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Instinct vs. Reason · Relatively Stable

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Happy New Year from stable roots.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that you're joining me here today.
• 0:12
  Stable Roots is my weekly blog that I write and send out to the
• 0:16
  world through my sub stack.
• 0:18
  And I've started including my voiceovers so that you can access
• 0:23
  it here on the
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Relatively Stable podcast feed.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: This week I'm talking about instinct versus reason.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: The intersection of faith and science as told to me by a horse.
• 0:38
  2024 was the kind of year that felt like a loud,
• 0:41
  crowded room filled with strangers.
• 0:44
  Like everything was happening at once in a whirlwind of untethered,
• 0:49
  unfamiliar stress.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some people lost everything.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Others just lost their bearings.
• 0:58
  We closed out the fourth quarter at the farm with a continuous
• 1:02
  barrage of physical
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: ailments in the herd and a supersonic heat cycle in the mares.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Most of our ladies have been together for quite a while,
• 1:11
  and their seasons are synced up in the cycles that follow the
• 1:15
  path of the full moon.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Horses don't experience menopause, which results in lifelong cycling.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Bless them.
• 1:25
  Their bodies give them a little break in the winter and the
• 1:27
  first big heat happens
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: well into the new year.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: But not this year.
• 1:34
  They're cycling now and they're tense and frustrated and achy
• 1:38
  and uncomfortable.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: A living symbol of how a lot of us are feeling right now.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Our veterinarian and I have gotten tight the past few months,
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: and when she was last out to examine a hoof abscess,
• 1:52
  I asked if she was finding atypical cycles in mares throughout
• 1:56
  her travels.
• 1:58
  She cares for farms from the North Carolina high elevations of
• 2:02
  the Blue Ridge
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Mountains down to where we live in the foothills of South Carolina.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: She agreed.
• 2:08
  Horses are cycling earlier than she's witnessed before all
• 2:11
  across the regions.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: After Hurricane Helene,
• 2:16
  record amounts of concentrated rainfall and flooding ended
• 2:20
  abruptly in a month-long drought.
• 2:23
  The dry spell aided recovery efforts and was hugely beneficial
• 2:27
  for those who lost
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: their homes and were living in tents.
• 2:30
  But the storm's massive trauma to the land created an unusual
• 2:35
  transition to the autumn season.
• 2:38
  Torrential water and winds decimated the landscape,
• 2:41
  and suddenly there was a bone-dry drought.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: As communities blinked their collective eyes and decided what to do next,
• 2:49
  they saw whole mountains stripped of vegetation on one slope
• 2:53
  and blooming into fall
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: color on another.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Around the farm, few of our remaining trees changed colors at all.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: They clung to their leaves in a process called marcessence,
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: a peculiar activity that has no discernible source,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: but is believed to be caused by environmental disruption and damage.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The autumn leaves don't change color.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: They just shrivel and cling to the branches.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: The sound of the leaves rustling in the wind,
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: particularly on the few white oaks that are remaining,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: is haunting.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: The autumn leaves didn't change color.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: They just cling to the trees and talk.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: My hunch is that humans do this too, but in less obvious ways.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: My Mars essence looks like being afraid to ask for what I want or need,
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: fears for the future,
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: resistance to change,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: hoarding resources.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've started seeking out,
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: like a scientific experiment,
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: the moments that feel opposite to this,
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: the times that I feel open and curious and excited,
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: trying to find and replicate the environments that help me connect.
• 4:11
  I've noticed I feel curious and open most often when I'm
• 4:15
  creating something or when
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm experiencing a sense of wonder,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: a feeling of awe.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: The healing power of awe is a hot topic in medical literature right now.
• 4:27
  It's weird to scroll through studies and see mention of the
• 4:30
  natural world and spirituality.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Here's one quote from a 2022 study.
• 4:37
  Awe engages five processes,
• 4:41
  shifts in neurophysiology,
• 4:42
  a diminished focus on the self,
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: increased pro-social relationality,
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: greater social integration,
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: and a heightened sense of meaning that benefit well-being.
