[Babbie Stern]

Hi, Kelli!

The works that I’ve found to be really helpful with these beautiful Littles (becoming Bigs) are The Emotional Literacy Series by Enchante press Kids EQ which is a 21 book set to help Littles become more emotional literate. It may be too young for your niece, but is a great start for helping to teach kids how to transmute big emotions.

Bill Plotkin’s work Nature and the Human Soul which goes through a soul-centric development wheel and the eco-natural psychosocial development phases and helping our children (and their parents) move through the psyche’s transitions in a healthier, more balanced adulthood.

Rites of Passage Vision Quest out of WA is an AMAZING resource for young adults and offer rites of passage ceremonies and wilderness quests for adolescents to go through the transition from childhood to young-adulthood consciously. They have programs for 8-10, 10-14, 15-18 year olds. My 15 year old daughter just completed a 2 week quest with them that was transformative and life-changing for her.

The Awakened Family, The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsarbary, PhD., and Untamed by Glennon Doyle are all really helpful works for helping our tweens and teens (and the special adults in their lives) navigate the current times.

Hopefully that helps! ✨🦋 Babbie

[Babbie Stern]

Thanks, Benjamin and Lorie!

Thank you for an amazing class on Sunday, and for posting these rich resources. I really appreciate you both, and am so grateful to be a part of this mentorship.

[Babbie Stern]

Thank you, Benjamin.

Lessing is an avid pilot, so one of the things besides being a dad that brings him the most joy is being in a plane or helicopter. He wanted to find a place where he could do that right from home- either take off and land in a little Cub or helicopter.

I watched the recording of the office hours yesterday morning and had a deeper embodied AHA moment regarding my Prima Materia when you asked us what we were harvesting.

I have intellectually understood that the purpose of Rahu Ketu is to keep me present in the midst of chaos. I think, in a state of fight or flight…okay, pure flight, my ego has been trying to just figure out how to bypass the whole Rahu Ketu experience and take the shortcut through this next astrological phase. I have typically been really good at controlling my environment around me, so the thought of abdicating control to the universe felt scary and, well, out-of-control.

The AHA moment (which seems fairly obvious to me right now) is that I don’t have to abdicate ALL control, just control of trying to manipulate the surroundings. The surrender comes to letting the surroundings be just as they are but becoming skilled enough in my inner felt sense and ability to be so tuned in to myself and my responses in the present moment to the present moment that I can easily adjust and breathe and maintain a steady state of equilibrium. It is our response to the present moment that we all have “control” over.

I know this is pretty elementary; there is nothing new contained in these words and the wise sages and taoists have known this for ages. I think the Tao Te Ching speaks of this in every passage. There was just something that shifted physically/ cellularly/ spiritually for me yesterday; a massive reframe to my psyche and instead of just having an intellectual understanding of it, I feel like there is a conscious embodied sense. It feels like a tremendous relief to stop trying to control the waves (how big, how fast, how many) and just ride them instead. And also to know that, at any moment, I can decide to stop riding the waves and just dive deeper to the deep, steady stillness.

Another big thank you to both you and Lorie for holding space for us through this process.

✨🦋 Babbie

[Babbie Stern]

Good morning, Dear Benjamin.

Thank you for your kind note. The compassion I read in your words is palpable and touches my heart.

Biggest Little Farm was definitely the driver for what we are doing at Healing Seeds. Lessing wanted a place to land a helicopter, and I wanted a place to do what John and Molly are doing on Apricot Lane.

I love the reframe on perfection as ever-greater competence. That resonates deeply, and does help me love that aspect of myself. Thank you.

I am eagerly anticipating the day when you and Lorie find yourselves at Healing Seeds. In spite of the Rahu chaos, there are some beautiful things happening here and we are gathering momentum and a team of people who believe in and are helping with our vision to help creating a healing space where people can reconnect with Nature and shift into a more harmonious level of consciousness.

Here are some photos of some of the farm at sunrise this morning…

I really appreciate you and the love and kindness you offer to this world. I am imagining what the world would be like if everyone was as compassionate as you, and it fills my heart with joy.

Sincerely,

✨babbie

[Babbie Stern]

Dear Lorie,

Thank you for your response, and for recognizing the courage it took/ is taking to trust that I’m doing the right thing.

I have to remind myself daily that the chaos and disorder coming from this Rahu time is, in fact, a beautiful way to allow me to stay very present and deeply know myself in spite of the chaos. When I know to expect the chaos, I feel like I can embrace it when the water pipes for the irrigation break or one of the farmers forgets to close the sides of the hoop house or we leave the gates open. I am learning to be very discerning about who we bring onto the team and how to set very clear boundaries when someone brings in a high level of their own chaos. I trust in the vision of creating a beautiful and high-vibrational healing space, and trust that, in due time, the community that is needed to help manifest this vision will appear. And I need to remind my Aries spirit to be patient with the process.

