The People Compass.

A lot of folks are in between jobs or standing at a career crossroads. Perhaps the work you’ve been doing isn’t satisfying anymore, or it’s not what you imagined it would be when you started.

Enter the People Compass. It’s a guidance system for finding the job/career/calling that matches you best with the people you seek to serve.

If you can’t stomach working with sick people and the smell of urine/feces/vomit makes you nauseous, probably a nursing career isn’t going to be the best fit. On the flip side, if you love being around children and their wild imaginations and energy, perhaps becoming a teacher is a good career path to follow.

At the end of the day, we all have customers- people we are serving and helping through our work. We spend the majority of our waking hours working. So it makes sense to invest our time and energy in the clients and causes we care most deeply about.

Start here.

Who are the people and groups you seek to serve?

Follow your People Compass. Do work that matters for people who matter to you.

A.D.D.

These days, many people suffer from A.D.D.

Awe Deficiency Disorder.

When we experience awe, mental noise and clutter fades. Our inner critic is silenced. We experience a rush of positive emotions. Perspective shifts. The big things in life don’t seem so heavy.

If you’re feeling signs of burnout, fatigue, low energy or lethargy, perhaps the answer isn’t found in a new exercise routine or supplement. Maybe it’s a sign to check out that new trail at sunrise. Set up camp and look up at the stars. Attend a piano concert and sit on a wooden bench in a music hall and listen to the unequivocal amount of talent present in the younger generations. Maybe it’s time to be inspired by something bigger and greater than yourself. And experience the vastness of life for the first time in a long while.

An awe-inducing sunrise in Maui.

Yes, eat well and move well.

But above all, pursue awe. Persistently and relentlessly.

Love Says...

Made with Lion’s Mane mushroom.

Love says ALPACA your lunch. I’ll hug you when you’re sad. Celebrate your wins. Love says I believe in you and wholeheartedly support your dreams. I’ll do the dishes tonight because you’re exhausted. Text you that I’m thinking of you. Love says I’m sorry. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s work this out.

And sometimes, love says you deserve more than I can give you. Spread your wings and fly. I will be rooting for you always, loving you from afar.

Far West Fungi in downtown Santa Cruz.

In modern herbalism and plant medicine, the term “Doctrine of Signatures” is the belief that the physical characteristics of a plant often mimic the body organ it supports. Lion’s mane, which resembles a brain, is an example of this. Lion’s mane is known to support brain health, prevent cognitive decline, and decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”

Just another reason to fill your plate with plants. After making art with it, of course.

You're My Person.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, here’s your opportunity to surprise your special person with a customized card- whether it’s your partner, your lover, your work wife, your best friend, or whoever came to mind as you read this.

These are made to order, with an option to customize at checkout.

Get a jump on V-Day and place your order today.

(A quick story: Back in 2017 when my friend Brian and I were dreaming up our ideal futures, I mentioned how one day I’d love to make customized Valentine’s Day cards. It seemed like a pipe dream. I made this proclamation before I had any cards in any stores. And now, here we are. Dreams really can come true if you keep iterating on your ideas and have a supportive and wonderful community.)

Remembering With Nature and Ritual.

Dedicated to my Mark, my meditation teacher. This altar is filled with the number four. Representing the four years he sat with me weekly. The time we hiked and he faced the four cardinal directions and said, “There’s different energy in each direction.” I foraged mallow and dandelion and placed them around the center. These plants are often seen as weeds, but are in fact, medicinal plants that aid with digestion and immunity. In our work together, he taught me the weeds of life (pain/death/suffering) can be powerful portals of healing if we learn to see them differently.

If you’ve ever experienced grief, you know how numb and disconnected it makes you feel. What if we could weave our inner and outer landscapes- our memories and stories and nature- into meaningful beauty?

Yesterday I had the privilege of sharing the sacred practice of Morning Altars as a way to remember and honor our loved ones. I asked each member of the group to wonder and wander in nature, and find memories of their loved one in the leaves, branches, flowers, berries, mushrooms, stones or feathers. The natural world holds memory and can help us call them back to us. I was drawn to the symbolism of the plants themselves. Ivy, always climbing walls and growing upwards and sideways, similar to the way my love for Mark continues to grow even though he is no longer here. And the bright color of berries, a reminder that sweetness can be experienced even in times of grief.

We sought out beauty and symbols generously offered by nature. Arranged them in a meaningful way, speaking directly to our loved ones as we wove memories and stories into our altar. It was a way of making a map of meaning. Re-membering, in every sense of the word.

Recognizing the abundance that exists all around us. Even in the dead of winter. Even in the depths of grief.

