about
I am an author, facilitator of poetry and journal therapy, and certified life coach who helps people discover and live their Wild Soul Story so they can bridge the false divide between outer and inner nature, Earth and Self, and become fully creative, connected and alive.
My mission
A long-time lover of language, my first career was as a copywriter and branding expert. I scoured dictionaries for images and metaphors that could sell everything from cars to cosmetics. But early in 2000, my soul protested. I knew I was being called to explore language in a more sacred way.
Today my work is a unique blend of poetry and journal therapy, Earth connection, and coaching that connects people to nature—and their own inner nature––through what I call “wild language”—the way the Earth speaks to us in archetypes, metaphors, and symbols about our lives and purpose.
My own wild soul was awakened as a very young girl.
During the holidays, I ran free in the hills above Positano in Southern Italy. I slept in caves, went out with the fishermen at night to catch squid, and rode a pig called Ramana over dusty trails.
Since then, I have roamed the farthest reaches of the planet, from the heights of Himalayas to the tip of Tierra del Fuego deepening my connection to the sacred Earth. This connection has been key to my forty-year successful recovery from alcoholism and grounds me in an understanding of how we can all awaken from the addictive trance of the modern world.
As well as my Wild Soul work, I am also core faculty for the Therapeutic Writing Institute, the leading training institute for practitioners in the field of therapeutic writing. In 2016, I became an instructor for TreeSisters.org, a non-profit with the dual mission of empowering women and reforesting the tropics. More recently, I tutor for the Tariki Trust and the Ten Directions Ecotherapy Training.
Today “Live Your Wild Soul Story” claims a community of many thousands from across the planet. Along the way I’ve been privileged teach for the International Women’s Writing Guild, National Association of Poetry Therapy, The Women’s Writing Experience, and the Expressive Therapies Summit. I have also spoken at numerous conferences: The Tree Conference, Techno-Utopianism and Fate of the World, The Conference on World Affairs, GreenSpirit, and Sacred Landscapes among others. My own retreats, classes, and workshops are delivered both in the States and Internationally.
When people ask me about my work, I tell them that I believe that if we are to rewild the world, it has to begin by rewilding our own souls. My writing conveys this passion. My first book Embrace Your Inner Wild was nominated as best nature book, 2011. Reclaiming the Wild Soul: How Earth’s Landscapes Restore Us to Wholeness (a 2015 Nautilus Prizewinner) was praised by Richard Louv, Angeles Arrien and David Abram, among others. My latest book, The Way of the Wild Soul Woman is available for pre-order. My writings have also appeared in numerous publications and anthologies.
I was born in London, England, but now live in Marin County, California, with my beloved husband, Bruce.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I believe that so many of the challenges we confront, from climate disruption, to species extinction, to war and hunger, are symptoms of a common cause: our disconnection from the Earth. Knowing this, I am less inclined to be caught up in every disaster, and able to focus on a common solution: finding our way back to our place in the circle of life.
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Each book begins with a deep plunge into research. It’s an intuitive rather than academic process. I feel myself being guided toward certain books, authors, concepts. I spend hours on my sofa, reading, absorbing, underlining. Then walking myriad trails, integrating, mulling, contrasting, and getting inspired. Then, like water building up behind a dam, I sense the moment of release, and start writing in earnest.
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Well, the list is long. So I won’t get to them all, for sure. But some works have been seminal to my own. Anything by Terry Tempest Williams, David Abram, Thomas Berry, Gretel Erhlich, Linda Hogan, Joy Harjo, Audre Lorde, Robert Macfarlene. And that’s only a partial list. More recently, I have been drawn to the work of Sophie Strand, Minna Salami, and Sharon Blackie. Again, the tip of an extraordinarily deep iceberg.
