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Garden of Common Ground

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United States
Saint Peters, MO
Garden of Common Ground

Crystal Bowl Sound Healing
Holy Fire/Usui Reiki Master
Ordained Minister/Wedding Officiant
Unique Ce I am a Compassion Mentor.
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You might ask what a Compassion Mentor does. I hold compassionate space for you to discover your true self. I help you dig deep into the emotional, mental and physical patterns in your life that you feel hold you back. I give you safe space to explore what inspired you to create those patterns and why they helped protect you. Your comfort and safety is of utmost importance to me. For us to do this

kind of work, you must learn to trust me. To trust that you are safe to feel your feelings in a space of non-judgement and knowing that you are not alone. In exploring the depths of these feelings, we uncover the patterns that you created over time as a protection mechanism. We identify which ones are available to release because they no longer serve you and we work on letting them go. We do this in the form of ceremony, because we need to honor those protections we had in place for what they had to offer us, and we want to let them go with loving kindness. We then work on creating new mental, emotional and physical patterns that serve you in moving forward. Patterns that create a life of confidence, unconditional love and acceptance. This transformation in your thinking, feeling and being creates balance! Inner peace and tranquility are by-products of being balanced energetically. This allows you to bloom into the most wonderful version of yourself! This can happen in a few sessions, or it can take several sessions. It depends on where you are in your journey of unconditional love and compassion for yourself. I also offer several meditation events and ceremonies that help to anchor this balance into your being. I work in conjunction with several yoga studios to provide sound therapy during yoga sessions to help open your heart space and unite with the collective conscious of unconditional love.

08/01/2024

Long post alert!

I have been mostly quiet on this platform for some time.

I closed up my studio that was created for sound healing about 11 months ago. As the one-year anniversary of that closure approaches, I feel compelled to reflect on how life has changed.

Something felt 'different'and I was just coming off of a pretty tough double arm surgery and then I became suddenly and mysteriously ill.

It was so serious, I was worried that I might die.

It took me quite a while to get my feet back under me. I have never felt so vulnerable or dependent on those I love.

It was quite frightening to experience.

It broke my heart to close my business. Owning a business was a personal goal that I had for my whole life and I LOVE sound healing and the feeling of connectedness it brought to my life.

I adored what I had created.

Yet, after all the hard work, time and training that went into that beautiful sound studio, I KNEW, deep in my bones, that my body was telling me that my priority had to be my own well-being.

Before I could serve my community for another minute, I HAD to take care of me.

And I had to do it on a level that I never had before.

I accepted help and meals from people. I partook in healing sessions, found a therapist and spent countless hours of work on my mental, emotional and physical healing.

My closest relationships have improved immensely. This was important to me because when things were at their lowest, never was I more aware of how much I was loved. Far more than I ever realized.

What a beautiful gift to feel in the midst of not knowing how I might make it through the day.

It truly was these acts of love that kept me holding on to how much I had to live for.

These days, I am taking much better care of myself.

And surprisingly, through the heartbreak of closing my much-loved business and feeling like it was a great failure, I learned that I hadn't failed at all.

I gave myself the time to 'just be' on a deeper level than ever before.

I have been traveling a lot with my amazing, charming husband. I have been having so much more fun than I ever allowed myself to have.

I have been enjoying more authentically connected moments with those I love than ever before.

What is the point of all this, you ask?

Don't wait until something knocks you down to allow yourself to be deeply loved.

I had to be knocked down to death's door before I could accept or receive the love that was available to me. I just couldn't feel it prior to almost dying.

My family, friends who have always had my back and clients who have become friends have been incredibly generous with their love, support and care.

I can't believe that it took my near death experience to FEEL it.

I had closed myself off from receiving by over-giving and holding a feeling of inappropriate responsibility for everyone else's happiness and well-being.

While in the midst of leading others in creating a lifestyle of self-compassion, I ended up learning a whole new level of self-compassion and self-love for myself - through the most difficult challenge I have ever experienced.

It makes me wonder how many levels and lessons there are in this journey. I suspect there are as many lessons as there are breaths that I take.

Please, look inside and find more ways to be gentle with your tender self.

