Shining a Light

In Winter, it's Important to Not Dim

Hi Friends,

I have stepped back from social media for awhile and have been doing what I love most: reading, writing, breathing, and spending time with family and in nature. I’m deep in the Gateless Academy again, both revising my memoir and having fun with a new project that feels exciting and embodied. It feels revolutionary to have fun right now. In a recent breathwork session that was particularly powerful, this song shifted something in me. I thought I would share. I love this artist, and I think you will too.

I recently attended a women’s circle here in Costa Rica and was inspired by the support I received and gave. I left buoyed and ready for more. This led me to ask some friends if I can highlight their work. First up…..

Christine Falcon-Daigle

We met at Esalen in 2009, and our lives have been intertwined ever since. We are both Year of the Dog 1970s bebes. We are both writers and into healing arts. Christine is multi-talented and so fricking fun and inspiring.

I am in love with Christine’s new online course “How to Create a Healing Writing Group.” Christine is an expert at leading women’s circles, and many of you are leaders in your community. She can guide you with researched based tools to start your own circle of women helping women through the written word.

From My Shelf

Since I took a leap away from social media, I’ve made more time to write and read. A few books that have left a big impact on me this month include:

The Adventurer’s Son by Roman Dial and recommended by my friend and colleague Gillian Schultz, is a gripping story of a biologist/adventurer’s relationship with his son who he raised in his footsteps to be curious about nature and its limits. Lots of detailed stories about the people, animals and plant life in Boreno, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Dial’s son goes on a solo trip into the jungle and is lost. Then, the story shifts into a mystery solving adventure.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway is a classic that I had never read before. I began it as research for something else that I’m writing, and whew, I got pulled in. The description is lush and the story engaging, but the gripping part for me were the conversations the Spanish characters have with the American Robert Jordan about Fascism and how in enters and infects a nation. Its immediacy was palpable.

Spellbound by Daniel Z Lieberman was recommended by a leader in my Gateless Academy, Terri Trespicio and it weaves neuroscience and ancient magic traditions as an avenue into understanding our unconscious mind. I nerd out on books like this one.

Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin was recommended by my friend and colleague Suzy Quezada. I love when I read a book that sets my mind on fire, igniting ideas for my own work and new ways to teach students about writing, reading, thinking and living. This is one of those books! If you are a creative and a writer or teacher, read this asap.

Sending love and light from Costa Rica!

Kimberly