Today I’m going to circle back to our time away, but I am not going to be sharing a pictorial of everything we saw because there’s just way too many photos in my camera roll. I’m also not going to share about every single thing we experienced, as it would be a book.

Yet before I do so, just a heads up that a small crystal friends release has been updated for now here: Crystals & Crystal Skulls

I did mention many of the themes in my return blog, but today I feel called to focus on just one of them that is getting my attention to expound upon – the title of this post, “Joie de Vivre”.

The photos laced throughout (which there are enough of as it is lol) are of us experiencing this theme in the various places we immersed in.

So rather than see all the sights, you’ll feel them through our connection with them and each other.

I am also going to tie this into “relationship,” as this state of being connected (the definition of this) is so greatly linked into this theme.

Relationship isn’t just about being in a romantic partnership, nor is just about blood ties and family.

It includes all forms of bonds and relating with friends, business partners, daily encounters with others, soul family connections, and even the way we relate to ourselves.

Yet, it’s not isolated to human relations alone.

Relationship is also our synergy and interaction with our vocation, home, things we love, all species, our natural environment including plants and even rocks and minerals, the

elements, our Earth home at large, and even our connection with the cosmic landscape and any spiritual presence we hold dear to us.

By definition, “joie de vivre” is expressed in many ways including: exuberant enjoyment of life, appreciation of life, joy of living, zest for life, exultation of spirit, taking delight in being alive and simply living your life, finding and enjoying the simple pleasures of life in everyday moments – seeing life is good the way it is.

The quality of relationships we foster in terms of connection to, and partnership with, everything and everyone around us, definitely has an impact on the way we experience life and create a ritual of, and reverence for, mutual giving and receiving in the moment.

It’s easy to dwell in certain states of emotion because of what we perceive as a lack or what we perpetually see, hear, and experience indirectly or directly through media or heightened collective anxieties and tension.

Yet to only engage these states becomes debilitating AND strips us of our ability to feel anything else, allow ourselves to even ponder something more because of self-imposed guilt, or have energy, time, and inspiration to put into creating a way out.

Living in a state of “joie de vivre” may sound “Pollyanna,” yet I witnessed on our trip how this state of being in the moment and enjoying what IS here right now, creates a magnetic resonance and ripple-effect.

Nice, France was particularly reflective of this, as we found ourselves living in the bustle of every day city life on the French Riviera – something not part of our consistent lifestyle as mountain dwellers, and yet because of this “delight for life” energy, it felt sustainable.

We found there to be a culture of people coming together (both residents and tourists of every age, and from every walk of life, and even varied visible, physical challenges), and enjoying the sensuality of life to the fullest they could and immersing in the simple pleasures.

Daily life there includes strolls, biking, or jogging, on the Promenade des Anglais – one of the most famous seafront stretches in France – and meals or drinks out with others or even alone on cafe-lined streets.

I saw regulars visit their usual spots, both morning and evening, for a coffee or drink, conversation, and just taking the atmosphere in.

Soon we became the regulars doing similar things as the simple life pleasure seekers around us did.

With everything within walking distance, we’d pick up a just-baked baguette, freshly squeezed orange juice, perfectly ripe fruit, and enjoy our breakfast in our apartment above the lively cafes.

Hanging out to listen to live music while sipping a refreshment or savoring a coffee.

Taking in a beach volleyball match with team comradery to cheer on.

Curling up on the couch reading, sitting at the sundrenched kitchen table next to the fresh basil plant I clipped from to make meals while writing or working on something as cafe seats below were kept warmed from morning until midnight – and sometimes beyond.

Smelling the flowers as we stroll through the park.

Giggling at the children sitting on top of water fountains, splashing about, and dancing their best joyful moves.

Climbing a playground structure, flying in a swing, or just sitting on a bench and watching life all around us.

These were part of the daily pleasures.

Relaxing on the beach, sifting through unique stones to find colorful sea glass, floating on the Mediterranean, and swimming like a mermaid.

Slipping into an old church to peacefully sit and receive, or light a candle for our loved ones.

Soaking in transcendent art that whisper stories, marveling in awe of the beauty that transcends time, and walking in the footsteps of the masters.