Don't define success by how much you do. Measure it by the amount of love you allow yourself to receive.

Trust your gut.

Take the time to eat healthy food as defined by how your body responds to your meal more than what someone else tells you that you need to eat.

Spend time in nature. Really - breath it in deeply. And frequently.

Move gently and often.

Commit to spending quality, engaged time with yourself and with anyone who is important to you.

Do the things you LOVE to do - do not wait until you have 'enough' money or time. Do it now.

Life is meant to be lived, friends!

Enjoy every moment of it right now - don't wait!

I don't know if I will be re-opening my business in the future in the way I served before. I don't think I am finished serving my community, but I also don't know what the future of serving looks like yet.

This is a lot - but I just wanted to share my heart and my gratefulness for this humbling experience and how it has helped me gain some clarity I didn't realize I needed.

How grateful I am to be alive and to be loved.

Life sure is beautifully rich.

This is a recent photo of me spending a reflective moment in Waterton Lake in Alberta, Canada.

Sending love out to you all!

07/02/2024

I love this corner in my sunroom.

The plants surround Mary all around the room.

My grandma's rosary hangs around her robe. I didn't get to be too familiar with my grandmas in a deep way, and I always imagined what my relationship with them could have been.

I daydream about it not in a way of longing, but out of curiosity.

My mom and I talk of our own perceived shortcomings of our mothering and grandmothering styles. I can see personal and ancestral traits that shape how we both showed up.

I am grateful for these conversations.

They can feel incredibly personal and sometimes painful, while also being quite expansive and heart-warming.

It gives us space to consciously engage in our personal relationship in a way that we aren't charged about an event where either of us wish we had been or done better, and to see each other as the human carving out our realities. Lives shaped by our experiences and our beliefs that created who we feel we are and might be.

I feel so blessed, that the more I talk to my mom openly about these things, the sweeter our relationship feels.

It's like tasting a fresh blueberry picked at the peak of ripeness; I savor this feeling!

I feel the heartfelt prayers she uttered when I was in her womb. Her sweet whisperings to God to be the best mom she could be and that I would know how much I would be loved and was wanted.

You see, sometimes when I was little, I didn't always feel that. Even though it was her greatest prayer, feeling she wouldn't measure up was her greatest fear.

And sometimes in the department of parenting, the fear won out over the prayer.

Turns out, it's the same for me, too.

After conversations with my daughter, I know she shares that same sentiment.

Parenting is quite an adventure. I look to Mary as a possible representation of the ultimate role model for being a mother.

Or, at least, the idea of what I believe Mary represents. My beautiful heart and brain synchronize to contemplate the most loving divine mother of mothers, the wise, kind queen of all...

And how she would mother her beloved children.

It's lofty, but I aim to be that kind of mother.

Not defined by a specific thing I do, but defined for the ever present, open hearted loving presence I can be to my chikdren and grandchildren.

I fall short, I get up and brush my hands and b***y off, and I take a deep breath, and I start again.

As I suppose it might be for all mothers, every where, in all times.

May the mother inside of us rise to the occasion, knowing that we are, just by simply showing up and trying.

May we forgive ourself if we fell short or disappointed our self or those we love and may all hearts understand that mothers learn to love in the moment.

We create love by our learning, and still having the heart to show up.

May we all be blessed with an abundance of ease and grace in all endeavors to love ourselves, our families and friendsx, neighbors and strangers.

May we forgive easily, love fully and find peace, joy and happiness with grace and humility.

May our hearts be content.

May we be forever grateful for the opportunity to live and love.

May we always be grateful for the adventure!

06/18/2024

Heehee

05/31/2024

I believe this so deeply.

I have sent texts in an attempt to communicate important things before - and I think it was a huge mistake.

I have also misinterpreted things others have texted me.

Texting is great for convos like, 'can you grab some lettuce on the way home' or little things like that.

Important things are better left to in person talking, in my opinion.

05/31/2024

😂😂

05/28/2024

From 'Welcome Home' FB Page...

A big lesson I have learned recently so eloquently expressed:

I’m slowly learning that I don’t have to react to everything that bothers me, that the energy it takes to react to every bad thing that happens to you drains you and stops you from seeing the other good things in life.