• 4:56
  We then apply this model to illuminate how experiences of awe
• 4:59
  that arise in nature,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: spirituality,
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: music,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: collective movement,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: and psychedelics strengthen the mind and the body.
• 5:11
  I've struggled with how to address the natural world and
• 5:13
  spirituality in the work
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: that I do with people and horses.
• 5:17
  I've seen,
• 5:18
  felt,
• 5:18
  and heard things that don't make sense to the rational world.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: As an industry, we call this the woo.
• 5:26
  Horses sold me on acupuncture because animals don't experience
• 5:30
  a placebo effect.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: It either works or it doesn't.
• 5:35
  So many people I respect in the horse world are beginning to
• 5:38
  own the importance of
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: mystery in their work,
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: the power of the unquantifiable.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm trying to do the same by writing this post.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: I've started writing this post so many times but gave up.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is my poor attempt at categorizing the ineffable.
• 5:58
  I've made a lot of bold statements about the kind of year I
• 6:01
  want to march into this January,
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: but I'm holding two themes close.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Art and awe.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Art,
• 6:12
  because we're all freezing for the warmth that only the fire of
• 6:16
  our creative
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  SPEAKER_00: internal spark can bring.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're aching to tell our story.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Awe, because I don't have a better word for it yet.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: We've overused the word magic.
• 6:28
  So I'm sticking with this one because it's universal and
• 6:31
  encompasses the unseen.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to talk to you about the magic of awe today.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not sleight of hand and illusions.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have enough of those.
• 6:43
  But magic like the unseen wonders that are happening all around us,
• 6:48
  that are coming from us.
• 6:51
  Let's pull back the veil,
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  and by doing so,
• 6:54
  we might also uncover some art.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: I draw like I heal.
• 7:06
  I wake to the sound of wind pressing the thin saplings to the
• 7:10
  ground outside my window.
• 7:13
  My phone alerts with tornado warnings and farm staff and
• 7:17
  volunteers checking in to
• 7:19
  say that they're waiting for the storm to pass before arriving
• 7:23
  for morning chores
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: with the horses.
• 7:26
  The sound of the growing storm mimics the brutal force of the
• 7:30
  morning that
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hurricane Helene tore through these inland forests.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's too soon.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not ready to examine the emotions that rise up with this too closely.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'll begin with the caveat that at the end of the day in September,
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: when Hurricane Helene struck,
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: my barn was still standing and everyone was still alive,
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: which is far better than anyone had it higher up in the hills.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: But that day changed me.
• 8:01
  One cannot serve in the care of a herd of anything vulnerable
• 8:05
  to the whims of
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: nature and not always be planning for the big one,
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: the thousand-year one.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: the one in a lifetime, hoping that our fears are unfounded.
• 8:19
  I worked with horses for 25 years before I lost power and water
• 8:25
  and communication
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: with the outside world.
• 8:28
  But I've started every day of my working life planning for that contingency,
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: dreading it,
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: feeling it in my bones that something big might happen.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Will the feed store be able to deliver?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Will the hay be ruined?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Just what was in the barn.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Will anyone be able to get to work?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: After a few days?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is the roof still in place?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Mostly.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Are the horses standing in water?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: How will we source water for them to drink?
• 9:07
  a 60-gallon tank and a drive to the fire station when the roads
• 9:10
  are passable,
• 9:12
  or a husband who signed the marriage certificate five days
• 9:16
  before the storm hit and
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: can wire a generator to the well pump.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Can I turn the horses out in the fields?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: If something is injured, can the veterinarian get here?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: A horse trapped in her stall for five hours, water to her knees.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Can I get her out?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: The pony who stood in water because there wasn't time to get her out,
• 9:45
  here I am 90 days later trying to heal the canker in her feet
• 9:49
  so she will survive.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: The storm is still taking its toll.
• 9:55
  Canker is an autoimmune response to moisture and a bovine
• 9:59
  bacteria ever present in
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: the environment,
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: a bacteria responsible for certain tumors.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Some breeds of horses are more susceptible to canker.
