At the beginning of 2010, I gave up my comfortable, fulfilling life in Springfield, Il. Springfield had been my home for 35 years. It was where I met my husband, raised my children, wrote two of my books, had a booming psychotherapy practice and a large following for my spiritual teachings.  It is still a place filled with so many people I dearly love.

Yet my soul knew that the very ease I was living in could soon stunt my development, and it was time to spread my wings and move into a new phase. And so the Universe, as it does, opened the door.

Dennis and I had taken a Shamanic Journey to Egypt in 2005 led by Nicky Scully, Linda Star Wolf, Brad Collins and Anyaa McAndrew.  Anyaa and I met in Springfield in the late 70’s and ended up working together at the newly formed Rape Crisis Center to council sexual assault and abuse survivors and to educate the mainstream population on these issues.  We went on to form a women’s counseling collective offering holistic and low cost counseling to anyone seeking it.  Then Anyaa left and I continued my journey there.

By the time we went to Egypt, Anyaa had just moved into a cabin in the Isis Cove community, started by Brad and Star Wolf in the magical mountains of Western North Carolina. A few months after returning from Egypt, we went to visit her and ended up buying a beautiful piece of land there with the intent of moving down once we retired. (Well I’ve never retired but that was an imagined possibility).  Dennis retired at the end of 2009. I closed up my office and sold our family home in early 2010 and we moved to Isis Cove to begin our new life.

As much as I love the people in my small community and the sweet little town nearby, the transition was not easy.  I was on new ground both literally and figuratively.  My children, who I thought would all love to move to nearby Asheville, did not. They and our grandchildren are spread out around the country.  I was used to running my own show, and while I stepped into some leadership in our new community and a supportive role for Star Wolf’s and Brad’s, Venus Rising, I found the energy here much more intense than the laid back vibe of the Midwest.   The people in the surrounding area knew nothing of me or my work, and while, on one hand, I had a strong sense of inner empowerment, I was also dealing with my shyness and fears about putting myself “out there.”

The adjustment period for this new phase was surprisingly long.  Even now daily life can still be more stressful, and all that growth-producing stretching can create discomfort.  Would I trade it?  Absolutely not! There are numerous and delightful blessings in my new life, and it is exactly and wonderfully where I’m meant to be!

In the midst of all this personal change, the political landscape shifted dramatically in our country during the last decade.  I have been a progressive ever since becoming involved in the Civil Rights Movement in high school in the early 60’s.  My concern about income inequality and the environment started soon afterwards.  Now several decades later, we not only had a federal administration that seemed hell bent on rolling back equal rights and environmental protections, giving more tax breaks to the rich, more power to the corporations and implementing inhumane immigration policies, we had deep divisions within families, reflecting a deep division in our populace and inside ourselves.

As painful as this is, and as much hatred of different groups has emerged out of the shadows of our collective psyche, this is ultimately a collective call to a much larger healing.  Our shadow must be faced. External divisions are always a reflection of internal psychological splits.  As we heal ourselves, we heal our world.

We need to learn to hold compassion for all no matter how much we may dislike their views.  Hatred emerges out of repressed self-hatred and fear.  We are all connected.  We are all in this together and we have a chance to shift the entire paradigm of the planet to a higher frequency as we free ourselves from dysfunctional societal programming and reclaim our multidimensional potential.

This new decade opens an opportunity to create a new world and a new reality where every single being is honored, respected and loved, where everyone’s basic needs are met. We have the chance to heal and honor Mother Earth for the living being that she is, and to support a whole new era for humanity on our planet.

As for me, here I am a full decade later.  Thanks to Star Wolf, I was able to connect with a wonderful publisher and my book Activating Your 5D Frequency will be released by Inner Traditions, Bear & Company this Spring. I’m gearing up for several book talks, signings and workshops around the country.  I have faced my own fears and doubts.  I have honored the discomfort that intense growth can bring and I’m ready to step through a new portal to carry out my soul contract to help humanity create New Earth.

I urge you to follow your soul’s direction out of your comfort zone, no matter how scary it might feel.  Keep holding visions of a new world of emotionally healed and spiritually awake people who transform the suffering that has infused this planet for more than 10,000 years, by stepping into a new paradigm of consciousness.  The time is now.  2020 can provide us with clear sight to bring our loving, evolved visions into manifestation.

If you are looking for more guidance around how we do this, you might want to pre-order my new book.

Sending love, wishes for your highest development and clear vision to all.