I’m learning that I’m not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I won’t be able to get everyone to treat me the way I want to be treated and that’s okay.
that trying so hard to ‘win’ anyone is just a waste of time and energy and it fills you with nothing but emptiness.
that not reacting doesn’t mean I’m okay with things, it just means I’m choosing to rise above it.

I’m choosing to take the lesson it has served and learn from it, to be the bigger person. To honor my peace of mind because that’s what I truly need.

I don’t need more drama or people making me feel like I’m not good enough, fights and arguments and fake connections.

I’m slowly learning that sometimes not saying anything at all says everything.
that reacting to things that upset you gives someone else power over your emotions.

You can’t control what others do, but you can control how you respond, how you handle it, how you perceive it and how much of it you want to take personally.

I’m slowly learning that most of the time, these situations say nothing about you and a lot about the other person.
That maybe all these disappointments are just there to teach us how to love ourselves because that will be the armor and the shield we need against the people who try to bring us down.
They will save us when people try to shake our confidence or when they try to make us feel like we’re worthless.

I’m also learning that even if I react, it won’t change anything, it won’t make people suddenly love and respect me, it won’t magically change their minds.

Sometimes it’s better to just let things be, let people go,
don’t fight for closure,
don’t ask for explanations,
don’t chase answers and
don’t expect people to understand where you’re coming from.

I’m slowly learning that life is better lived when you don’t center it on what’s happening around you and center it on what’s happening inside you instead.

Work on yourself and your inner peace and you’ll come to realize that not reacting to every little thing that bothers you is the first ingredient to living a happy and healthy life.

05/27/2024

Necessary distinctions....

05/27/2024

Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whispers of old trees.
~ Unknown

05/22/2024

I have heard the saying, 'no mud, no lotus' and I get it.

The bad comes with the good, challenging with easy, pretty with ugly, light with dark... etc.

I honestly believe opposites are two different places on the same spectrum.

I've been pondering this and how it applies to my relationship with myself.

If I feel, think, hear, smell, see, sense 'mud' on me... I have rushed to shower it off or to 'fix' it in the past.

And my mud-meter was REALLY sensitive.

Trouble was, I took other's opinions and reactions about my mud more seriously than my own.

It didn't have to be extreme for me to create an action plan to be 'better'.

I spent a lot of time walking on eggshells and teying to be better.

But the thing was, so many people see my lotus side. I am inherently a kind person.

I go lengths to make sure others feel welcomed and comfortable in my presence.

And I realize that for all the 'lotus' that folks see in me, I have been so very fortunate not to have been called out on some muddier parts of my behavior.

Or is that fortunate?

When someone bashed me for some of my mud, I didn't know how to take it well, because I have never had much conversation around this.

It was some of my first shadow/inner child work I ever had to do. It is surreal to be a grown adult and learn that parts of your child self are running around all butt-hurt in your psyche!

It makes me laugh to say that, but it's so true!

It's like this part of me that wants to be mature - and just doesn't realize it is immature. And that is always seemed to be something difficult to accept.

But, in my meanderings through some really tough life events, I have finally found some sort of grace to see myself when this happens and to lean in and be a bit more tender with myself rather than to become defensive.

That has taken so much work! Sooooo much work!!!

What's this all about?

Nothing really - except for this has sort of become the way I document things for myself, and while I know curve balls are always being lobbed in one way or another, I feel a real inner peace with this that I never have before.

A way of seeing myself in a way that doesn't feel harsh and snappy. More like I kinda see other people and give them the benefit of the doubt if they are eating some mud pie..

I don't hold grudges towards others, and I won't do that to myself anymore, either. Waste of time.

It's not perfection I am speaking of here. There is no such thing as perfect except for in fleeting moments.

It is temporary.

Perspective is everything.

Claiming fun in a life where I was deeply groomed to accept what others said of me very seriously and all of it hinged on my work and doing rather than around just being... there was a lot of entangled stuff in there.

Suspect there's even more where that came from.

I know more how to deal with that now in loving ways to myself that it isn't as big of a deal if it comes up.

