Wellspring Writing Workshops
BOOKS
Breaking Out of a Chrysalis: A Healing Journey through Writing and Nature
Coming Soon
Release Date: Mar 25, 2027
You will find some of these essays on my Substack page--Heal through Writing & Nature
©2026 Julie Mariouw. All Rights Reserved
This book consists of 46 creative nature essays that I wrote during a 3-year period. The essays illustrate the healing process I went through during those years.
After spending time in nature, I began to undertstand what Robin Wall Kimmerer says in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass: "Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond."
While my book is not a how-to book, it is hopefully an example of how writing and nature work together to heal. I describe the sacred bond that gets created between human and nature. This bond heals in ways that mere human effort cannot.
I hope you enjoy--and benefit from--my work!
Breaking Out of a Chrysalis:
A Healing Journey through Writing and Nature
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: 2024
TREE OF PEACE
An entrance and an explanation.
THE POWER OF BLUEBIRDS AND WRITING
Baby bluebirds teach me to combine nature and writing.
LESSONS FROM A TURTLE ON WRITING AND THE BODY
I watch a snapping turtle give birth. One of her lessons: “Don’t take shortcuts; slow and steady wins the race.”
LEARNING TO WRITE IN THE FOREST
The forest teaches me to write—braiding is the right way, one story at a time.
MYSTERIOUS HEALER IN THE FOREST
A healer arrives in the forest and shows me a story I carry in my leg
WORKING WITH BIRDS
Birds teach me that we are one, we are one, we are one.
FIRST AID IN A FOXHOLE
My slasher-editor gets healed in a foxhole.
WHAT INVASIVE VINES HAVE TAUGHT ME ABOUT SHAME
Invasive vines are a lot like toxic childhood shame—neither has your best interests at heart.
HOW TO BREAK OUT OF A CHRYSALIS
Forest creatures work together to help me break free from childhood defenses.
PART TWO: 2025
CONVERSATION IN A FOXHOLE
I meet my internal critic in a foxhole.
VISIT FROM A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
A red-shouldered hawk gives me advice on my novel.
WRITING AND THE FOREST
Nature brings me a stick that looks like a hip joint, and reminds me that I used to play with salamanders as a child.
LESSONS FROM BITTERSWEET ON A SLASHER-EDITOR
Invasive bittersweet vines teach me about my slasher-editor.
FIRE IN THE HOLE
Stored trauma inside me is revealed through a prescribed burn on my land.
VISIT #2 FROM A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
A second hawk visit helps me free the trauma in my body.
A ROOMFUL OF THREES
Visitors from a dream teach me about creativity and communication.
FOX AMONG THE VINES
An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.
WRITING IN A BIRD'S NEST
A bird’s nest holds me as I write.
GRACE AMONG THE BIRCHES
I hang out with birch trees and get advice on how to heal.
HEALING WITH GRANDMOTHER TREE
Grandmother Tree gives me forgotten memories of my mother.
I SAW MY TEENAGED SELF IN A THERAPIST'S OFFICE
I find myself coming from and going to therapy at the same time.
BIRCH TREE STORIES
Birches lead me through childhood memories and share some memories of their own.
YELLOW SNOW
I notice yellow snow at the base of oak trees, and fawns tell stories of fairies and tannins.
THE ARRIVAL OF WINGS
An angel appears above my mother’s shoulders and lifts me out of an illness.
MAGIC OF A VERNAL POOL
Fairy shrimp, fingernail clams and spotted salamanders lend me their magic.
LEARNING TO WRITE IN THE FOREST
The forest helps me grieve my father, and birds show me how to write about it.
LIGHTS IN THE FOREST
Three bright lights lead me to a supernatural connection.
BETWEEN TWO PINES
Two pines help me heal in memories of my mother’s kitchen.
WAKING UP WITH DEER
Mama deer and fawns help me to slow down.
BAT, A MESSENGER OF CHANGE
I sleep in a bat cave and learn how to transform.
SHAKESPEARE IN A STONE
Shakespeare visits my land and tells me where he got the idea for As You Like It.
STORIES FROM THE MARSH
I hang out with marsh ghosts and they tell me their stories.
MY TEMPLE IS A SWAMP
Swamps are full of contradictions and characters—and so am I.
HEPHAESTES, ROCKS, AND A LIBRARY SCENE
A very human Greek god helps me understand my writing.
DON'T INTERRUPT THE MAGIC
I lead an imaginary client through a forest therapy meditation, and find myself healed by a pine tree.
BLESSINGS OF A GROUNDHOG
A groundhog blesses my Nature Writing Cabin.
HAMADRYADS AND ME
I learn about hamadryads—magical figures connected to trees—and realize I might be one of them.
HOW CHARACTERS ARE BORN IN A FOREST
A new character emerges from my body and makes her way into the forest.
UNDERSTANDING NATURE'S CODES
A butterfly and a plant teach me how to think.
ATHENA'S OWL
An owl shows me the truth and teaches me how to defend myself.
FEATHERS LEAD TO ANGELS
I find a feather in the forest, which leads to a childhood angel.
DOOR TO MY WILD SELF
The universe gives us characters when we get wounded.
WRITING WITH VINES
Vines take me back to a painful experience in college.
PART THREE: 2026
GRIEF LIKE AN INVASIVE VINE
Invasive vines teach me how to process grief.
ADVICE FROM A DARK-EYED JUNCO
A dark-eyed junco advises me not to run away from pain.
FOLLOWING NATURE
When a tree tells me to do something, I follow through.
SALAMANDER, O SALAMANDER
Salamanders teach me how to absorb wisdom through my skin.