• 10:09
  We suspect Lady,
• 10:11
  the pony,
• 10:12
  procured it because she's almost 30 years old and tough as nails.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Her body gave a finger to Helene and said, nope.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Canker is the body's steel will turned against itself.
• 10:27
  A friend who reads my writing and has parents who live at the
• 10:30
  edge of our woods
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: visited home for the first time over the holidays.
• 10:35
  He sent a message with images of sawed wood from fallen trees
• 10:39
  still stacked along the roadways.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I really had no idea it was that bad, he said.
• 10:46
  There's no way of describing Hurricane Helene if you weren't
• 10:50
  here with us,
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: digging through the muck,
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: hauling piles of branches into the scoured forest,
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: grateful for hot coffee and signs of life,
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: praying that the animals were still standing,
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: sinking into the story of people and creatures who had it far worse.
• 11:09
  That's the body memory I wake to in the sound of the December
• 11:13
  storm outside my
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: bedroom window almost a hundred days after the hurricane blew through.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: My heart aches for people who lost everything.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: The sound of thunder and wind means something very different to them now.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: In the 1985 book,
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Body Electric,
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: a treatise on healing and electromagnetic energy,
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  SPEAKER_00: one quote stands out in my head.
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  SPEAKER_00: The healer's job has always been to release something not understood,
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: to remove obstructions,
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: demons,
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: germs,
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: despair,
• 11:51
  between the sick patient and the force of life driving
• 11:55
  obscurely towards wholeness.
• 11:59
  The hurricane reduced me down to my essence and forced me to
• 12:02
  stop making excuses
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: for the mystery that is at the heart of all that I do.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not afraid to talk about energy anymore.
• 12:11
  That's what happens when your worst fears come true and you're
• 12:14
  left standing.
• 12:16
  Small talk is gathered downstream in the newly made floodplain
• 12:20
  and the candlelight
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: of distant friends.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Their warm hearths and shared experience is all that matters.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have one session this Sunday morning after the December wind and rain,
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: but most of my clients have rescheduled because of the weather.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just me and Lacey taking stock of the barn.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Can I share a list of my recent worries with you?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: One, the canker in ladies' feet.
• 12:51
  $3,500 into treatment and the daily care and wrapping and
• 12:55
  management have come down
• 12:57
  to acetone and battling lady's heat cycle that is making it
• 13:01
  difficult to pick up
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: her feet.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Sarah, for dodging the hooves.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: 2.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: George is showing signs of laminitis, the prelude to Founder.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Caused by the body's response to too many nutrients,
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: George discovered the bumper crop of acorns in his paddock,
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: traumatized trees perpetuating their species after the storm,
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: and he ate his fill.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: His new diet is soaked hay and tiny scoops of minerals.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: 3.
• 13:37
  Penny has Cushing's disease and the vet recommends a daily
• 13:40
  anti-inflammatory along
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: with her insulin resistance drugs.
• 13:46
  I hide her pills in her feed and sometimes offer a tiny mash of
• 13:50
  meds and grain in
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: the palm of my hand,
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: a disappointing faux peppermint.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: She grimaces and swallows. 4.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: An afternoon alert from Sarah tells me that Bentley is having a colic.
• 14:05
  Gas has displaced his colon in the past,
• 14:08
  and the signs appear suddenly and unmistakably.
• 14:11
  I spend the night giving him small meals and keeping him moving
• 14:15
  to pass the gas.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: When morning comes and he's still standing,
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I thank all my guardians and protectors for one more season with him.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: 5.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sheba is in heat.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Her back is tense and she's not having it.
• 14:32
  She melts under Carol's touch because Carol spends an hour
• 14:36
  believing in faith and
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: science before each ride.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sheba tells us when to push and when to back away.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Six, Julian rips the skin above his eye.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: The mares are in heat and he is tense and not having it.
• 14:53
  Since birth,
• 14:54
  Julian has worn his nervous system on top of his skin like a
• 14:58
  sleek muscled coat.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Seven, Moose is brewing an abscess in her foot.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: She's in heat and her hind end hurts and she's not having it.