Turns out, I call myself out more than anyone else ever does. As long as I am doing it kindly, I am in great shape!

Breathing deeply and choosing love every day,
Misty
5/22/2024

05/22/2024

Holy moly, mother nature.

Your beauty astounds me.

To say I love on charmed land feels so very accurate.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

05/18/2024

Clouds are so mesmerizing... entertaining...

I imagine this is little Gizmo, giving us a Frolicky hello from heaven.

His little angel wings giving him an extra boost to help him glide a bit higher today.

Hello, little fella. We sure miss you! You are loved!

05/18/2024

It's a stellar hair day here in the garden...

This fence post needs only a guitar to complete it's rebel attitude!

I rather liked this as it feels fun to embrace my inner rock star sometimes.

She is a cross between Janice Joplin, Joan Jett and Patsy Kline...

Hopefully a bit of Stevie Nicks, too.

I mean - she moves and inspires me!

05/18/2024

The little things in life can be such big things.

Grateful to visit a friend who had a recent health scare. Nothing else puts the perspective of how thankful you are than when someone you care about experiences an event that could have been their last breath.

Grateful for the sky filled with fluffy fiant clouds and yet, still sunny day.

Grateful for our swimming pool and all the fun we will have this year playing and relaxing in it.

Grateful to be putting in the garden in some flowers. I just love this time of year!

Grateful for drum circles and community.

Grateful to meet a dear, sweet virtual friend, in person, by surprise!

Grateful for a good nights rest and a chance to do it all over again today.

Life sure is good...

05/15/2024

Today's gratitudes:

Watching a baby robin learn to fly

My 4-year old grandson wearing a paper bag mask to walk his sister into Kindergarten 😂

Kindergarten graduation

Geometric clematis flowers

Mowing, and subsequently eating a riduculous amount of gnats 😂

Hummingbirds, hummingbirds, hummingbirds

The beautiful bright blue sky and tons of fluffy white clouds

Feeling like my pants are loose

A nice hot shower

A delicious salad

Fresh, juicy strawberries

Conversations with people I love and whom love me

Life sure is sweet!

05/15/2024

We are servants of the Mystery. We were put here on earth to act as agents of the Infinite, to bring into existence that which is not yet, but which will be, through us.

Every breath we take, every heartbeat, every evolution of every cell comes from God and is sustained by God every second, just as every creation, invention, every bar of music or line of verse, every thought, vision, fantasy, every dumb-ass flop and stroke of genius comes from that infinite intelligence that created us and the universe in all its dimensions, out of the Void, the field of infinite potential, primal chaos, the Muse.

To acknowledge that reality, to efface all ego, to let the work come through us and give it back freely to its source, that, in my opinion, is as true to reality as it gets.”
― Steven Pressfield

05/15/2024

You are lovable, just as you are!

05/11/2024

It has been a magical month.

I came home from the beach, and traded my mermaid tail for overalls. The beach was sublime, and so was coming home.

I love the green of Missouri in the spring. It is truly breathtaking.

I was thinking how the wind was blowing in the fields of tall grass looked just like the waves rolling on the ocean.

Just as the dolphin came in to play at the beach, the bees were observing me as I worked in the garden. Sussing me up to find out if I am friend or foe.

I am strange in that I love to pull weeds and love cleaning up the garden space before the planting begins.

I hope to have a spectacle of flower beds this year!

I was delighted in every sense working in the garden yesterday and got the thrill of my life after we finished, to find we could see the northern lights from our back porch! What a beautiful, awe-inspiring sight.

Seeing the northern lights is high on my bucket list and now I experienced it!

I cried! I have never seen a wonder such as this!

Today, meditating with horses and dinner with my family.

This life sure is beautiful!

05/11/2024

Can't lie - I cried!

05/03/2024

Not an excellent pic, but my loves are back!!!!!

04/12/2024

It has taken pounds of tears to dissolve ounces of anger and upset that I have not expressed.

I left these things unsaid for a multitude of reasons.

I wanted people to like me.
I didn't want to upset anyone.
I didn't feel my hurt mattered as much as other's that I loved.
I didn't want to show my emotions in front of others...

The list is longer than that, but you get the idea.

