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How are you doing right now?

This is HARD.

I hit a wall this past weekend. After these last weeks of adrenaline rush, paying attention to the ever-changing news, making sure I have enough food + supplies for the animals and myself, figuring out what I can offer in these times that will help people, paying attention to all of the other beautiful offerings by people all over the world, going back on social media after a long hiatus, listening to broadcasts and podcasts and reading newspapers, texts and emails, extra zoom calls and phone calls and and and…

I landed hard in overwhelm and overload.

Too much online. Too much talking. Too much news. Too much social media. Too much input.

Too much too much too much too much too much.

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What a time this is. We are experiencing how fast things can change, how life can be upended in what feels like a single moment, how fast the world as we thought we knew it can fall away.

One turn of the kaleidoscope and everything looks and feels very different. We are learning about resilience and adaptation. We are learning about courage, and strength, and beauty, and kindness. We are seeing mirrored all around us the best expressions of our species: creativity, art, kindness, generosity, bravery, service, devotion to community… alongside some of our worst qualities: greed, selfishness, denial, shortsightedness, arrogance.
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We are connected.

We are a global family.

A few weeks ago, my cat Louie, who has his paw on the planetary pulse more than anyone I know, “interrupted” my morning meditation. He came bopping up to me, in his characteristically Louie way, fixed his eyes on mine in a concentrated, intense stare, and communicated,

“It’s really, really tippy out there.”

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The latest issue of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, #10: How Do We Know? has just been published. Dark Matter publishes writing and artwork created in response to an age of massive species loss and ecological collapse. The journal is a home for dreams, visions, and communications with the nonhuman world, especially those that seek to heal our broken relationship to the earth.

My essay, Aspen Ways of Knowing, is included in this issue. In it, I share the teachings and wisdom given by the quaking aspen forest in the mountains near my home in northern New Mexico — as I call them, the Aspen People.
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I have been sharing a lot about my Afghan hound, Surya lately (thanks for all of your kind and sympathetic responses to the destroyed dog bed photo!) 😋

So I thought I’d send a recent photo of Tashi Joy.

The weather has been warming up here in New Mexico, and Tashi loves nothing more than to sit on the patio on her “throne” (AKA her outdoor chair) and watch the goings-on in the arroyo (the Spanish word for gully, wash, ravine… it’s where the water flows when we get big rains). People walk with their dogs and ride their horses in the arroyo, and it’s also a superhighway for coyotes, rabbits, and other wildlife.

Tashi loved sitting in this position in her former body as Tara, and she has resumed her “throne sitting” in her current body and lifetime with me. Arroyo-watching is the equivalent of a big-screen thriller for a sighthound.

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This post is about the “miracles” that show up when we least expect them…and offer a whole new way of viewing the world and the “reality” that we share.

In the spring of 2019, I’d just returned from spending two weeks in Baja California, Mexico, where I’d led a women’s interspecies communication and meditation retreat. We’d spent time in deep practice and connection with the blue and gray whales and many other beings in the Sea of Cortez and San Ignacio Lagoon, on the Pacific coast. I’d been home in New Mexico for a few days, and was happy to return to my regular schedule and routines, including my swimming workouts at the local community college pool.

As I drove to the pool, still in some way immersed in the energy of the whales, and, truth be told, missing them deeply, I turned the corner, and this is what I saw: (more…)

It’s the middle of winter here in the northern hemisphere; all kinds of crazy and unbearable things are happening in our world… and so I thought that this week, I’d send you a couple of photos that might make you SMILE.

This is my Afghan hound Surya (the name Surya means Sun, and he certainly is one of the great lights and loves of my life). He makes me laugh many times every day. We’ve all had a bit of cabin fever lately… the other day, I heard a funny noise coming from the bedroom and this is what I found.

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I have some wonderful news to share with you this week: I am so pleased to announce the 2019 graduates of the Professional Animal Communication Certification Program!

Robin Jablonski

Sandy Zoumbaris

Sherry Lorenz Zwick

This is not an easy program, and I know that these people would be the first to tell you that. Each of them has invested a minimum of 2 years into this training. They have given great amounts of their time, energy, financial resources, hearts, and love to this work.

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As the New Year and new decade are now underway, I have been revisiting the ideas and practices around self-care in my life. In looking through some old posts, I came across “Self Care for the New Year”, written way back in 2013…oh my, how time flies! And I thought, wow, it’s time to update this and revisit this topic for 2020.

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I love the time of the solstice – winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, and summer solstice for our friends south of the equator. In the middle of the holiday season, the solstice gives us an opportunity to connect with the rhythm of the earth, the quiet, still depth of the winter season, and to experience the perfect balance between day and night, light and dark, sun and moon.

The winter solstice reminds me to take time to go deep, to become still and quiet, to allow myself time to complete what needs to be completed, release what needs to be released, and open my heart and entire being gently to the first glimmers of the light of new beginnings.

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I loved being a guest on the Sheri + Nancy Show!

In our conversation, we talked about my favorite topic: interspecies communication — especially the spiritual awareness of animals and the great gifts that they bring to our lives.

And… these wonderful women and their dogs make me laugh!

What a rich and multi-layered conversation!

You can listen in HERE. 

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I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude lately, especially as we approach our Thanksgiving holiday here in the US.

Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday for me, and for many Americans. While I love the concept of a holiday dedicated to gratitude, celebration of the harvest, and spending time with loved ones, I am also aware of the issues of cultural appropriation, genocide, the theft of and continued assault on Native lands and the Earth that the traditional narrative of this holiday represents. (What Does Thanksgiving Mean to Native Americans? is a really thoughtful and clear article about the complexities of the holiday for Native peoples and other Americans who are aware of the dark legacy of colonialism in our country.)

And… giving thanks, not just on a special day, but every day, is a beautiful thing. We know that gratitude is one of the highest energetic frequencies available to us; having gratitude, giving thanks, holding the blessings of our lives in our consciousness is one of the quickest ways to shift our energy. I also believe that gratitude, and thanks-giving is one of the most powerful ways that we have to shift the energy in the collective and on our planet.

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I am so excited to announce that the book: The Karma of Cats: Spiritual Wisdom from Our Feline Friends, edited by Diana Ventimiglia, has been published by Sounds True and is now available.

I’m honored to have my essay, “Guru Cat” — the story of how my formerly – feral cat, Freddie, became one of my greatest spiritual teachers and guides — included in this beautiful and inspiring book. (more…)

Many people will be celebrating Halloween here in the US…and around this time of year, I often get questions about how our companion animals feel about wearing clothes and costumes, like this one:

I have the cutest Halloween costume for my dog, and I want to show it off at my kids’ Halloween party, but my friend says it is wrong of me to confine her in clothing. What do you think?

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Last August, I participated in a gathering of contributors to Dark Matter: Women Witnessing in rural Quebec, hosted by my friend and editor of Dark Matter, Lise Weil.

This group of writers, artists, and visionaries has been an inspiring and nourishing circle in which we sit in council with each other, dream, write, vision together, and go deep into our shared connection with all life.

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