• 15:12
  Every other day,
• 15:13
  we apply a poultice to Moose's foot to draw the abscess to the surface.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: After being hunched over Lady's diminutive pony legs,
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: I barely have to bend to meet Moose's tall,
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: warm blood stature.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Her foot is still wrapped from the previous day's doctoring,
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: but as I watch Moose move,
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: I have the sense that something else is happening.
• 15:38
  Lacey and I decide to spend the morning asking Moose to show us
• 15:42
  what we need to know.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Without any force or rush,
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: without goal or expectation,
• 15:49
  we walk beside her like tiny sentries guarding the steps of a
• 15:53
  reactive queen.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: When Moose pauses,
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: I scan her top line for signs,
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: the mountain ridges of her vertebra,
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: the slope of her face,
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: the pinch in her hips.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want to believe in Reiki and chakras and enlightenment.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: I want faith healing to be real.
• 16:15
  But I'm afraid that if I say any of this out loud,
• 16:18
  people will think I'm an idiot.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's on me and not them.
• 16:23
  Lacey doesn't care if I'm an idiot and horses don't experience
• 16:27
  the placebo effect.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: I skim my fingers along the invisible ridge of Moose's bladder meridian.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: She blinks and I hover my hand in a space of combined warmth.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: My skin, her skin, my palm, her back.
• 16:44
  I step away and come closer like a painter trying to find the
• 16:48
  right perspective to
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: put my brush on the texture of Moose's canvas.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: I draw like I heal, haltingly, nervously, second-guessing.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Nerves.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Nervous.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Nervous breakdown.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's in our bodies.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: We relive the past in the blueprint of our nervous system,
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: but our bodies react as if it's happening in the now.
• 17:18
  If my nerves carry this much information,
• 17:21
  how can I use them to connect with moose?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Show me where it hurts, I ask her.
• 17:31
  I shove my awareness from the habit of thinking inside my head
• 17:35
  to a spot farther
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: down in my body,
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: the other thinking space that whirs inside my gut.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: I watch the space where Moose's hind legs join her body.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: I do this from a distance and I do this standing beside her.
• 17:51
  When we're close,
• 17:52
  she turns her neck and curves her big,
• 17:55
  steady gaze to me.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: She shuffles her hips closer to where I stand.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: There, she says.
• 18:05
  Lacey is quiet and gives me the space I need to figure this out,
• 18:09
  to figure me out.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Moose is patient,
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: responsive,
• 18:14
  and breathes out a big sigh of relief as I let go of my
• 18:18
  humanness and join her in
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: the stretch of feeling between our nervous systems,
• 18:24
  our ancient internal guidance that's been shelved with
• 18:27
  pseudoscience and rapture,
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: that multi-sensed birthplace of awe.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: She's sore in the front from the abscess,
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I say,
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: but she's sore in the back from her heat cycle.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: I say this with certainty, but I also need confirmation.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: I also need validation.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: I always need validation.
• 18:53
  Moose stretches her neck down and begins to walk forward again
• 18:57
  between Lacey and me.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Our feet press into the wet ground in the rhythm of the Earth's clock.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: We step together.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: For just a moment,
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: in the silence of my questions,
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I feel the place where Moose and I connect from the heart.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this is enough.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: It may very well be all that there is.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that, too, is enough.
• 19:30
  All shall be well,
• 19:32
  and all shall be well,
• 19:34
  and all manner of things shall be well.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Julian of Norwich Igniting the Creative Fire
• 19:48
  In a recent session with a young client who is testing his
• 19:52
  newly formed adult wings
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: in the world,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: I asked,
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: what ignites your creative fire?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Where do you find your divine spark?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'd never asked anything like this before.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: I almost held myself back from asking,
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: but as the question left my mouth,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: my whole body breathed in relief,
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: and I knew I'd found the right one.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: He lit up with the promise of purpose,
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: as if he'd been waiting,
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: like me,
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: for permission to navigate through awe.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: In the session,
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: we talked about faith and we talked about science,
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: and I realized as we spoke that his generation,
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: launching into college and careers,
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: the ones who are actively building the blueprints of their lives,
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: the ones who get slammed for their expectations and desires,
• 20:45
  are the place where our enlightenment scientific skepticism and
• 20:50
  awe-inspiring
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: hunger for mystery and the unseen converge.