Taking in sunrises and sunsets everyday on promenade walks to see what events were happening along the streets – traveling musicians, singers, and entertainers wanting to share their gifts with hopes of being discovered, beach goers, skateboarders, marathon runners, outdoor art exhibits, world conferences, and even the occasional modeling shoot.

These, and more, were also amongst the daily goings-on.

And there’s always a sense of wonder and exuberance with the simple things abound.

This is the lifestyle here, and if you immerse in it too, you naturally blend in with the upbeat vibes of people simply enjoying life.

People came after or before work to take it all in.

Kids enjoyed after-school immersions the old-fashioned way of playing outside without electronics.

Retirees came and sat for a while, whether on their own, with their animal or human companion, or the neighborhood friends they’ve had for a long time.

Shop and cafe owners stand around talking and helping each other out, and if you stay a while yourself, you become a regular they talk to, too.

Late afternoons into sunset hours groups would gather with blankets on the beach to take in the setting sun while enjoying the company and conversation.

Many couples, singles, and families would pick up pizzas and take their box down to the volleyball courts or chairs lining the promenade to enjoy a meal in the middle of city-meets-beach-lifestyle.

Our special treat, two or three times a week was going into Old Town and getting a yummy vegan gelato cone – single or double scoop depending on the day. We weren’t the only ones, as this is also part of the “enjoyment culture” here, while you share a smile and listen to the unspoken acknowledgment of a shared connection.

People take strolls through the parks or come and sit a while on benches, many know each other and hang for a while…and I saw tourists naturally gravitate to do the same, seeing how others were soaking in the art of being.

Couples get lost in the romance of nostalgic memory footprints still lingering in the air.

One particular, larger park has fountains that go off on a regular cycle and this is a huge draw for the children of the city to come and exuberantly play in.

Families and single parents make it an afternoon to evening outing and you can see how much pleasure even the parents have in watching their kids have tons of fun playing in the water.

One didn’t need to have others with them to enjoy themselves either.

I saw many single people thoroughly engaged with the simple joy of soaking all of it in around them and feeling a part of things even if not in a group or partnership.

The tangible vibrancy is intoxicating.

Smiles filled faces and the level of immersion and life engagement was something I don’t usually see or feel so abundantly.

People were wanting to feel fully alive and any little thing they could do to awaken that, these people were actively doing.

You can’t help but be drawn into the intoxication of life and deepen into everything a little bit more, as the appreciation vibes increase the vibrancy, smells, tastes, and sensations.

Your appreciation, while you feel and observe that energy, also increases. You can’t help but to feel uplifted to see the richness of such simple things bringing so much pleasure.

People are up early and out late. Whether working, playing, or simply being…life is colorful and potential always lingers in the air.

And even the animals – dogs of all sizes, but especially little ones – are part of the culture both in doing everything their human companions do outdoors, as well as joining for meals at cafes.

Things are inclusive and there’s a peaceful flow to it all even if city activity levels are high.

And by default, this sets you on a different course, if in fact you had a contrasting focus.

There’s an unspoken secret these people share, but it’s contagiously carried through the air everyone’s breathing in.

People were tapping into each other, all the beauty and human experiences around them, and enjoying the thread of connection with everything.

And while Dave and I have spent years focused on embracing life and cultivating greater connection, engaging intentional communication and presence, and creating and appreciating more joy in life, we found ourselves deepening and expanding in all of these ways.

This definitely got a boost from the energy that pervaded life around us, including time we spent with Dave’s family and several groups of friends that visited or we visited.

And it was carried throughout other cities we found ourselves drawn to as well – in both east and west Ireland, the French Riviera and Alps, Venice, and Paris.

It just seemed extra-enhanced in Nice, since we spent the most time there.

And it all amplified the way we soaked in everything else we saw and experienced.

All it takes is a willingness to understand the gifts that DO pervade life on Earth – even if that is simply the ability to feel.

As spirit, form is an altogether different experience than just the heightened potential of being in physical body.

True, we have been conditioned to value certain feelings as more ideal, but even just to be able to have an emotion is something we take for granted. Emotion is much more than an innate given. It’s a miracle and privilege that mirrors cosmic fluctuations in a way one can actually have an individual experience of.

A spiraling of ever-greater, creative potential.

To be able to spontaneously feel is a wonder.

Emotion allows us to be present with the moment and experience something touching us in some now way.

Feelings let you know you’re truly alive and is the soul’s way of expressing a song. An otherwise voiceless spirit becomes expressible through the vehicle of a body.

This vibrant embrace of “being alive energy” made us follow the moment’s inspiration when our joy felt lit up, rather than trying to target an idea of how to fill in the day.

Joy can be experienced in the simple pleasures, not just from the grandiose ideas.

I had so many moments of deep appreciation come over me as sweet tears that swelled in my eyes. The little things melted my heart – like our dear friends’ little two year old boy, we met for the first time in Venice, quietly coming up to me with wide-eyed innocence and taking my hand several times to play with him. Something his mom says he never does to anyone he meets, not even his sweet nanny who’s there weekly.

Everything is temporary so hold onto the moment of how the often overlooked moves you.

Remember the moments your spirit delighted in something and know that it’s more than okay to feel that way and allow your heart to grow, rather than contract.

Life is full of swings, but it does and can swing back again.

It only seems to stop because we block the cycle.

Remember, even a flower can find it’s way through cement.

Although we handled challenges that part of life that arose remotely along the course of our extended time away, we found the energy pervading our environment to anchor us deeper in this embrace of life’s gifts, allow us to be anchors for others we helped to do the same, and support the process of returning to harmony.

So, even if not our usual way – city life that is – we found it nurturing the art of being and “joie de vivre” in different ways than we would usually experience and receive from.

While so much activity of every kind went on around us, there was an intoxicating joy, peace, and simplicity of life emanating from it all. It made me ponder the effects that more of this could have if cultivated everywhere.

So, while we can choose to focus however we want, it’s beneficial to ask if how we’re focusing is aiding, distracting, and taking away from life, or if it’s boosting, engaging, and adding to life?

Is our state creating greater or lesser connection to all around us?

Is our focus fueling beneficial change or empowering the changes we don’t like?

Are we lifting each other up or adding to the weight that makes it difficult to take flight?

Is our level of connection and presence bringing more joy to our lives, or creating canyons of separation and disconnect?

Is our energy and time consumed with conflict, or does presence of deepening connection to life cultivate enthusiasm and creativity to build new pathways?

While we saw so much incredible art, architecture, ancient sites, music, culture, and culinary delights that filled our days, along with stunning and surreal naturescapes that echoed the resonance of the man-made beauty on this trip, it was the golden threads of connection we opened up to receiving from it all that enriched the journey, our relationship to each other, self, and inspirations, and to life on Earth.

It was a feast for the senses.

We embraced meaning, purpose, and enrichment from all of the incredible pieces and opportunities that life has to offer us in any given moment and we sent out collective intentions of peace and connection from all the sacred sites we visited, with hopes to spread love from heart to heart.

And we found ourselves blending into the rainbow tapestry of “joie de vivre” being woven around us.

Today’s Capricorn Full Moon has me reflecting a lot on the energy of the mountains and how they reflect to us a quiet strength and persevering resiliency. They rise in majesty and declare an unwavering integrity toward responsible stewardship of the land they oversee. Wild, unpredictable, beautiful, and challenging, yet there’s a comfort in their presence the way they take charge so naturally of their realm.

Shift they will over time, but time it does take to carve each crevice – they wear these wrinkles with grace and honor of all that has gone before and fear not what may come.

Onward they stand, rise, and form anew, bridging heaven and earth with a staircase to climb to greater heights and envision new perspectives.

May we learn from the mountains and deepen into their guidance during this Moon’s illumination.

While I still reflect on our time away, it’s been nurturing to settle into alpine life again and immerse in the mountain energy I call home. For someone with a Capricorn North Node, Ascendent, and Mars placement it’s a very resonant place to be and soothes in ways only a match of essence can.

We opted for a quiet 4th of July weekend celebration, with hiking and backpacking to be away from the more crowded time of year when people like to come up to enjoy Lake Tahoe. I’ve especially been wanting silence and low-key, craving the majesty and grace of the mountains.

In many ways, the energy has mirrored this Full Moon – feeling like solid earthing and upgrading of structures and motivations toward new visions are ready to solidify.

Does anyone else feel similarly?

We have some house and garden improvement projects in motion – the latter being something I’m working in as I have time around the rest of life and what feels more pressing at the moment. We did get the rose bushes in, which are happily blooming, and all the rest are buzzing with so much life. There’s still a lot to cleanup in the garden and I may add a few last plants.

The pollinators of all varieties – bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are loving things. I’ve seen SO many bees on the deck plants all at once – like a little colony all working away together.

Are things in your life starting to bloom and buzz?

And I’m happy to report that many wild rabbit friend sightings continue. In fact, Frith showed up in a most endearing way on the day we returned from backpacking. We watched him from the upstairs window, as he played with a very chubby lizard – likely pregnant. They were in a dance of tag back and forth.

Frith chased the lizard into the bushes then the lizard popped back out on the pathway stones, and this went on back and forth for a few minutes.

This surprised us both to witness, as we’ve never seen anything like it before. It was like watching Thumper in a Disney clip or something – so cute!

Then Frith ran off into my garden to explore the new rose bushes right after we planted them, and nibbled on a rose bud!

I also had another smaller bunny visit and the continued Foxglove appearances.

Here she is eyeing me yesterday from under the garden bench.

So there’s quite a little family of them making the garden their home. Yay!

The abundance of bunnies feels indicative of a very fertile landscape before us and what is possible.

How might you embrace a bit more of your creative vitality and share your uniqueness in relative ways to you?

Cleaning out and organizing my closet is in motion again. Not surprising really, since big experiences promote personal changes and certain things will and will not resonate in terms of outward reflection of more “now” inward alignment.

We were watching temperatures and weather for when to leave to go backpacking since we could do so last minute if needed, and ended up on a favorite hike instead on the 4th.

This ended up falling in the window of the wild irises blooming.

So although I missed some of my spring flowers, we were gifted with seeing the last wave of irises at the top of the mountain.

There’s only a small time period to catch this that shifts between end of June and start of July.

This hike also surprised me with a handful of petrified wood.

I’ve only found one lone piece, twice before on this hike. I wondered, but did not think so many pieces would show up, especially since this area isn’t known for this. But unusual things do happen these days and a cluster of them all just caught my eye on this beautiful day.

Have you also discovered that surprising or seeming impossible things have been possible?

That night we hiked up with our folding chairs to a spot in our forest not far from the house that Dave had discovered. It has a view of the lake. Here we sat and watched the big fireworks display in the solitude of our own creation.

It felt like a way to be in the world, but not of it.

Do you also feel this to be a big part of your experience these days, where you’re in a suspended space having a parallel, but different unfolding?

We were glad we waited to go backpacking, as that night had a low dip in temperature and would have been quite frigid at the higher elevation of our destination in mind.

The next morning we were off, however, and enjoyed two nights and three days at our favorite campsite I’d sent energy to hold for us.

In fact, when we arrived I was floored to find several gifts on the ground where we put up our tent, including this incredible cabochon.

Can you believe it?!

I ended up having two full crystal adventure days – 5 hours each – of seeing what beauties were wanting my attention this year. I made a promise to myself only to bring home smaller pieces, as I’d really been challenged to my limits last year, plus my spiral was complete. So, I had to say I’m sorry to many that called out, opting to just spend time with them and receive instead. You can imagine how high vibed I am after these crystal immersions.

I left with a perfect amount – only adding 8 extra pounds to my gear. But more importantly, I was gifted the call of some truly unique ones, including several perfect points. I may share them another time or on my IG if you’re on there.

The group included clear quartz, very dark and light smokies, a variety of shades of citrines, included and mixed quartz…tons of etchings, many still with form intact, starbrary galore, and rainbow explosions everywhere.

I only ever take home who says to come and never dig or disrupt things. They are laying out or partially covered, but call with a wink when the sunlight sparks upon them.

Dave came with me the second day for the first time, to see what it was all about. I took him to the spot I marked as where I left off the previous day. Within five minutes he found his first fully formed crystal point and said, “I’m done!” LOL! That day was exceptionally special in terms of finds, sparked by the two of us together. We even found nearly twin sized points at almost the same time.

I’ve been coming to understand this area more and more, energetically. Through my explorations and examining and tuning into the land, crystals, and clusters along the steep slopes.

This is very ancient earth where volcanos, glaciers, and massive lightning over the ages has formed, impacted, struck, and lent potent energy to everything within and on the mountain. It’s super rare to find fully intact crystals because of the massive elements that have created and infused the area over time – at least, without digging up the mountain.

This, to me, makes these special in the way they have all self healed and adapted with the most unusual new growth patterns, along with maintaining their original footprint and core. At the high altitude they are close to the stars and of course bear the imprints of star systems. Many of them are really unique – some may call them the “weirdos” and so pristine in energy.

I feel great honor to be in presence of them.

I touch or hold many that I don’t take, as well, because they call out.

Many of the big mommas gift me babies.

I receive so much during the timeless hours there. It’s truly an experience of deep respect during my time with them.

There are clusters I found of the ones I call “ice” crystals that used to belong to gigantic clear, pure crystals. These got blasted by cosmic and earth strikes including lightning and impacts. Many look like diamond flower chunks of absolute pristineness and are filled with rainbows galore. I may offer some of these if of interest, as they felt the most to want to be shared collectively for now.

You can let me know in the comments if you’d like me to offer these and I’ll put together some photos and videos as a listing if so, when I share a small crystal release.

I continue to want to learn more about these mystery crystals that have only made themselves known since last summer. And since I only bring home a limited amount and there are also very few of specific kinds, I feel many of them need to still be explored and/or are meant to be personals for now.

What fun I had though under the direct alpine sunshine above the lake and close to the stars.

It is very soul-enriching and body-nourishing.

Sleep was good!

This is a fully invested, happy body and spirit after two days of crystal journeys in my personal paradise.

I took the selfie on my return hike back to camp.

The rest of the week we’ve enjoyed our first Tahoe beach day back where I was greeted by a ladybug on my leg and a curious chipmunk on my toes.

We also explored a nearly eight mile hike in new terrain of the Desolation Wilderness with some friends.

This hike offered beautiful, rugged terrain, wildflowers and lots of ponds, waterfalls, and lakes.

I’ll share several windows into the landscape so you can breathe in the energy.

Peek-a-boo! Look at this cutie spying on me while I sat breathing in the landscape myself.

Some amazing veins in the rocks here!

There are several lakes in this area and the terrain is kind of like a moonscape.

And will finish things off on this evening’s Full Moon with a “Music on the Beach” event.

I’d say it’s been a nourishing week back and while it’s been a short time since our long trip away, it now seems like ages ago. I carry all that was experienced and integrated within, yet it seems like another lifetime.

Besides bunny friends, mice and voles were on high this weekend. I found this precious mouse on our wild iris hike and couldn’t help but take a photo of how sweetly he appeared to be sleeping peacefully and clutching a leaf as he journeyed to the beyond.

Dave and I each separately were visited by voles on our backpacking trip too. I had one come to me at water’s edge where I cleansed my new crystal friends in the high alpine lake.

I always give them a bath in this lake before carrying them home – AND throw many of them into the water too. I feel they guide me to want to be there, to add to the energy vortex with amplified intention.

Gridding is on high for many these days. I have so many grids in my office too. It’s a way many of us are intentionally connecting across the globe for the highest good.

What ways do you feel called to move focus to new ideas and invest a greater commitment to follow through on things?

Have you been procrastinating out of fear of your own potential?

May we all be kinder to self and others, knowing that the journey is not easy for any of us and yet our mutual compassion and desire to unite in heart-bridging ways can help rise each other up when we may need it the most.

Every now is a pivot point – not just for self, but in the evolution of humanity.

Hello friends! I can’t believe it’s been nearly three months since last I touched in here with you. That’s a quarter of a year! Time both moves like a flash and hovers as the eternal present. The collective threads running through us have been carried in my heart regardless, as I move through life experiencing nothing as separate.

I feel a bit like a turtle peaking out of my otherworld shell right now, though. Things feel familiar, but more like a resonance that a footprint left behind where I’m now making new ones over.

Returning home is always a sweet landing, no matter how much I enjoy where I travel off to and explore. I find that there’s always a bittersweetness to each experience coming to an end, yet I feel we maxed out everything we could have while away that we wanted, and didn’t know we wanted, to encounter. I’m so grateful that we were always guided and supported along the way.

I may do a short reflection of meaningful highlights from our European journey, but either way, today I mostly want to touch in and share how the rich experience feels on the other end of it now, since now is where we are. Some of it may also align with the journey you’ve been on the last three months.

There were a lot of themes to our trip that I made a mental note of: the Ocean, deep Earth roots, lineage and core integration and reclaiming, balance and center between extreme opposites, peace in chaos, manifesting untouched individual realities, divine alignment, joie de vivre, anchoring deeper spirituality, and beauty that transcends time.

Oh, and yes there were a lot of rabbits that showed up everywhere I turned (both real-life and in artistic form) like a sweet nod from my dear ones in the stars.

There were also treasure finds galore in the most unusual of places like cities – colored sea glass, old tiles, sea shells, incredible rocks, minerals, and fossils, unusual feathers, and even bones. And among several keynotes that kept showing up, Mary Magdalene was getting my attention.

I also had an extremely heart-opening and deeply expansive experience in a beautiful church called Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption near the beginning of our trip. I feel it set the tone for things. It took place during an incredible light show that lit up every single architectural detail of the inner chamber with 360 degree video-mapping set to music (both recorded and live with an amazing choir) and historical story. Lighting included journeying through the cosmos. There was something that cracked open in me with the way the visuals and music resounded within – like a keycode for me personally. No one else I saw or that went with us had the same response. One particular soloist’s voice in the choir touched a chord in me as well. It was a cosmic experience of origins that was accessed. I became very spiritually emotional from my core and continued to be the rest of that night and the next morning. Not in any saddened way…the tears were of a beauty and activated opening that was beyond words and could only be expressed as a release of exalted emotion.

There was so much incredible art, architecture, ancient sites, music, culture, and culinary delights that filled our days, along with stunning and surreal naturescapes that echoed the resonance of the man-made beauty. It was a feast for the senses and a journey of remembrance.

And now, returning home feels enhanced, like the next curve on the spiral. Being here feels like a whole different reality, although familiar.

Synchronously, things indeed physically shifted while we were away, as I discovered how everything went wild in my garden and our forest backyard right off the deck is flourishing and abundantly happy.

The whole area of the forest where they took out the trees for fire prevention is now completely filled in like a meadow of lushness and I even see that more of the wildflower seeds we threw out there are now blooming. The plants up close to the deck are huge and vibrant and a few perennials I had planted when we moved in that would hide out most years, are also blossoming.

Several of the trees on our property are also flourishing like never before. I particularly noted our cherry blossom and maple trees that are thick with the most new foliage and limbs I’ve ever seen. In fact, we had to prune the limbs of the cherry blossom tree because they stretched across the stairway to the deck, making it challenging to get down.

But it was my garden that was really something.

The pathways are filled with wildflower plants (including 3 foot tall ones getting ready to bloom in the front of the above photo) bursting through the stone blocks and everywhere I turn, including the quartz spiral. Just an abundant amount of new plants and wildflowers growing out of nowhere. There’s even one wildflower plant that has grown as tall as me. Hard to see in the photo, but the lavender colored flowers, top left of the photo below, crown this beanstalk plant.

And to match the plants-gone-wild, there’s bustling forest creatures of every size and variety

running and playing all about – chipmunks, squirrels, hummingbirds, doves, Steller’s jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, hawks, ravens, butterflies, bumblebees, and lizards…..including a new rabbit friend.

This is not Frith, nor Hyzenthlay.

This is a young bunny that I feel to be female. She has cute, molting fur that highlights her growing stage while she stakes claim to her realm.

The name Foxglove came to me immediately.

This I feel was inspired both because of her sitting in the planters near my beloved foxgloves while munching on my other plants and because of the abundance of wild foxgloves I kept seeing especially in the last week of our trip that tickled my faery heart. The symbolism associated with foxglove flowers feels particularly fitting for her too.

Foxglove is the most consistently present wild rabbit I’ve experienced here.

She showed up on the first morning we were back and has returned every single morning and evening since.

She’s very curious and also very confident.

I can tell she has established her routines and claimed her realm.

She also has an air of mystery and hidden merging of duality within her – a bit elusive, but also very anchored.

Might she be Frith’s and/or Hyzenthlay’s daughter?

A new generation has begun and all of this wild flourishing feels reflective of my experience.

The last week of our trip was particularly accentuated with rabbit presence to send us off, which made Foxglove’s appearance to be a seamless golden thread of the magick we were experiencing.

This rabbit abundance included a dream of my dear Nestor (twin soul in rabbit body, now in the stars). I haven’t dreamed of Nestor in ages, but when I do I really take note. It made sense that she showed up at the end of the trip where I was in a very heart-healing, enchanted land connected to her and me. One part of the dream involved her talking to me, as she often does. She showed me the photo of her that I have where there’s an upside down triangle design in the fur on her third eye and at one part of the exchange she pointed up and said “look at the sky” and there I saw three very large golden stars aligned and blinking.

I’ve been unwrapping the whole dream since, but her showing up when and as she did feels to have reflected what I sensed had opened for me.

Since being home, the days have been full. I like to get settled in quickly, as that makes me feel ready to move forward with new things. Alongside resituating and catching up, I’ve also found myself in a new creative mode in the kitchen.

We loaded up on veggies and fruit on our return grocery run and I’ve been making a new creative, but simple dish every single day since we’ve been back including a new smoothie concoction each morning. I’d been in kind of a repetitive place with staple things I used to make before our trip, as time was tighter. But now I’m having the desire to switch things up and making even lighter, creative whole food dishes – both raw and cooked.

The colorful kitchen time has been balanced out with colorful garden time.

I got a first batch of new babies that I already planted. That was part one of my big garden project.

We returned home to everything being great at the house – just wild as I mentioned – except for 4 of my potted bushes having died. We had them since we moved in, so it felt like they had a good life. We don’t know for sure why this happened, as the driplines were working. It may have been because of swings in temperatures, as we heard there was a cold front and even snow that came in at Solstice. Or, it could be that these four – since they’ve been here since the start of our life in the house – reflected the change in me/us and a chapter or cycle coming to closure.

So, I found four new beauties to replace them, which my getting them was its own magickal story and for under the wholesale cost. This includes two Dwarf Alberta Spruce and two Dwarf Mountain Pine. I then did a big reconfiguration, consolidation, and cleanup of pots on the deck and added some new colorful perennial beauties.

I still have a lot of garden work to do for part two, as I will need to clean up the stone pathway and beds, as well as prune, and I am going to plant these four new rose bushes I just picked up yesterday to add to the garden.

I’m on the fence with the pathway cleanup because my wild heart loves the look and feel of wildflowers pushing through everywhere. But I also know that this can eventually ruin the pathway.

I’m going to feel it all out with timing, and perhaps might leave some or all until they bloom. There’s some giant plants with big buds I can’t bear to remove before they make their debut.

Plus, this flourishing feels connected to my own and that needs to be nurtured at the moment.

So, we’ll see how it all unfolds.

For now, the forest creatures are loving it and it feels very Fae. In fact, I sense they had a hand in things, creating how they wanted to enjoy things for a while.

We’ve also made space amidst our return anchoring to take a walk or do a hike each day, to say hello to our mountain home we love.

Our first evening back was especially lovely while we walked our shorter mile loop in the forest behind the house as the sun was setting.

There we discovered that the lupine that lines the creek is also prolific this year and quite tall.

We only had one other year when they were really abundant and tall, but the last few years had been sparse.

This, along with a bustling and lush forest, and finding a nest in one of our trees that sits behind our bedroom window, all felt again like reflections of the expansive birthing I felt take place on this trip.

As I told Dave near the end of our adventures away about the way the land we were in reflected such resonance for me, “my spirit is wild and free, and takes joy in breathing in the raw vastness.”

I savor my freedom and nature solitude as nourishment that allows me to show up in other ways. It’s not just a like or preference, but a must like the air I breathe.

Moving energy through the body is so beneficial, especially in these times. So, even while our days are full right now, we make a habit of having physical activity of some kind to be a given part of our daily go-to’s.

With all of the overabundance of feelings building and running through the collective, some form of physical movement can really help to assist the feelings and thoughts to continue flowing through, rather than staying stuck and building up toxically. Grief, anger, anxiety, fear, overwhelm, overthinking, over worrying…this all needs a healthy outlet or it can turn and explode on you and everyone/everything around you.

Reminding yourself that you can create your own reality and direct your own focus, regardless of what others are experiencing or doing, is a powerful tool you can implement and it does in fact work. This showed up in actuality for our time away too, creating a parallel world for us to move alongside in.

Everything isn’t black and white alone, although that’s what a majority of the world scene seems focused on. Being honest with yourself about where you are attached, can offer you insight to why certain feelings and experiences seem to dominate your day in place of ones you might otherwise prefer.

There is much unknown gray area worth investing an open heart to exploring, which in turn starts to shift your reality and align you with different experiences.

You must believe it and then you see it.

How have you been experiencing the energies recently?

I sense it’s been intense and discouraging for some, and I sense that others are feeling a freshness and support with changes and new focuses, even amidst the heaviness we are all aware of and/or experiencing in some relative form or another. This contrast I think is going to continue to be a thing increasingly, but doesn’t have to increasingly be a thing that debilitates or holds you back, nor separates you from the love that unites within your heart.

I’ve spoken with a few people who have shared that recent astrological and cosmic shifts have been very peaceful for them amidst world chaos. This has echoed my own experience of “peace within chaos” that feels essential to me to continue to nurture.

In fact the May 26th Gemini New Moon ignited something big for me. Literally, on that day, I started writing without planning it – I noted the date stamp later. We’d been busy with family and friends before that and the energy and nudge for writing synchronously was not showing up, as I was thinking it might. Literally after all of that died down, something key appeared in my life and I received the inspiration for a new direction. It literally awaited the ability to fully focus in my own space to receive the next clue. A long walk and the ocean were conduits for the message and flow.

So rather than return to my previous writing project that has been on hold, I was shown to begin a new one and it moved forward with ease once I said, “yes” to that. Instead of holding tight to an idea of having to complete my first project just because I had that idea, I remained flexible and aligned with the current energy stream flowing on a new, but connected path.

It’s kind of like arriving at the next level of the spiral.

This has felt exciting and joyous for me. I will continue in this vein and my first writing project will return when it feels ready. I feel that when we can remain flexible in our ideas, it really lends to greater ease and joy whether that’s a project, intention, or even a mindset about something.

So, this is my current focus – a new writing direction, picking back up on a collaborative project that was ignited at the end of last year, but also put on hold to be in greater alignment, seasonal projects around the house and garden, and enjoying Summer in Tahoe. I’m keeping an ear out for any other whispers along the way too, as I feel my crystal friends have much in store to guide me with – especially with a lot of shifts with them as well to mirror collective needs. This may involve a surprise release to share with you.

Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying several days of mystery-filled afternoon mountain thunderstorms and an hour or two of rain, continued ocean-inspired lattes, alpine life, and emerging wildflowers and wild thimbleberries.

I don’t ever experience any issues with time adjustments from traveling and living in another time zone for a while. My body literally morphs into what ever time zone I’m in and sleeps with nature’s cycles of the area – not manmade time restrictions. So, my settling in is more about getting back to things – or better yet, getting on to new things.

I’m still enjoying quiet time, a lot more so because we had a lot of immersive city and abundant people time while away. One of the valuable things about being gone so long is that it provided the ability to balance high explorative activity with immersive just living and nature relaxing, rather than everything being go-go-go. Yet, I still got way more than my usual share or desire of city life and right now being bubbled feels good.

Dave mentioned that this was perhaps our next biggest life shifting experience together after our Magick Bus RV life. It definitely ignited a lot of new energy and directions for us, in many more ways than I’m sharing.

We did get to celebrate our anniversary and Summer Solstice while away. I hope that everyone received a boost of invigoration in some area of your life to match the vibrant blooming potentials our Sun emits across the land. We can use these solar frequencies and codes streaming in for beneficial things. So keep your feelers out for little nudges.

Perhaps some of the reflections and takeaways I’ve shared of my own experiences may ring in with you in resonance too.

Maybe you find some new ideas or flashes of inspiration coming in. Maybe you’re in the midst of growth in some facet of your life, even if that’s a step toward a goal you’ve had or an invitation that now feels good to embrace.

It’s an opportune time to be more open to those things that spark greater peace, joy, and/or ease in your life. There’s reason ideas come…they do lead to something fresh if you’re curious enough to play in the field of potential with them.

Wishing everyone in the U.S. a Happy 4th of July.

We’re going to be laying low here and plan to head out on our first Summer backpacking trip this weekend to our favorite go-to spot where peace and joy always finds us. I sense a new collective of crystals awaiting too. We’re excited to ignite the backpacking season and have two more planned this month.

Do what lights up your heart in any area and way that you can and it changes the tone of your day, while drawing in more similar resonance in other experiences.

You can shift your current trajectory at any moment and when you do, it makes it easier for others to ride similar waves of our collective ocean.