However, I am grateful that my tears have reached a space of calibration to regain balance.

I can feel it when the tears level off or when I can feel a sad emotion and not want to breakdown.

These days, life is about riding the waves of those emotion without dramatic outbursts and letting deep feelings take up more space than necessary.

Wow.

So much has changed in a short period of time.

I am grateful for so many things - even too numerous to list - but I feel it so overwhelmingly and wonderfully.

I hope this is a special day for you, too, if you're reading this.

Get outside, feel that fresh spring wind; take some long, soft breaths to anchor into your body. Feel the grass between your toes. Face the sun and let it warm your face.

Breathe a little bit longer into that.

Feel the power of spring! Earth is regenerating another season of growth right in front of you!

Breathe that in!!!

Know that you're getting a fresh start today, too! Right here, right now!

What are you going to do with it?

I highly recommend dancing. It's a great place to start!

03/05/2024

I do not know the source of this, but this is absolutely spectacularly insanely pretty!

It's a dragonfly's wing...

Some folks may see a 'bug' when they see a dragonfly. But a little closer look and it is easy to see even a bug can be beautiful.

Wonder what it would be like if we could lean into understanding that about anyone who 'bugs' us?

Is it possible to lean in and see their beauty?

I like to believe it is...

I am grateful I believe that instead of wanting to get the flyswatter...

03/02/2024

It's a new day.

Time to breathe in fresh air, exhale the old...

The effects on this pic are bright and over exposed. I don't like that it has an air of fakeness by erasing my wrinkles, but I wanted that washed out feel.

It outwardly looks like how I feel on the inside.

I am embarking on a new phase of self discovery and it feels a bit raw and 'ouchy' while also feeling like I am being scrubbed clean of a bunch of grime I used to carry.

I feel this freshness inside...

I am learning ways to love and honor myself more deeply.

This can be such a tender process...

I like this representation of how it feels as it feels 'stripped clean'.

No matter where you are or what you're doing today, remember that loving yourself, honoring yourself and taking care of yourself should always be a priority.

The thing I have learned most recently is that not giving myself priority in my decisions, leads to abandoning my own needs if I am not careful.

I am in awe of how loved I am and how sometimes I still struggle to feel and know it.

But it's right there in that space of feeling unloved that I need to lean in and be here for myself first and foremost before I do one thing to attempt to get someone else to give me the love I need.

I didn't think that I do that, but I really do sometimes. And I do it in such a deep level of unawareness periodically, that it astounds me to realize this.

Even though I consciously work at it, there is always more growth and learning available.

Grateful for the knowing, always requesting grace and ease and for the ability to work the PAUSE.

I am in a deep pause while learning to love and forgive myself on yet another juicy layer.

Grateful to be able to share these musings here and grateful to be alive!

03/01/2024

I don't know the source of this, but I do believe this type of kindness is so very necessary in the world.

I am practicing on the daily. I don't always get it right, but sometimes I do.

Always praying for the grace to understand when I do, and also for awareness and grace when I don't.

Then for the courage to own it, and to apologize and to do better.

Always a work in progress.

Humbled to know that the more I learn, the less I know.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to cook food and every now & then I remember she used to cook for us. One night in particular when she had made dinner after a long hard day at work, Mom placed a plate of bread jam and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I was waiting to see if anyone noticed the burnt toast. But Dad just ate his toast and asked me how was my day at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember I heard Mom apologizing to dad for burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned toast." Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your momma put in a long hard day at work today and she was really tired. And besides, A burnt toast never hurts anyone but harsh words do!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people I'm not the best at hardly anything. What I've learned over the years, is that learning to accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences, is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right and have compassion for the ones who don't.

02/27/2024

Once I love someone, it never leaves my heart. I can't quit loving people I love. I will always love them.

On hard days, I wish I could be a quitter because I dream that it surely has to be an easier path to walk than the one I am on.

Yet, I know there isn't a magic pill and that waxing poetic won't change a damn thing.

Thank goodness! Life is meant to be FELT! Experienced! Lived large!

I can be mad as hell at someone, and I can still hold so much freaking love for them; it amazes, surprises and befuddles me.