This practice is an invitation to pay attention to what’s here, all around us. To gather the fragments of nature and our hearts. Arrange them in a meaningful way. Then offer it all up. Let it go. And let it be.

Embracing the In-Between with Julianne Kanzaki: Art 2 Heart Podcast Episode 8.

I wrote this spoken word poem in 2017 when I was navigating an ‘in-between’ space in my career. Just like me, this poem has morphed and changed throughout the years. I’ve added and removed stanzas, changed words, and have allowed it to develop and grow with time.

Much gratitude to David Morin, host of the Art 2 Heart Podcast, for putting this together. I shared this poem as part of our conversation on his podcast.

We discuss how a daily creative practice can be a guiding light to bring you back to yourself and your deepest desires, how to befriend your intuition, and practices to become more comfortable in the liminal, in-between spaces of life. I share how making handmade cards for 100 consecutive days lead me to change career paths, how poetry is a container for processing grief and other complicated emotions, and the blessings that come from carving out space to make or play daily. May you be inspired to play with boredom, honor your intuition, and be brave enough to follow where it leads you.

Goodbye, 2022.

My 2022 altar symbolizing my inner and outer landscape of the past year.

Leaving behind 2022 and entering into 2023 is a threshold moment. A passage. An opportunity to slow down. Reflect. Reorient ourselves.

An altar is a map for meaning-making. The word originates from the Latin word altus, which means ‘to raise up.’ Creating ritual altars allow us to put something down in order to take a step back and look at our lives. To mark a threshold moment.

At the center of my 2022 altar rests an acorn and mushroom- two powerful symbols of the year. The acorn- planting a seed, trusting that ‘mighty oaks from little acorns grow.’ And the mushroom, a nod to the power of plant medicine, as well as the rich mycelium network and community that supported me this year. Both acorns and mushrooms grow in dark places and need the rich, fertile soil as a foundation. 2022 was an insulated year that was largely ‘under the surface.’ I learned to surrender and become more comfortable in the liminal spaces of life while patiently germinating and growing.

The oak leaves symbolize trusting the process. Celebrating the full life cycle that an acorn completes to become an oak tree. 18 berries for the 18 months I’ve devoted to working on my book. Three pink flowers for my three mentors who have sat with me, shared their wisdom and teachings with me, and who continually encourage me to reach my fullest potential. Three yellow flowers for my three closest friends who have watered me and shared their sunshine with me as I germinated this year.

This altar was created from everything I foraged from my natural surroundings. Nature is abundant and beautiful, even in the winter. May we create the space to make meaning from the exquisite beauty that exists all around us. Celebrate all that is both impermanent and precious in this present moment. Cross these threshold moments together, sharing our stories with our hands outstretched and and our hearts full. So very full.

Types of People to Have in Your Tribe.

The friend who texts you to look at the sunset. Curious listeners. The one you look at and automatically know what they’re thinking. People who show up on time. The one who knows how you like your coffee. Creative partners. The friend who messages you to let you know they’re thinking of you. Those who know how to hold space. Ones you feel safe crying in front of. The one you send your rough drafts/outlines to because you trust their honest and constructive feedback. The friends who stay calm and patient when you’re lost on the trails. The friend who remembers ‘quiet anniversaries’ and sends you a card letting you know they’re thinking of you. The one who always comes over with flowers or your favorite snacks. The one you call when you’re feeling sad and they know how to make you laugh and give you a different perspective that puts you in a positive state of mind. Comfortable-silence friends. Enthusiastic adventurers. The friend who transforms mundane errands like going grocery shopping into a full-blown comedic show where you can’t stop laughing. Patient teachers. The ones you call when you’re in crisis mode and panicking and they drop everything and come over. Friends who are generous with time and money and you know they don’t want or expect anything in return. Friends who send you songs because it reminds them of you. The one you casually mention a book you want to read and later on they gift it to you. Friends who put their phones away when you’re together so they can be fully present. The ones you haven’t spoken to in months, but when you do, you pick up right where you left off. The friend who remembers details. The person you can be completely yourself with. Whoever came to mind as you read this. Hold them close. Let them know you love them.

These people are your tribe.

The Gifts of Darkness.

Montara Mountain, Pacifica

“When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.
”
— David Whyte, Sweet Darkness

Divorce. Break-ups. Layoffs. Death.

There is immense darkness that exists within each of these experiences. You may feel shock, deep grief, numbness, loneliness, and isolation.

But what if, within this darkness, there is a gift? A tiny spark- of freedom, curiosity, new opportunities, a chance to start fresh? To rediscover yourself? Embark upon a new path?

What if we needed the darkness in order to finally recognize the light within ourselves?

Sometimes what feels like the end…is often the beginning of something better.

Happy Winter Solstice, friends. From here on out, the days become longer and brighter.