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A podcast & newsletter about the journey home to our essential nature

#04 // Surrendering to Solstice, Wild Remembrance Retreat & Living Pathless

re-align with the seasons & soften into this moment

Dec 21, 2022

December 21, 2022 ~ Seasons greetings from Boulder! My newsletters are now on Substack — an awesome platform for writers. The look, feel and deliverability should stay consistent moving forward. Thanks for sticking with me through technology evolutions! Xx ~ Kelly

Today is Winter Solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year ❄️

When I was younger, winter solstice didn't mean much to me. In my immediate culture, seasonal changes only meant a change of clothing.

Yet through my re-wilding journey, I've begun to re-calibrate my body to the rhythms of nature. This year, I feel the solstice pulling me into hibernation.

Today marks the official beginning to winter, which is the season that invites us inward.

For a few weeks now, my body has craved more sleep (an average of 10 hours). I want to stay home, cut down on social time and work less. I'm uninspired by long working days. Even podcasting is beginning to feel "out of season" as it's a very outward activity.

If I'm honest with myself (and you), I crave slow days and easeful movement. Cozy sweaters and early bedtimes. Making things with my hands and tending to my home. Luxurious time to read the dozens of books I accumulated this year and almost more than anything, uninterrupted space to reflect.

Within this transition, I've found a new surprising hobby: embroidering 🪡

As 'non-productive' as this activity seems, it calls to me throughout my days. Last Monday, I did a naughty thing and stopped work at 1PM to embroider while watching Sandman on Netflix. It was a new type of delicious self-care.

With tendrils of my old, toxic patriarchal, hyper-productive ways still present in my mind, I sometimes fight this transition...

No, winter! Do not take my ambition and my outward expression. Let me shine bright in the world and feel energized throughout my days. How will I get anything done? What will my worth be if I'm just simply resting? Give me back my summer!

I feel resistance in my muscle memory. I feel the story we've been sold that without production, we are worthless.

I allow the feelings of guilt, shame and fear to wash over me as I deconstruct these stories and give in to Old Man Winter. And yet, I feel myself softening in ways I never have before. This time around, it's different.

left: old man winter, unknown artist // right: winter goddess, vladimir kireev

Through the subtle arts of slowing down and paying attention, I know that my body is right. If there is no energy for the trees to grow leaves right now what makes me think I'll have the energy to be in full bloom?

In a few months time, Lady Spring will greet us again and the gifts of hibernation will reveal themselves. Yet I do not bypass the beauty of winter in this anticipation.

Winter teaches us—maybe more than any other season —that life is cyclical. Without winter, there'd be no designated time for reflection, introspection and rest. We would not have the invitation for stillness and quietude.

As my cyclical embodiment coach, Vix Anderton says: It is here, in the hibernation, that we understand ourselves. We get in touch with our true emotions, motivations and desires in life. We stop pushing and we learn our lessons.

So this Winter Solstice, I invite you to re-meet the winter wilderness of yourself. You can begin with this water-themed self-reflection ritual:

🧊 create a quiet space for yourself, light a candle & place a bowl full of ice in front of you
🧘 notice the ice, then close your eyes to be with your breath; allowing thoughts to drift away
😮‍💨 feel tension melt off your body as if it were snow on a warm stone; stay here as long as it feels good
💧 open your eyes and notice how the ice has melted into water; allow this alchemical magic to seep into your consciousness
📝 when ready, freely journal through stream-of-consciousness (unfiltered) about what in your life is ready to transform; what is ready to be released; and where you desire more flow — write for as long as it feels good, perhaps writing until the rest of the ice has turned to water

When complete, drink the water, offer it thanks for it’s life-giving hydration and allow more ease, flow and grace to seep into your life. Allow whatever is ready to transform to do so naturally.

Announcing: My Women’s Wild Leadership Retreat

As I sit in the anticipation of this next cycle, I'm excited to share a planted seed that will bloom in spring. From April 22-28, I'm hosting my first official retreat in the high-desert oasis of Joshua Tree, California 🏜️

This retreat is for entrepreneurial women to reconnect with themselves, rewild their spirits and reclaim their feminine leadership expression.

This is a wellness-meets-mastermind retreat experience that blends leadership embodiment, spiritual growth and personal development. Using the wilderness as our guide and healing metaphor, we’ll come home to our essential nature while in the nourishment of like-hearted community.

The Wild Remembrance Leadership Retreat is:

For womxn-identified entrepreneurs, leaders and creatives
Facilitated by myself with the support of 3 other incredible facilitators
Hosted in a luxury retreat-style villa outside Joshua Tree National Park
An incubator for feminine leadership development & mindful business masterminding
A playground to unleash your full expression and authenticity, while remembering your joy and what truly matters most to you

…And much more!

Applications are now open. There are 10 spaces available and enrollment is open until February 15. There is an early-bird special of $500 off by joining before Jan 10.

Learn More & Apply

Discovering Your Pathless Path with Paul Millerd

Paul and I share a passion for creating our own paths in life, especially when it comes to career. A pathless path is one you forge by listening to yourself instead defaulting to someone else’s. It is pathless because it reveals itself to you as you commit to walking it, step by step.

In The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life, Paul shares practical guidance, rich perspectives and simple experiments for forging your own path.

What I appreciate about Paul's work is that he doesn't sugarcoat the complexity of this path with platitudes like "just follow your passion" and "discover your dharma." Following the pathless path takes resolve, resilience, deep curiosity and an experimental mindset.

And no, you don't have to quit your job and live in Bali for a year to begin your pathless journey. It starts from the inside out by leaving your front door with a different perspective. It can start by listening to this conversation.

Here are a few highlights:

🎓 Paul’s journey through traditional high-achievement (school + work) and choosing to leave it behind
🧭 Advice for those who want to reconsider their life path — plus how to actually do so
🗺️ How to leave the ‘default path’ of success, work & money to forge your own ‘pathless path’
💭 Discover your own 'illegible ambition' — the type your parents won't understand
⚡️ Find yourself through following intuition, aliveness and non-productive desires

Learn more about Paul and his work at his blog Boundless, and say hello on Twitter and Instagram.

Listen Here

Within The Wild Roots Network

🎙️ Intuitively Navigating the Wilderness of Personal Transformation

I recently had the pleasure and honor of being interviewed on Gender Alchemy. This revolutionary podcast hosted by my friend Lauren Sunshine, is dedicated to exploring the vast creative landscape of gender. She empowers the LGBTQIA+ community to intuitively navigate their personal expression by looking inward.

For the first time publicly, I share my personal transformation framework, Caged Feral Wild. Together, we weave a deeper understanding of what re-wilding actually means.

If re-wilding is the journey of coming home to our essential nature, then I can’t think of a more courageous community who are honoring their wildness.

Learn more about Lauren and transition coaching at Lauren Sunshine. Listen to her podcast and become familiar with Gender Alchemy on YouTube.

Listen Here

This is my final newsletter of 2022. In a year where I moved across the world, said goodbye to my father, launched my business and married the love of my life, I honor the phases of transition and transformation you may find yourself in. We are all in this together.

Over the next week, may this be a time of self-reflection, focusing on love and remembering what matters most to you at the deepest levels. Although it may not always be easy, this is a beautiful time for forgiveness and acceptance. The energy of impermanence is strong this time of year. When we truly touch the ‘finitude’ (finite boundaries) of our time here, it’s much easier to soften, release and come back to our hearts.

I wish you and your loved ones a nourishing and restorative holiday season. To re-wild your holidays, please consider: