Hello dear one,

To begin sharing the Root Living Journals, here are a smattering of entries from my personal journal the summer after my dear friend Cathleen died (in February). They come from the hands of a Rebecca who is 30 years old, and who had spent April and May hiking the Arizona Trail (“the walk/AZT”). [Those months are in separate journals though, perhaps I can dig them out for a later share.]

She is now living with her parents, another Inbetween season — tutoring Spanish to young kids twice a week, otherwise no job, community, etc - and with Grief. She was reading a book about Shadow Work that summer, often playing with the idea of taking on the qualities we deem undesirable in others.

I'll change a few names, but otherwise, you are peeking into actual journals. [I could say so much in response, but will only share: With my current somatic lens, it's fascinating/surprising to see how much I was describing as “Ego.” Love you, younger Rebecca!]

Hello dear one,

As a layer and lens of introduction, I'm sharing today a freewrite from March of 2025. We were in relation with Whales that month in the Loam, and the prompt was: What records do you in particular keep? What are you responsible for and wanting to pass on?

As you read what my hand wrote below, I invite you into your body:

Can you feel yourself breathing, without changing it?

As you read, intend to notice: are there any phrases where your body constricts? Or where tingles of resonance are felt? Where breath deepens or pauses?