"The Deep Dark Woods Aren't So Dark, Mommy."

Recently my daugther, Liddy, taught us a song she learned in school that integrates rhythm, movement, and sounds from nature. It's called, "Going on a bear hunt." It's cute and it's catchy and it got me thinking...

Last weekend I took my girls on a "bear hunt." We stepped outside. We sniffed the air. We looked for sign. We quieted our bodies and listened. On the air Liddy picked up the scent of cinnamon. On the ground we found elk poop, deer poop, and coyote poop. As we walked like bears, we felt the wind move across our skin and lift our hair from our heads. We heard it move through the trees. We let our senses take the lead as we left the open field and headed into the woods.

 

The trail was muddy and full of elk tracks. We sought the highest ground we could only to slip down into the squishy gooey earth. Liddy slipped off her feet, landing on her butt and soaking her nightgown. (Yes, we were on a "bear hunt" in our pajamas).  We laughed and continued on. Reclaiming our senses, we followed the sights and sounds and smells of the trail. Soon we came to the entrance of the deep, dark woods.

 

It was there that we had a choice. Do we stay on the brighter path, the shorter walk, the flattest terrain? Or do we take the narrow trail that disappears out of sight only a few steps in? The trail that leads into the deep dark woods? 

 

It was at this point Frannie said, "Mom, are we really hunting a bear?" At 4 years old she isn't sure she wants to actually come face to face with a real live bear armed with only a backpack containing a cheese stick, a doll, and her water. She knows she can't outrun it, or out climb it, or out anything it.

 

"No." I say. It's pretend. And it was.

 

The girls chose the path. Into the deep dark woods we went. Sniffing, scouting, staying in verbal contact, and keeping each other in our line of sight.

 

Then it happened.

 

Once we passed through the threshold beneath the dark canopy of the forest, the path almost instantly became brighter.

 

"The deep dark woods aren't so dark, Mommy." Frannie said.

 

And she was right.

I've been grappling with what to call my work and how to present it for far too long. My unrealistic need for the perfect presentation, the perfect website, the perfect offering is constricting my flow and my ability to connect. The reality is there are no perfect words for it. And yet, there are words that come really close.

 

It's time for me to sh*t or get off the pot, as my grandmother used to say.

 

Drum roll, please...

 

I'm a healer, a coach, a spiritual warrior. I help people see and act on possibility where they didn't see it before. I'm an up-leveler of life. I soundly believe there are options even when you have been told over and over again that this is the way things are. I'm not afraid to go into the deep dark woods with you.

 

With that, I have updated my website with my current offerings. On it you will find options for one-on-one sessions for yourself or your animals and information about my coaching services. I have updated my pricing on all of my services. You will see that the human and coaching services are lower than my most recent rates.

 

All of us are on a "bear hunt." Some of us are meant to go it on our own. Most of us will have a far more fruitful hunt and will make it home with our senses enlivened, our worlds expanded, a spark of knowing that rarely is it true that "this is the way things are" if we hunt together. Note: it matters who you journey with.

 

Who will you take on your hunt?

 

Wishing you joy,

Kate

 

P.S. I invite you to check out my website: www.KateEskew.com for the latest. I'm really proud of how it turned out. If you're standing at the edge of your woods and some company as you journey through them, you can reach me at kate@kateeskew.com. Big love, Kate

For Portland area friends, take a drive in the country to do your holiday shopping this year and come see me this Saturday, December 3 at the Skyline School Holiday Pop-Up Shop. 26 local vendors, including yours truly, will be selling handmade goods and services in the school gym from 9-12.

 

I have two holiday specials: a 60 minute Psychic Reading or a 60 minute Energy Healing Session for $80 each. If you can't make it to the event you can buy them by clicking here.

 

Cost of admission is one non-perishable food item for Skyline School's Backpack program. See you on Saturday!