Autumn is the season of bounty, and it’s so easy to end up coming home after a wander into the natural spaces around us with pocket loads of natural treasures. Why not engage in some creative crafting with your harvest? Here are a few of my favorite autumn wild crafts to make the most of your gathering.
Posts filed under Issue #87
The Community High Resource Program: A Student's Perspective
We asked our fellow Community High School students, Claire Lewis and Jacqueline Boynton, to share their perspective about the community resource program at Community High and their experience in photography class.
Spirit Seeds: Fall 2024
Welcome to Spirit Seeds! In this new column readers submit their questions, and we dive deep to find the answers. We’ll embark on a journey of holistic exploration, delving into ancient practices and unraveling the enigmas of existence.
Manual Labor
I still have the scar on my forearm from when I touched it to the edge of the oversized sheet pan after taking it out of the oven. It happened the first week I worked in a busy kitchen, one year ago. I wear it well. At age sixty-three, after a lifetime of jobs that demanded my brains, wit, voice, compassion, and leadership, I jumped into the most physically demanding job of my life.
Sustainable Health: Taking Wellness One Day at a Time
As a coach in the wellness industry, I am constantly shown the stark truth about what ails most of us humans. We are looking for drastic change, and we want it immediately! We tend to know what it is that we need, but getting there is extremely overwhelming. Rather than suffer from disappointment about not getting “the thing,” many people choose to disengage from the goal all together.
Weekend Getaway: Around the Corner – Hillsdale County Excursion
The aura of calm began with our arrival at Munro House, the bed and breakfast serving as our home base. Considering the stately tone of the exterior columns, we were surprised by a casual greeting from Layne, the tween son of owner Chris Riley
You are Not Broken: The Deeper Journey of Mindfulness
“I’ll never give up on you, don’t you give up on you.” These words from Mitra Manesh, Mindfulness Educator, Thought Leader, and my mentor, have stayed with me through my growth and journey into the world of mindfulness and meditation practices. In 2020, I sat in on a webinar with this teacher whom I had never heard of. Upon listening to her deep inner wisdom, I knew immediately I had to study with her.
The Transforming Power of Gratitudes
Consider waking up in the morning and the only thing in your awareness is what you’re grateful for. A smile comes to your lips as you look out the window and see the colors in the light of the new day. You’re grateful for each little thing often unnoticed by others. You are in the stillness where gratitude can move through your life. You have a glimpse that you are the stillness of gratitude.
Cooking with Lisa~Vegetable Chili with Chocolate and Chocolate Sweet Potatoe Brownies
Cooking with Lisa~Did you know that a bit of cacao powder, or even a bar of dark chocolate, can enhance your favorite chili recipe? It adds a rich, complex depth by enhancing the savory and spicy flavors with a subtle, earthy bitterness. Cacao’s slight bitterness balances the chili’s spiciness and acidity, creating a harmonious blend of flavors that is just delicious.
Tea Time with Peggy
Last year for Christmas I got a surprise—orange tea. It was a gift from one of my relatives who always tries to find a unique tea for me to try. While I have added citrus to traditional tea, I never had one that was all citrus. It had a pleasant refreshing taste—one that I could pair with a cinnamon stick to give a little bit of warmth and holiday feel in the cold of winter. The whole house smells amazing when you brew orange peel with cinnamon on top of the stove. It made me realize that I can make a type of tisane (an herbal infusion) out of just about anything that will infuse into water.
All Creatures Great and Small~The Decision
Dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Their unconditional love has provided a lifeline of emotional support during some very dark times. In the aftermath of a failed relationship and a thoroughly broken heart, being accountable to my dogs, and needing to care for them, literally gave me a reason to get up and carry on living. I was struggling with a very bad episode of depression—the kind that comes with such crushing, completely debilitating fatigue that it’s nearly impossible to get out of bed.
Green Living~Foraging and Using Natural Materials for Home Crafting
Nature provides a variety of inspiring materials that can be useful for crafting traditional and useful things. What a joy it is to learn, year by year, a bit more about the qualities of the natural world by foraging and co-creating with nature.
Leslie Blackburn’s Big Pivot: From Sacred Sexuality to Local Politics
Within the past year, Blackburn’s work has pivoted to involvement in the local political scene, where they recently ran in the primary for Lodi Trustee. Blackburn states that this transformation is an extension of the empowerment work they were already doing in sacred sexuality.