• 20:56
  They're the ones that will tear down the wall that separates
• 20:59
  faith from science.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: They grasp the tangible and the intangible and hold opposing viewpoint
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: simultaneously without needing to destroy one to prove the other.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: The balance between the rational mind and the subconscious, they get it.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: When the primitive wisdom of our reptilian brain,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: our old operating system that sprouts from our brain stems,
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: is working kindly in tandem with the logical,
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: forward-thinking imaginings of our forebrain,
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: we're in balance.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we access flow states,
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: those times when we're so immersed in what we're doing,
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: what we're creating,
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: that we forget to be self-conscious.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: We also do this when we play.
• 21:49
  I've written before about how I love the sweet spot between
• 21:53
  waking and sleeping
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: when my brain is packing theta waves and I'm half in a dream state,
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: half awake and able to drift and envision and create.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: I went in for an EEG of my brain last week,
• 22:08
  and I had more questions than the technician was willing to put
• 22:11
  up with from me.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: But the results were fascinating.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: All is well from what I can discern.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: No seizures.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yay!
• 22:18
  At the end of the test,
• 22:20
  you lie there with 28 electrodes on your head and drowse for 20 minutes.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: My theta waves were kicking.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: We think through energy.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: We feel through energy.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: We exist through electrical impulse.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: If energy is that important to life, we must be able to talk to it.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: We've just misplaced our ability to communicate through frequencies.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: But part of us still remembers how to do this.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: If something is lost, it can still be recovered.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: When I reach a flow state with clients or with the horses,
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: a sense of awe wells up in me,
• 23:03
  and I'm not thinking about the clock or worrying about what
• 23:06
  happened yesterday.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in energetic coherence with the creature I'm in conversation with.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is the place where deep wisdom wells up, unbidden.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have to go looking for it.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: It just is.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is a place where we share stories and information.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is the place where we heal.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want my new year to be filled with that sort of magic.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: I want your new year to be filled with that sort of magic.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll leave you with this question.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: What ignites your creative fire?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's forget the old year that felt like a room filled with strangers.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: 2025 is asking for us to connect,
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: to create,
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: and to wonder at the beauty that's in front of us all the time.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: May your awe and your art find you.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Love, Kim The mountains still need your help.
• 24:16
  An Arctic blast is bringing unusually cold temperatures to the
• 24:19
  mountains of western
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: North Carolina.
• 24:22
  Scrolling through the comments on the local weather pages,
• 24:25
  you'll find two camps.
• 24:27
  Those who are thrilled about the plunging temperatures,
• 24:30
  it could bring snow.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And those worried about the people living in tents,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: campers,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: and sheds after their homes were destroyed by Hurricane Helene.
• 24:41
  The terrain in the hardest-hit areas of the mountains is still
• 24:44
  unstable after the
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: landslides and flooding of Helene.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Heavy rainfalls,
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: like what we experienced last week in the southeast,
• 24:53
  inundate the already fragile waterways and destroy temporary
• 24:57
  bridges and roadways,
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: complicating an already complicated cleanup.
• 25:03
  Each new fragile balance that is reached can be compromised
• 25:07
  with the next weather pattern.
• 25:10
  If you click on the notes for this voiceover or go directly to
• 25:15
  the Stable Roots
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: post where you found this voiceover,
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: or if you click on the show notes,
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: if you are accessing this on a podcast feed,
• 25:24
  you will find my ever-evolving list of people and agencies that
• 25:29
  need your help today.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Bookmark it and visit it often.
• 25:34
  Spread the word so that the world can remember the victims of
• 25:37
  the storm who still
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: need your assistance.
• 25:40
  Many are just beginning the long,
• 25:42
  slow process of rebuilding,
• 25:45
  grieving,
• 25:46
  and healing.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're in a position to help, please help them.