It also uplifts me and keeps a smile on my face.

I never knew that a paradox such as this can feel as wide as an ocean, as deep as the Grand Canyon or as tall as Mount Everest - in my heart. It feels that expansive.

It's a hard won space in my being to feel neutral while knowing that.

Hallelujah!

It is the very thing that makes me the most frustrated about my myself while simultaneously making me love my tender-hearted nature even more than ever.

I am the miracle I have been waiting for!

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

02/15/2024

I was raised to deal with doing hard things head on. My parents were very adamant that I develop reailience in the face of challenge, so they didn't hover or even really tell me how we should tackle a problem.

They owned a slaughterhouse and I worked there from the age of 11 until my mid 30's. I didn't do little kiddie jobs like empty the trash; I worked on the kill floor, wrapped meat, had to organize orders, shoveled the manure from the cattle pens... I worked!

When I went to high school, I got a second job where I also worked 2-3 nights a week and on weekends. And when I graduated (on Friday, June 1), I started my 'big girl' job in the steno pool at McDonnell Douglas on Monday, June 4...

I quite working my 2nd job then, but still worked for my folks twice a week and within a werk of working at McD, got yet another job at Six Flags on the weekends.

I developed a deep willingness to work hard and I wore it like a giant medal of achievement.

I can regale you for hours with stories of my hard work (yawn). But I won't!

Because...

I would rather share how my belief that life was supposed to be hard fueled another belief that I was being lazy if things wasn't hard...

And that I just don't believe that any more.

I won't say I have fully overcome that behavior, but at least I have garnered the skill to discern whether I want to engage or not when something is hard.

I am so grateful to be a space of understanding that things don't HAVE to be hard!

I am grateful for the mantra of choosing ease and grace as my mindset a few years ago. It's still integrating, but it is getting easier and easier to choose easy.

Don't get me wrong - the things I accomplished while working hard mattered, but being able to do things the hard way doesn't define me like it used to!

I am grateful I finally found it in my heart to believe that I don't have to earn good things with a pile of hard work.

Good things are available, because good things are available.

I am finally leaning into PLEASURE and understanding that it's also wonderful to experience fun and to play a lot more than I used to.

I am beyond grateful for that!

My wish is for everyone to find grace and ease and to know the peace it can bring to their life.

02/11/2024

There is so much mystery in this world.

I love the surprises that come along while we're meandering our way through life.

Like how I met a brand new neighbor only to discover that we ran in the same circles 35 years ago, but never met one another then.

Or how I get stalled at a traffic light for some ridiculous reason for a few extra moments to find out that an accident happened and that delay probably saved me from being involved.

The universe seems to always be working in my favor.

I am so grateful for random synchronicities. I believe I have experienced hundreds of them in my life.

I believe that the more I believe in this phenomenon, the more these amazing things happen for me.

The surprises from the universe often tend to be the best. Like this 'random' surprise visit from a Blue Heron.

I was sunbathing on a boat dock with a friend some years ago, and I had this flash of a 'vision' and it appeared like my biological father was dressed in 50's swimwear and leaning on a post on an adjacent dock staring straight at me - it stunned me for sure!

I rubbed my eyes and when I looked back over there, there was a giant blue heron standing in that spot, with its neck crooked and looking straight at me!!!

My friend did not see the vision of the man but did see the heron...

I couldn't help wonder why I would have had that vision of a man I barely knew, and why, after I rubbed my eyes, did I discover a blue heron standing there?

I looked up symbolism regarding the blue heron and the Native Americans regarded them as a symbol of prosperity - where there is a heron, there are fish; their long slender legs demonstrate an ability to stand firm without great physical strength.

The latter has been a continuing theme in my life. Learning to stand firm without physically depleting myself.

In Buddhism, the message of heron is linked to grace, patience and focus in hopes of inspiring a meditation and spiritual practice.

These birds are often solitary birds.

All of these things do resonate deeply with me.

My biological father was not really a kind or a good person, nor was he present much in my life. Fleetingly there, honestly.

But this event is one I like to refer to in my own meditations, and I am grateful that I have had this interaction with the heron and what it has meant for me...

