, and grow together.

11/26/2025

With Thanksgiving tomorrow and the country feeling more polarized than ever, this topic feels top of mind: should we talk politics at holiday gatherings? 🦃💬

In this reel, Gabe shares his perspective. For him, it is a no. Not because the issues do not matter, but because holiday tables deserve something better than debate. Connection, stories, shared history, actual joy.

What are your thoughts? Are you leaning in, or leaving it off the table this year?

09/26/2024

Join Totem’s Momma's Space to connect with fellow moms in a nurturing environment. Share your triumphs and obstacles while building a supportive community. 🌟

09/18/2024

🌿 Hi! My name is Heather, and I run the Momma's Space, Jail Space, Love Series, Emotional Fluency Series, and monthly pop-up Spaces.

🐾 This month, we are discussing the pets we are grieving. The picture you see is of me with my childhood dogs, Fauna and Cruiser. Between my parents fighting and being bullied at school, they were my refuge.

🐕‍🦺 They were puppies when I was born, and to say I was gutted by each of their losses would be a huge understatement. Even writing this now brings a lump to my throat the size of the universe.

Grief isn't linear, and that’s exactly what this Space is about. Whether you lost a pet last week or last decade, this Space is for you. 🕊️

✨ We will mourn our pets, but more importantly, we will celebrate them and the paw prints they left on our hearts. ❤️🐾

✨ Join us 09/19 @ 6:30 EST link in bio.