Then a couple of years ago, I found myself really starting over in life.

My path as an educator led me into psychology, and my plan was to go back to school to become a therapist. But first, I had to change my environment. I felt stuck living in the suburbs of Denver! So I moved myself and my two children to our Capital Hill neighborhood in January of 2020 just before Covid struck. I needed to get out of cookie cutter suburbia and into a community with diversity!

That’s a permaculture principle, to

use and value diversity!

I needed a change. I saw this as a chance to put myself and my family in rich soil, where we could really thrive! Another permaculture principle! to —

creatively use and respond to change.

And wow haven’t we all been through some change in the last year!

Change in systems often comes from the edge.

In permaculture, we value the edge. The edge is the most dynamic, most vulnerable, and often the most diverse part of a system...

And I have been AT THE EDGE the last couple of years, the intersection of my old world in suburbia and the start of new life here in the city, partnering with the love of my life to do my part in the healing of Mama Earth, and helping us all restore right relationship with her.

Needless to say, I’m not going back to school to become a therapist!

Now, I’m an educator, designer, and healer for the earth. This road has left me vulnerable at times, for sure. Yet, life at the edge has been healing. It’s much more productive and oh-so-rich.

Just look at nature, it really thrives on the edge!