After much of a month spent in Colorado and Utah at the end of this summer, I returned home to Asheville only to find myself yearning for the big mountains and the aridity of the West. This longing is not new to me. Every so often my love of the geography of the western states comes crashing in, and I wonder why I am digging my roots into the wet soil of the Southeast.
Read MoreIf time were given a shape, it seems it would be circles:
years, months, days…. all moving in circles.
The patterns of the natural world also show up in circles:
the hawk catching the warm uplift, rising in circles;
the circles of the vortex pulling the leaf under water, only to reemerge downstream, still spinning… circles.
Sometimes I feel as if I too am moving in circles with the lessons I am learning in this life. And yet...
Read MoreSummer time…. And the livin’s easy….
Or at least, that’s our normal association with this season of playtime, sunshine, beaches and barbeques. So what happens when our lives don’t slow down...For some, the summer’s promise of ease can turn into greater stress, which in turn can move us into a place of resentment, irritability, and far from showing up as our best self.
What do we do when we are ashamed of our actions? When we hurt someone? When we react rather than respond? When we do something or say something that makes us want to crawl into a hole and not come out until the world has somehow forgotten?
Read MoreComfort piece: My green sarong. It’s my multi-tool piece of clothing. A skirt, a changing room, a scarf, a sheet to sleep under on warmer nights, a beach towel, a pillow cover… it’s cotton and feels like a security blanket in harsher wilderness conditions, or a piece of stylish accent to the same black fleece I’ve worn the last 5 days. It’s colorful. It’s fun but also functional. It’s not necessary, but each time I use it I feel a bit of joy and delightful acceptance of this gift I am giving myself.
Read MoreLeave the "options" at home.
On any trip where I have thought “I can’t decide which, so I’ll just bring both, and then I’ll have options!”… the same thing happens…I use far less than I brought and regret the weight of the excess baggage (scarves, shirts, pants, shoes, socks, earrings, books, bags). I believe this has to do with wanting to feel prepared when faced with the unknown, covering up a nervousness or lack of control with more stuff in the pack... as if having two scarves instead of one will help me better navigate the challenges of international travel.
Read MoreI have come to believe that the way we engage with the various stages of an adventure directly relates to the way we live our overall lives. Do we immerse ourselves in the planning phase? Relishing each minute spent detailing our moment to moment itinerary? Do we daydream about the lives we want to be leading without ever getting past the google-image searches to actually purchase a ticket? Do we throw ourselves into the travel, show up to our station without speaking the language and no clue where we will sleep that night?
Read MoreI’m not sure if it was his words, or the nature of the event to which I was making my pilgrimage, or if the universe was conspiring to roll out a multi-colored patchwork carpet of love… but I can say that the events of the weekend rippled through my core and seemed to continue outward, and John’s words of “Love in Action” were manifested before my eyes
Read MoreIn order to reach out, open handed, to that new version of yourself, your hand must first drop what it is already holding.
Read MoreShe has a constellation of nightlights that illuminate her nocturnal pathways and I imagine her creeping through the rooms trying not to disturb the slumbering of her loved ones, the dim glow of her house a warmth in the cold night… her soft movements a dance of motherhood… Although not lonely, she finds herself sole witness to the dark, and in this solitude she feels more fully all that she is to her child, to her partner, and to the world.
Read MoreA grove of aspen trees is one organism; each individual tree, with it’s unique shape and growth patterns, is connected to the others through a shared root system providing nourishment, stability, and resilience.
Perhaps we can be the same.
Read MoreI follow several nature photographers on instagram, and this fall the images of golden aspens have been the highlight of my “social media” world. It’s as if the aspen canopy is glowing and bathing the surrounding evergreens with it’s intrinsic light. Although no aspens grow in North Carolina, the change of colors in autumn is still my highlight of the year, and I am struck by how this washing of the world in oranges, reds, yellows, deep purples, is then followed by a complete surrender and falling of brilliance. The trees cannot hold onto the autumn jewels; in fact their roots need the nutritious compost of their own sacrifice.
