Happy Saturday friends!
Earlier this week I was listening to an Oprah podcast about women "quiet quitting" their marriage. Do you remember hearing about quiet quitting back in 2022 where workers were doing the bare minimum for their jobs? Same thing here, but in marriages. It was an interesting conversation and I've been mulling it over ever since.
I get it, you know? When I left my first husband, I vowed I wouldn't repeat what I'd lived through. I'd been in a relationship where I tried to reach out over and over, tried to fix what was wrong, and there was no reciprocity. I've seen that type of relationship played out all around me, all my life. It was very much the norm for a long time. I promised myself I wouldn't live that way again.
And I didn't. Does that mean that Brad is the be all and end all and I receive everything I need as a human female from him? It does not. And I think that's a good thing.
I get the push from women for the men in their lives to step up and be a full participant in family life. We are no longer looking for men to be the breadwinner and nothing else. But I don't get the push for men to be a woman's everything (it could be the other way around too of course). No man or woman can do that. It's setting everyone up for failure.
Here's the way that I see it, for now anyway: We were living life in tribes of people, extended families. We'd gravitate into groups of men and women to get the things done during the day that moved our lives and tribe forward. At night we'd come back together for food, fire, and community. We had a huge group of people that would fill each other up in all kinds of ways. Women worked together, raised children together, helped each other and the same for men working together, playing together. We had a community.
And over time that went by the wayside and of course we are suffering because of it. And now the expectation is that our spouse will be our community? That is so unfair. It's too much for one person.
Do you remember the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child"?
Maybe the saying should be, "It takes a village to raise a child and a village to support an adult."
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COME BE PART OF MY VILLAGE!
Sessions, Women's Circles, Classes:
Equine Partnered Coaching! With horses (early morning appointments in the summer), without horses, or online, your choice.
Neurofeedback Train your brain to calm and ease. The most common response I hear about neurofeedback is, "I'm so much less reactive in my life!" It really does smooth out the sharp spikes. Super helpful if your world feels harsh and spiky right now. These appointments are in my climate controlled office.
Reiki Another way to facilitate relaxation, calm, healing. If the weather is nice, you can choose outside in the herd (this is an early morning appointment) and of course in my office is always available :-)
And Women's Circles! Contact me if you want to talk about joining a Women's Circle!
Wednesday Women's Circle has a waiting list, I will add you to it if you'd like. Newer people do indeed get in occasionally, as sometimes the people higher on the list end up with upcoming vacations, too busy at work, or just life is life-ing.
Tuesday Women's Circle, runs 11am—2pm, contact me if you're interested in the next group, it starts in September.
Monday online art class via Zoom. Ongoing, every Monday, 7:30-9pmET. $35 There isn't a public link for this one but you can contact me for the supply list and link here. I teach you something fun in watercolor or mixed media. It's a low key, jammies kind of class. Right now it's small so you get more one on one instruction if you want it.
This is what it feels like to be in a Women's Circle here at the ranch. Weather permitting, we start outside, under shelter, with the herd loose and able to come and go as they please. I do a guided meditation, and then everyone gets a chance to share what's on their mind—no interruptions. This is what the ponies and mini donkeys are doing during all that:
They are amazing at shifting energy in our bodies and everyone always leaves feeling lighter and less stuck!
THE RANCH
When you live on a farm you often find bird's nests after a rain. I found this on the ground last week. I have several around the house from when Rayn, Tessa, and Wynter lived with me, all of those are white and grey nests. This is my first Tori and Blu nest—a little black, a little red, a little white:
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I saw a deer out of my bathroom window again, browsing the fallen figs. I love how the ponies and the deer are checking each other out here:
Sweetness is fine! No cuts and we've upgraded our feed pans to rubber. They are now outgassing in the sun for some days before I use them because they smell so bad. Ever been to a tire store? Yeah, that stench. I wouldn't want to eat my food out of them that's for sure. In the meantime, we are being extra careful and making sure we always put the blue plastic ones away after feeding:
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Time for a Green Anole photo dump. I just love these little ones:
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It was my birthday last weekend and Delores made me this amazing German Chocolate cake!
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Whoops...so that belt just broke for no reason!
Booooooooooo! But at least he got it replaced:
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Just curious, do you see the horse in the middle? Like the kind of horse you might find on a very, very old cave wall:
I went to go get a drink of water and when I came back to my nest bed, someone had taken my place:
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Working on a way to let the Duchess of Cashmere eat her grain without being harassed by the littles. The goats stay locked up in their nighttime pen while she's eating and are let out after:
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What a beautiful sunset! Usually I don't get to see anything in particular, the sunrises can be spectacular though. I was lucky this day and had to take a shot for every new look the sky gave me:
MEMORIES
You've heard the story of how Sweetness gave me his name a million times I'm sure right? Ok, once more for the new people ;-) They were named Vito (foreground) and Willie. Willie was Sweetness's name. He was the kinder donkey. They came to me as a bonded pair of yearlings, they had been born close together and were just always friends. Those names didn't seem to fit either so one day I asked Willie, "Is Willie your name or is it something else? I immediately heard: Sweetness and Light. So he became Sweetness and the little black donkey in the foreground became Light. Light went to heaven as a three year old (colic) and Sweetness stepped into his healing powers in a big way. And he lives up to his name everyday :-)
Rayn (the whole reason I do this work and who is now in heaven) and Sweetness learning to be loose on the property like Raynie could:
ART
People often think artists just whip stuff out (and sometimes we do) but often we play around with ideas in a sketchbook or watercolor notebook, maybe try a few things on watercolor paper, continue to futz around with it, until it feels right. For instance, this butterfly progression, kinda fun but the shape was funky:
Funny how hard butterflies were for me to paint, I finally looked up a Blue Morpho Butterfly and then had a better feel for the shape! Not being able to paint a basic butterfly from memory is like saying you don't know how to draw a heart LOL
Have you noticed that my newsletters have become novellas lately?? Goodness. I will endeavor to be more succinct next time!
Probably...
