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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

This book consists of 47 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.

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 that I carry in my leg

FIRST AID IN A FOXHOLE

My slasher-editor gets healed in a foxhole.

WHAT INVASIVE VINES HAVE TAUGHT ME ABOUT TOXIC SHAME

Invasive vines are a lot like toxic childhood shame—they don't have 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

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.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM BITTERSWEET

Invasive bittersweet vines teach me about my slasher-editor.

FIRE IN THE HOLE

Stored trauma is revealed through a prescribed burn on my land.

BRIDGE TO THE IMAGINATION

I live at the intersection of civilization and imagination.

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.

NOVEL IN A BIRD'S NEST

A bird’s nest provides a safe space for me to 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.

STEPPING INTO A GRAVEYARD

When a tree tells me to do something, I follow through.

BIRCH TREE STORIES

Birches lead me through childhood memories and share 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 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, and birds show me how to write about it.

LIGHTS IN THE FOREST

Three lights lead me to a supernatural connection.

BETWEEN TWO PINES

Two pines help me heal through memories of a 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.

WRITING WITH A WITCH IN THE FOREST

I wrestle with a witch who lives in my right leg.

MY TEMPLE IS A SWAMP

Swamps are full of contradictions and characters—and so am I.

HEPHAESTUS, ROCKS, AND A LIBRARY SCENE

A very human Greek god helps me understand my writing.

THE POWER OF A PINE

I lead an imaginary client through a forest therapy meditation, and find myself healed by a pine tree.

A GROUNDHOG BLESSING

A groundhog who might be a muse.

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 translate nature's messages.

ATHENA'S OWL

An owl teaches me how to defend myself.

FEATHERS LEAD TO ANGELS

A feather in the forest leads to a childhood angel.

DOOR TO MY WILD SELF

The universe gives us characters when we get wounded.

WRITING WITH A VINE

A vine takes me back to a painful experience in college.

I SAW MYSELF TEENAGED SELF IN A THERAPIST'S OFFICE

I find myself going to and coming from therapy at the same time.

SKIN LIKE BARK

Trees heal my adolescent self.

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.