Read MoreWhen being trained as a counselor I was offered the following advice many times by many different people, often with slightly different wording: The relationship is built in the repair. A somewhat novel concept to someone who, like many of us, wanted to be liked by everyone and struggled with the idea of conflict with a client, this concept is larger than just the work that I do in the office or outdoors with clients. It’s about every relationship. My friends, my co-workers, my family, most definitely my marriage. The relationship is not defined by whether or not we have conflict, arguments, hurt feelings, loss, anger, tears…. It’s defined by how we respond to these challenges.
Read MoreThe end of summer is anything but a "slow-down." As schools ramp back up, vacations come to a close, the first break in the heat sparks a resurgence of energy and, for some of us, an excitement for all that the fall holds. And yet...
Read MoreComfort or Growth: are you going for one or the other? I am not so naïve as to believe that we all fall entirely into one of the two camps, but I do wonder if we all can’t align ourselves more with one or the other as a life goal, as a way we organize ourselves, lean with our values, and tend to base our decisions. Are we striving to be ever more comfortable? To have easier and easier lives, as the rate of our technological development may suggest? Or do we gain pride in life by having to stretch ourselves, by waking up everyday with a hurdle to overcome, a challenge to navigate, defining our sense of self worth with martyr-like work at all hours of our lives? Is it all about the next gadget or job that will make life more luxurious? or Is it all about how hard we’ve worked and what tasks we have completed?
Read MoreSometimes an opportunity arises that scares you... that seems the stuff of dreams and therefore cannot really be meant for you... that, if you were the truest version of yourself, you would gladly accept and know you deserved. But somehow your shame and inner critic and voices from the past come careening in to respond with a resounding "No"...
Read MoreWhat was your relationship with the natural world like when you were a child?
I have begun to incorporate this question into the early sessions with my counseling clients, and what I have been surprised to find is that it has consistently led to identifying something beautiful, something sacred.
Read MoreThe year still feels a bit new, and here at Aspen Roots Collective we are already planning the ways in which we want to mark the ending of this year and the beginning of the next: With Purpose in Patagonia!
Read MoreThe spring equinox has passed and it's as if the world has let out an exhale of relief. This strong breath blows our branches, sending messages to our roots that it is time to awaken, to stir and rise from our winter's nap. Clouds fly overhead, rushing off to bring news of the season, and the soil is being pushed and tilled by worms and roots, trowels and hands.
Read More2016 has started off with a bang at Aspen Roots Collective! We have a beautiful location secured for our Spring retreat, a new Hiking Club being offered for those in the Asheville area, and some truly exciting developments for our international offerings. I invite you to continue reading for more details and, as always, to contact me with questions, ideas for individualized retreats for you and your friends, family, or colleagues, or just to be in touch.
Wishing you an adventure filled February,
Sommerville
Read MoreSix women gathered in the crisp sunlit mountain air near Cashiers, NC for a day of connection, reflection, and intention setting for the upcoming Winter. Each participant brought with her her own wisdom and particpated fully in the experience. Below are images and readings captured from the day.
Discussing the significance of Winter from various cultural perspectives
Sharing a warm meal and heating ourselves internally
Soaking in the sun
Ridgeline views
Mindfulness walk along the lake
A treat at day's end
Many many laughs
We have so much gratitude for the women who showed up so fully to this day long retreat. Thank you for not only doing this for yourself, but also for giving the gift of your wisdom, awareness, and journey to each one of us. We look forward to the next opportunity to mark the transition of seasons.
If I could I would
Go down to winter with the drowsy she-bear,
Crawl with her under the hillside
And lie with her, cradled. Like two souls
In a patchwork bed –
Two old sisters familiar to each other
As cups in a cupboard –
We would burrow into the yellow leaves
To shut out the sounds of the winter wind.
Deep in that place, among the roots
Of sumac, oak, and wintergreen,
We would remember the freedoms of summer,
And we would begin to breather together –
Hesitant as singers in the wings –
A shy music,
Oh! a very soft song.
While pines cracked in the snow above,
And seeds froze in the ground, and rivers carried
A dark roof in their many blue arms,
We would sleep and dream.
We would wake and tell
How we longed for the spring.
Smiles on our faces, limbs around each other,
We would turn and turn
Until we heard our lips in unison sighing
The family name.
-Mary Oliver