I like to think it was the fatherly energy of my dad and possibly only the one way he could have ever sent me such a message.

Have you ever experienced a time where nature's symbology spoke to you in a profound way?

I would love to hear about it! Tell me in the comments.

02/04/2024

Failure is all it's cracked up to be -it's a b*tch!

And, yet, I am grateful I let myself entertain being a failure. Let me explain.

My biggest fear was being a failure.

Failure of feeling stupid, ugly, unimportant, irrelevant, slow, a bad person...so many things.

I think my fear of failure has led me to stick with things far too long when things aren't working.

I even believed that this made me a better person, because I would do almost anything to avoid feeling like I failed. I felt it made me stronger.

Even if it didn't serve me.

That's where my abandonment issues surface in my 'walking the talk' world I live in.

So I decided to feel into what my perception of failing was, and to lean into it instead of trying to prevent it from happening.

Surprisingly to me, engaging with failure - rather than letting it unconsciously control me from the background of my thoughts or as an undercurrent in my emotional world - has been quite empowering.

So, I decided to let myself fail miserably. If it was something that felt like failure but didn't serve my peace and contentment, I just quit doing it. I failed to do it any more.

It happened through a series of events.

I completely disengaged with people I love tremendously, because our interactions felt anything other than loving.

I closed my sound healing space.

I laid low for several months recovering from a serious surgery and a mysterious illness.

I declined every offer to engage in another layer of deep healing. And said no to every invitation to collaborate.

I was fu***ng tired. I hadn't given my body, mind or spirit a REST in decades.

Have you ever heard the term, spiritual mule? That's the energy that I was embodying for a long time.

Mule symbology holds the energetics of being owned and worked by others, often in poor or abusive treatment.

I can say that it didn't feel very good! And I could feel how my own behaviors were allowing that energy dynamic in my life.

I am grateful for that clarity!

I had been healing this dynamic in my life for a long time in a very slow way. There were/are so many nuanced layers of this energy and how it shows up in my life.

It took more than one failure to understand how big the pattern was.

And 2023 was a huge year of recognizing and clearing deeper layers of that energy.

Whew! Yes! That feels better...

It felt like failure when I stopped trying to convince someone to see me in a way other than how they saw me.

I learned that it's ok to be perceived as a failure by someone else.

It's ok if I don't own a business or guide others if I need to be in a deep period of rest and healing for myself. This winter hibernation has held such love for me in that regard.

This post could go on and on; the layers were deep and fall out immense.

I hope you can feel the depth of gratitude, freedom and peace that has developed from letting myself consciously and compassionately live my perception of failure.

There is no such thing as failure. There is only learning....

Photo cred: me
A lantern in my home... the light is always within when we nourish ourself

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Saint Peters, MO

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13144123457

Website

https://linktr.ee/gardenofcommonground

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Videos

Come and join us this weekend at The Art of Presence: An Embodiment & Sound Experience . This event will strengthen your mind-body-soul connection through movement, breath work, and sound. We hope to see you there! There are still spots available. Use this link to register. https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event/the-art-of-presence-may/

Join me on Wednesday, May 3rd for our Sacred Communication Circle. Come and enjoy the healing nature of self-communication! We will use breath work and intention to start followed by opportunities for everyone to listen and share their thoughts. I hope to see you there!Visit the link below to register for only $25. https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event/sacred-communication-circle-may/

30 seconds of serenity. Happy Friday!

Love. Is it really the cure all to everything? Does it soothe the ache of heartbreak or contribute to it? Both, I suspect. Love is a feel-good gig until it isn't... I could wax poetic all day long about how love is a cure for your blues or how it can lay you low. But I won't. Because I think our relationship with love is personal. Lately, I have been cultivating self-love. It seems easier to love others sometimes than it does to love myself! I am working through that and finding the love for me that I share... Lean in... how you loving yourself these days?

