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K I N D G R O U N D
May you receive sustenance here.
My life has changed drastically over the past three years. I am revising this website to reflect where I am at now. Life is perpetually a work in process!
Old Elm Woodturning and Woodturning Inventory are the pages that I am composing to feature the beautiful artwork of my husband, Denny.
The Kindness of Presence: Healing and Awakening in the Body contains articles about embodied ways of being, the healing of trauma, subconscious wisdom, and living with a felt sense of wholeness. In my life I’ve discovered that anything held and supported with kind presence, eventually unravels and heals itself.
Inspiring Kind Ground comprises articles about ordinary people, who have overcome significant emotional or physical hardship—people who live openhearted and inspirational lives in spite of their difficulties.
The Art of the Inner Life features meaningful articles accompanied by healing art, which explore themes of presence, wholeness, subconscious wisdom, shadow, trauma, emotions, equality, empowerment, and inner well-being.
Cultivating Nourishment: The Heart and Roots of Gardening and Foraging
I garden and forage to be intimate with nature and my food source. The food that I gather and grow tastes better, and nourishes and heals more, than anything that can be bought. Our connection with nature and plant life feeds the spirit even more than the body. Gardening roots us to the life cycles of other creatures, with whom we share the resources of one interconnected planetary life. Forming relationships with wildly free plants, land, and animals; opens pathways of perpetual learning concerning the nature of deep sustenance, reciprocity and death.
I have compiled general, biographical, and practical information on an About This Website page.
Woodturning
Old Elm Woodturning Inventory of Work
We have moved!
In 2022, Denny and I moved further north and west, deeper into “real” Vermont. We now live on the north side of a mountain, surrounded by spectacular land and farms. Relocating has consumed all our energy for the past three years. I am gradually updating this website to reflect where I am at now.
Below are the more recent articles that I’ve written since our move.
The Kindness of Presence Articles
The unknown is always present, vast and powerful. It is who we are at our core. However, when one is focused on ego with its myriad preoccupations, then it is hard to perceive it at all. Some spend their entire lives oblivious to this profound presence that is the source of true peace and sustenance.
I turn toward the unknown whenever I lie down to sleep or rest. It’s a habit that I’ve intentionally cultivated over the past handful of years.
It’s been a long time since I posted anything. My life has mostly been about coping with one challenge after another with little time to regroup in between. All my energy has gone into keeping up with the unceasing workload before and within me. My life in general, and this year in particular, have been undeniably hard. However, I have been learning that hardship offers abundant benefit and opportunity. And furthermore, blessings and goodness have expanded as least as much as, and perhaps even more than my difficulties.
Meeting Adversity with Unconditional Kindness
In recent years my life has been relentlessly challenging. Although I have much to be grateful for, I have had to deal with one hardship after another without time to regroup in between. I tell you this, because I suspect that I am not alone. Others are also facing an acceleration of unsettling change. These are truly difficult times for many. However, I am learning that challenges are simultaneously opportunities.
This barn belongs to one of my closest neighbors and is part of their 600 acre dairy farm. I fell in love with them and their farm and land. The picture captures some metaphoric and literal essence of where I am at right now.
My husband and I bought a house in a beautiful location 1.5 hours north and west of where we used to live. Details about our home came to me in dreams before we had even been to the area. Though it was love at first sight with the land surrounding us,
Good Introductory Articles
Sometimes art pieces emerge from the subconscious that act upon us in unexpected ways. An image may offer a blueprint or energetic pathway for healing trauma that has been stored in our body. Rachael and I offer our experiences with two pieces of somatic art, which reveal the importance of creative expression and a healing bodily response.
We each live a life of wholeness. Everyone receives input from their unconscious when they sleep. We cannot survive without it. Some of us, however, intentionally develop an ongoing rapport with subconscious material, while others live their entire lives without consciously drawing upon these unseen connections.
When making the Drawing into Trauma Series of 111 images, I did not reject any work or toss out mistakes. Healing entailed being with the neglected, abandoned parts of myself, so accepting uncomfortable pieces, facilitated inner reconciliation. However, when I was young, I regularly destroyed artwork.
Most of my art arises from a state of emotional intensity of one kind or another. We might as well make good use of our distressed energy! The art making process transmutes turbulent emotions into something healing. A drawing might begin with anger, but very few end up looking and feeling that way.
For most of us, for most of our lives, our bodies are a slave to our needs and desires. There is a tendency to push our bodies mercilessly, until some kind of illness or breakdown occurs. At this point, we pay attention to our body, as it is now screaming out its distress, and is no longer available
Instinctively, we know how to engage in unconditionally loving action for our children, and other people that we care for intimately. We learn our loved one's idiosyncrasies, and the specific things that we can do to meet their needs. Unconditionally loving actions are especially apparent, when caring for those
The Kindness of Presence Articles
This is an old poem that I wrote in 2007. I published it to help a friend who was experiencing a deep level of failure and “falling” in his life. Perhaps you may relate to it and appreciate it also.
“Light at the End of the Tunnel “ Art by Vic de Chabrier
This post is intended as a Valentine's Day gift for anyone who struggles with disability or hardship in any way. Unfortunately, most people tend to look only at the surface of things, and those with afflictions of one kind or another are often stigmatized and judged. Our culture and media often promote lies, and some famous teachers
I did not make this drawing, though I wish that I had. It was made by my good friend Heather Quaine. The truth is that Heather and I only recently met. I left glowing comments about some of her art pieces, and then asked for permission to write about her work. She then made a short video telling me about her life,
John Brodie, the man from Brattleboro who ran from a Hinsdale police officer and drowned in the river, was not an anonymous recluse as the article in last Friday’s Reformer implied. John was a brilliant, creative, and deeply spiritual person who lived a rich, full, and courageous life
A Mother’s Day Tribute for My Mom
I wrote the poem below for my mom, Ellie, in 2007. It captures her spirit and also touches upon the essence of a mother and child relationship. I thought that others would be able to relate to its universal themes. So much about who we are comes out of the foundation that our mothers offered us.
