Navigating Values Conflicts
Blog by Valerie At times I know that if I don’t speak my truth in a certain situation, I’ll walk away feeling ashamed. And yet I suspect that when I do speak, I’ll walk away feeling unsafe and social anxiety.…
Category Relationships
Accepting ancestral pain
Blog by Valerie I recently received German denazification records for my great grandfathers and grandfather. I paid the state archives to scan them for me after finding out how that process works in an article in der Spiegel, a German…
Healing trauma bonds
Trauma bonding tends to be defined as a strong attachment with someone (or something) abusing us or causing us harm. By this definition it is inherently negative, and the advice from a Western psychology perspective is to become aware and…
Gracefully relinquishing power
Blog by Lukas An old friend once looked me in the eye and, with all the seriousness he could muster, uttered words that have stayed with me to this day: “Those with power will never give it up voluntarily. It…
Mothering our Spirits
Blog by Valerie Some days I feel like I am running a race from the moment I wake up to ensure I use my time carefully to fulfil my responsibilities with my family, around the house and garden, with the…
Calendar Year Reflections
Blog by Valerie Honour all ancestors – of land, lineage and spirit. Live in balance. This is a steady life’s mission. And even after years of this commitment, I can still feel profoundly torn at times, like I’m being called…
For the love of destruction
Blog by Valerie We recently revisited one of my favourite childhood movies with our daughter, Ferngully. I was reminded of the depiction of pure destruction and the power and joy of that aspect of our nature in the character of…
Honouring our Rage
Blog by Valerie Rage matters. It’s a passionate, spirited emotion. Spirit keeps our inner fires burning and helps us feel alive. We need healthy spirits! I remember spiritual teacher Tom Lake, an Anglo-Celtic medicine man sharing that to try to…
Parenting with Indigenous Science
Blog by Valerie There’s so much parenting advice, and so little I resonate with, so I thought I’d share my perspective. Parenting is about building relationships through developmentally appropriate leadership (which is related to a previous post on…
Darkness
Blog by Valerie “Darkness is the purest form of light” is a teaching I deeply honour from Tiwa Elder Joseph Rael – Beautiful Painted Arrow. He says this because out of darkness all colours and possibilities emerge, whereas white light…