Hey everyone! I hope you’re having a wonderful Friday. I thought I’d drop in today and share my new event, Sacred Communication Circles! The first of which will be February 1st from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. This is an opportunity for everyone to practice and improve their self-communication and listening skills in a safe space full of love and good energy. Everyone will get an opportunity to have the floor, where there will be no discussion. This will be followed by a meditation to reflect and recenter. Attendance is limited to 8 people to maintain an intimate setting. Reserve your spot with the link below! https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event/sacred-communication-circle-february/

Tomorrows Sunday Sound Immersion is SOLD OUT! Thank you to everyone to signed up. This is my last event of 2022! What a year… so many beautiful things have happened and there is so much to look forward to in 2023!!

My studio is a safe place for ALL to come and sink into their inner being! One of my favorite things about my sessions is being able to create beautiful sound therapy with my husband. His presence opens a whole new energy for the men that come! I’ve had a lot of people bring their husbands to events and it’s a beautiful thing! Interested in my Galactic 12/12 sessions? There are still spots available. Visit the link below: https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event-schedule/

It’s the season of giving thanks, and I’m grateful for each and every one if you! I get it, the holidays can be STRESSFUL! From the hosting, cooking, cleaning, and more… there’s no time to unwind and just BE. I’m hosting a Sunday Sound Immersion on 11.27 to help everyone recoup from the Thanksgiving madness. Registration is $33, and registration is limited to 16 people. Interested in learning more and registering? Check out the link below. https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event-schedule/

My 11/11 Galactic Sound Immersion is selling out FAST! I’m thrilled to share that the 6:30 session is completely SOLD OUT. Don’t worry, there’s still room in my 10:30 am session. Register with the link below to secure your spot! Can you feel the magic? 🪄✨ https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event-schedule/

Call to Kindness! 10/10 Numerology!

Pack your bags! Come join us for the 4th annual Beaver Moon Women’s Healing Retreat. Come escape in the hills of Mount Ida, where it is a magical weekend of fellowship, food, and frequency. Arrival is Thursday November 3rd at 4pm ✨Introductions (all) ✨Dinner ✨Workshop (arts and crafts) Friday: ✨Yoga ✨Breakfast ✨Private crystal dig (lunch and drinks will be served on location) ✨Clean up ✨Dinner ✨Workshop Saturday: ✨Yoga ✨Breakfast ✨Guided meditation and sound healing ✨Hot springs (lunch and drinks will be served on location) ✨Clean up ✨Dinner ✨Womb Healing Ritual ✨Sound Immersion ✨Cacao and fire ceremony Each ticket is $650 per person, there are payment options - message one of the facilitators to arrange. Send payment to PayPal - Shift into Balance Cash app - $shiftintobalance This will be a very intimate event with a capacity of 12 people. Make sure to book your spot now! Venue Announcement coming soon!!! This year we are excited to have a scholarship to award. All you have to do to apply is to send an email to: [email protected] telling your name, favorite flower, and what this weekend would mean to YOU! Entry deadline is 10/17/2022.

Unpack a Crystal Bowl order with me! I received a 9-bowl harmonized set which is going to really elevate the harmonics of my sound immersions! The new crystal pyramid I got harmonizes with two other crystal pyramids. That's a SUPER high frequency combination of tools. I can’t wait to incorporate these into this Sunday’s session! What’s your favorite instrument? Don’t have your tickets yet, there are still spaces available. Use the link below to register. https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event-schedule/

My Garden is one of my favorite places in the world! Look who came to visit while I was watching the sun rise. Do you have a special place or routine where you set intentions for the day? Sunday Sound Immersions are the perfect opportunity to recenter. Register for my upcoming event with the link below. I’d love to see you this weekend. https://linktr.ee/gardenofcommonground

A call to Kindness...

Happy Friday! Here’s a sneak peak of what I will be bringing to perform my Call to Kindness ceremony on the 13th. I’ll be going live tomorrow to give everyone more information and share about all of the fun things I am bringing from my altar. Make sure to tune in!

Say hello to my little friend! This gorgeous Smokey Quarts Crystal Triangle is one of my favorite pieces to play in my Sound Immersions. I invite you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and listen to her SING! It’s not too late to register for my 9/6 Galactic Sound Immersion! There will be TWO sessions, one at 10:30 am and another at 6:30 pm. Registration is $33 and you can register with the link below. I’d love to see you there! https://www.gardenofcommonground.com/event-schedule/