Featured
This barn belongs to one of my closest neighbors and is part of their 600 acre dairy farm. I fell in love with them and their farm and land. The picture captures some metaphoric and literal essence of where I am at right now.
My husband and I bought a house in a beautiful location 1.5 hours north and west of where we used to live. Details about our home came to me in dreams before we had even been to the area. Though it was love at first sight with the land surrounding us,
In Art, Spirituality, Awakening and Life
I have lived my life from a feeling of equality with all beings and want to resurrect and make popular old-fashioned values like humility and respect. In March of 2021, I wrote about the value of promoting humble and vulnerable art. A year later I felt moved to expand what I'd written to include the realm of spiritual awakening. Through spiritual writing and teaching, I advocate for equality and integrity
Healing Embodied Powerlessness and Despair
Though I’d done enough inner work that I now felt inwardly safe and supported, my physical body still held a posture of discouragement and despair. So I ventured into exploring bodily spaces where difficult emotions were still firmly entrenched. It was not easy. I felt crazy for choosing to wander into dark issues
Sometimes art pieces emerge from the subconscious that act upon us in unexpected ways. An image may offer a blueprint or energetic pathway for healing trauma that has been stored in our body. Rachael and I offer our experiences with two pieces of somatic art, which reveal the importance of creative expression and a healing bodily response.
Explorations into Unseen Dimensions of Life and Self
We all live multidimensional lives, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Everyone has untapped potential and access to subtle realms of existence. However, many have a tendency to elevate and glorify these dimensions, or conversely ridicule and judge that which falls outside of a culturally agreed upon reality.
I did not make this drawing, though I wish that I had. It was made by my good friend Heather Quaine. The truth is that Heather and I only recently met. I left glowing comments about some of her art pieces, and then asked for permission to write about her work. She then made a short video telling me about her life,
We each live a life of wholeness. Everyone receives input from their unconscious when they sleep. We cannot survive without it. Some of us, however, intentionally develop an ongoing rapport with subconscious material, while others live their entire lives without consciously drawing upon these unseen connections.
Diversity and the Freedom of Being Fully Seen
My life has been lived between the tension of wanting to be myself, while trying to fit in with others. Perhaps you also negotiate this delicate balance. As biological mammals, a degree of conforming to family and culture is crucial for survival. Ideally, one is raised to have both — authenticity and belonging.
In February of 2021, I was eager to bring my Drawing into Trauma series to completion. After two plus years and 111 images, I was weary of mucking around in the angst of healing. I longed for an expansion of creativity in new directions. So I felt relieved, when this particular piece birthed forth rapidly, in a frenzy of motion that left little room for thinking.
When making the Drawing into Trauma Series of 111 images, I did not reject any work or toss out mistakes. Healing entailed being with the neglected, abandoned parts of myself, so accepting uncomfortable pieces, facilitated inner reconciliation. However, when I was young, I regularly destroyed artwork.
This art piece that I made on March 5, 2021, references insects, which have positive associations for me. I feel especially fond of spiders. As a child, I would rescue spiders from others who wanted to kill them out of fear. Since many people associate insects with dark energy, they offer a bridge for integrating shadow elements of self.
Number 39 in my series on healing trauma. This drawing was made in early March of 2020, a week before the pandemic shut everything down in my area. (Art which comes from the subconscious, tends to be just a bit ahead of my lived experience, while significant dreams take many months to play out.) This image exposes the body as a landscape, revealing the inner healing time that the Covid-19 quarantine engendered.
Cultivate Nourishment Posts
A year ago, my husband Denny and I, relocated to the north side of a mountain near the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountain Forest. Even though I’d lived further southeast in Vermont for more than 35 years, I finally felt as if I’d come home to “real” Vermont and the unspoiled minutia of an old-fashioned life.
October 7: I stroll into the woods to visit an old oak tree. It's a short trek that I've been making for about 17 years. This forest, like others in Brattleboro, feels more like a park than wilderness. Its trails are well traversed by a daily cadre of dog walkers, hikers, and bikers. This year I marvel at the quantity and size of the acorns. It's the biggest mast year for oaks that I've ever seen.
The foxes knew us long before we had any inkling of them. They quietly surveyed us, and discreetly roamed around the land we shared in common, without us ever knowing of their existence. All this changed dramatically, at least for us, during the summer of 2017. Denny installed a game cam at our garden. We then became aware of their existence.
Avocado Squash is a summer squash from Korea that looks just like an avocado! But interestingly enough, it also has a creamy texture reminiscent of avocados, too. I first heard mention of Avocado Squash in Elizabeth Schneider's book, Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini. She had found the squash in an Asian market, but didn't know much about it.
If You Plant It They Will Come! We had been trying to get milkweed established for a number of years now. Milkweed is a weed. One would think it would be easier! First mistake I made was to plant them in an already established flower bed. I didn't see them come up at all the following spring. I finally noticed them a year and a half later.
In 2014 I bought a six pack of Shishito peppers from a local farm stand. I had read about these small green peppers from Japan, which were now being served at high-end restaurants. I was excited to try them. And so it was with great anticipation that I harvested the first few peppers, and then proceeded to chop and saute them.
4.23” diameter by 3.25” high