Wild Sacred Journey Podcast

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. Usually I film these Creature Comfort videos outside, in the natural world. But this time, it’s a quick video from my “den” - my cozy space. Many of us seem to have this idea that finding balance is...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. Coming to you direct from a dreamy new moon and mercury retrograde in Pisces, this video is not pithy. Sorry, not sorry (both my Sun and Mercury are in Pisces so you get what you get right now). It’...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. A few weeks ago during the lunar eclipse, I “saw” a pattern that was playing out in my life more clearly than I’d been able to articulate it until then. I could feel that the frequency of the patter...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. I was surprised this morning, while checking in with friend and colleague Jenn Balijko of Always on My Way, to discover that the energy of this lunar new year and solar eclipse was different than wh...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. Is there a difference between animism and anthropormorphism and why does it matter? I would submit: yes - there is a difference. One maintains stories human supremacy and offers a false sense of com...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. We find ourselves at the cross-quarter threshold between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox - the beginning of the light half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Celtic tradition, it’s ma...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. I really hadn’t gotten how funny the moment was until I said it out loud. And I often take life (and my spiritual practice) waaayyyy too seriously. But I’m aiming to laugh more. What’s your relation...

For this conversation (the first after a long pause from recording), I’m joined by Stephanie MacKay - a mythologist, wilderness guide, and cultural craftswoman devoted to the long, slow work of remembering how to belong - to land, to lineage, to story, and to each other. (And someone whose approach to myth has changed my life and work and who I respect and admire greatly - like, I was  buzzing  af...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. An argument could be made that I started recording a bit too soon after waking up - watching back I feel like I can see me wake up part way through. So this is a bit of a slower morning ramble. But...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and remember how to be *alive* again. Another walk in the dark. A visit to two hawthorn trees who supported me this Fall.  Then some musings on: dormancy and generosity; making offerings; healthy debt; supporting process vs supporting f...

A "Creature Comfort" video to affirm, inspire, give context to, and, yes, comfort your creature self as you unplug from burnout and the life of a machine and become more vital and alive human again. This year my algorithm is full of more memes and “permission slips” reminding everyone that winter is not a time of growth. And of course, there’s some truth to that. And coming to see that i...

I’m always quite reflective around my birthday and this episode was recorded only a few days after my 40th. So you’ll hear musings on: rites of passage; why I suspect the point of being human may actually be relationship; how posturing and collapse both lead to burnout; the possible connection between being risk averse and not experiencing unconditional belonging; why a linear concept of progress...

Back in mid-October I received an email from long-time listener and spiritual development devotee Anne Ruel, sharing some thoughts and questions ep 49 had sparked for her as she considered questions of burnout, purpose anxiety, and integration in her own life and journey. I thought about responding in a solo episode but had a suspicion a real-time conversation between the two of us would be richer...

Back in November, Kate Graham (who you may remember from episode 40) interviewed me as part of her Oracle Mountain Chats - a series of conversations with the speakers and visionaries of the first ever OracleFest. I really enjoyed our conversation and thought I’d share it with you all here. You’ll hear us chat about:  titles and roles like “oracle” or “shaman” in modern times; why I think the pract...

I had plans for a different podcast episode today. But I need more rest and spaciousness in my day. Perhaps you do, too.  In fact, I’m quite confident you do. So this episode is not just about rest and why it’s probably so key at this moment in the year… but also an actual invitation to rest.  Set a timer. I’ll get you started.  Let’s rest more. With love, Kate P.S. If you’re interested in Insight...

Are we manifesting? Are we practicing unattachment to results? Are we trying to create a new us, a better us? How do we even know what a better us might be or look like? Are we good enough as we are? If so, what’s the point, what drives us into any kind of action? There’s a lot that feels confusing and overwhelming at this time of year. So here, on a new moon at the beginning of a new year, I talk...

A quick bonus episode with some thoughts around burnout and the holiday season and what we might consider in order to honor a more ancestral rhythm. First conceived in late November, then recorded a week or so ago, the rhythm of bringing this episode to you demonstrates my own honoring of this rhythm. No rush. Everything in its time. If you do want to join us in the virtual roundhouse for an exper...

“It is easy for me to imagine that the next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines.” - Wendell Berry Tad Hargrave, one of our guests in today’s episode, likes to reference this quote. And seeing a need to call people back into their humanity, finding ways to help them go about their days with more goodness and beauty...

Back in late August, I sat down to have a flowing, juicy conversation with the wise, down-to-Earth Tamy Roloff (herbal tea seller, coach, midwife, mother and grandmother) around aliveness and aging; and more specifically the question: is it inevitable that we settle in to die with little excitement or joy for the future beyond retirement prospects?  Along the way, we also explore: spirituality; pl...

What if your fear of being seen as lazy is wasting your fire and contributing to your burnout? And what if what we’ve been taught to consider as laziness is our body and brain trying to recalibrate back to more sustainable cycles of efforting and rest? __________ Your desire to contribute and make a difference is a genuine and beautiful thing… and when it gets entangled with (often unconscious and...

Last weekend I made a hat. I took a pile of wool fibers and turned them into something functional and beautiful for my head. And since then, how wool fulls and felts has been popping to mind as a metaphor for relationship and community building. In the wake of the US elections, I felt drawn to share some of these musings with you and go a little deeper into why I believe these ancestral skills pra...

What distinguishes a pilgrimage from everyday life? Did our long-ago ancestors suffer from burnout or purpose anxiety? And, if not, why? These are two main questions I’m exploring at the one month mark of being back in Scotland after my epic ancestral pilgrimage here (and in Ireland) last year. You’ll hear me muse about: what being on pilgrimage means and whether we can practice it even if we can’...

Have you heard the expression: “the veil is thin”? And do you have an experience of what that means? This bonus episode is in honor of what the celtic culture would call Samhain (though plenty of cultures around the world have other celebrations at this time of year honoring the ancestors and marking this moment of the thinning veil). In this episode, you’ll hear me muse on  what I think a “thin v...

Have you experienced the grief of wondering whether your life, whether YOU, have any purpose? Only to try thing after thing while seeking your purpose; ultimately ending up more uncertain and confused? And burned out now on top of it? You’re not alone. This episode is in response to a listener who wrote to me after listening to my Episode 49 on Wellness World Pitfalls if we’re not including shadow...

Holding feet to fire here. With compassion, of course... This episode is in response to many of the pitfalls I see on social media and in real life spiritual/ wellness circles. Things like: how much harm still gets perpetuated in spiritual spaces; how much burnout and long-term ineffectiveness is still prevalent; finding a space or group which seems to be doing things differently, only to realize...