The comments that you and Benjamin made about nigredo during last office hours was timely and perfect. It’s been fascinating to see that as people increase their vibrations, lower vibrational experiences arise to be healed. Knowing that this is part of the process is so helpful.

I miss my practice and I miss my patients. I felt confident in my ability to use my healing gift in the treatment room and be able to help people tune in to their truest selves. I am excited to get back to my practice when the time is right, with new alchemical tools. I feel good about and doing my own alchemical transformation work first, and feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to do this.

Some days, I am excited to be in the goop. Some days, it sucks. But as uncomfortable as it is, I know with every cell of my being that I am in the chrysalis and doing big soul work. And I love the moments when I’m sharing my vision of the farm and can feel the group vibration shift as they receive their body felt sense of the potential of what we are doing here. That keeps me going.

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful fiery summer. Earth season is just starting to creep in here; the light frost on the grass in the morning, the gentle evening chill…

With abundant gratitude to you and for your sage guidance,

🐛—>✨🦋 babbie

[Babbie Stern]

Dear Liz and Sarah and Kari and Benjamin and Joanne,

Thank you all for your deep honesty and for your willingness to be vulnerable and seen.

Liz, I’ve had the same wonderings myself, especially after my divorce. For what it’s worth, what I ultimately came to understand was that the pain, betrayal and dark night of the soul that I somehow navigated through gifted me with a level of deep, heartfelt compassion that allows me to hold space for my patients who are going through similar experiences. Without the first-hand experience, I could not truly meet these people at the level of their pain. Because I could truly resonate with them, it allowed for them to feel safe enough to move away from their fight-or-flight-or-freeze response and allowed the pain to start to move. There are patients that came to me in the beginning stages of their grief, loss and betrayal and said they felt better just knowing that I’d been through it and made it out on the other side. It gave them hope to be able to endure their own dark nights.

Sarah, I love what you eloquently shared. It felt full of grace and ease in surrendering to the flow of it all.

Benjamin, I can feel the heartache that accompanied you that night. I’ve been there, and it’s so frustrating to me to be in an unresourceful place, just wanting to be held but manifesting the opposite. I love that your prayers allowed you to lean into an uncomfortable energy and transmute it. I admire the humbleness you bring to your role as spiritual director.

I’m now back in the “goop” myself; so much so that, in the depth of the shit show, I don’t feel like I can hold space for patients and be present enough to be a good practitioner. I’m really hoping this is the chrysalis phase; in good moments of clarity, I get glimpses of this alchemical transformative process. In the not so good moments, it’s just uncomfortable and painful and feels like it’s all falling apart. I have this fear that I started this alchemical work and got in so deep in the murky waters and heavy lead that the cauldron fires may not be hot enough to transmute it. This discussion and honesty from each of you offers me a sense of relief, hope and an invitation to trust this process. Thank you.

[Babbie Stern]

Thank you, Joanne! 💗

[Babbie Stern]

Beautiful, Lorie. Thank you for guiding us through this transformation. Your work provides a tether for me to Truth, and I am very grateful.

[Babbie Stern]

Thank you, Benjamin!

[Babbie Stern]

Beautiful, Nicole.

[Babbie Stern]

Oh, that is disturbing. 😕. I’m glad you’ve shaken it off and that Merlin is okay.

Sending good thoughts…

[Babbie Stern]

Thank you so much, Benjamin.

The responses I’ve received are heart-felt and touching. It makes me feel honored to have been a part of the community in that role.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition to have a big part of my life going through the dying process (with the corresponding grief and introspection of that process) with the new beginnings of a farm and community and vision (and the excitement, nervousness and chaos associated with that). I’m grateful for this mentorship and the deep work that we are doing.

I’m practicing being very still and heart-centered so I can just allow these emotions to move through me. In this stillness, I believe I can feel my archetypal Elder coming more into form.

[Babbie Stern]

Oh! I’m sorry to hear you had a shen disturbing event with Merlin; are you both okay?

I appreciate your note; I’m really grateful for these practices.

[Babbie Stern]

Good morning, Lorne. Thank you and Lorianne for doing all of this. It’s a lot of work, and I appreciate you walking us through it.

You mentioned “those of us who like to be neat and complete”…I believe I am one of these people. I have attended the courses live, and I’m trying to check the boxes on each date of the handouts and worksheets. It also says I’m missing video 1 for one of the sessions. Any suggestions for me as I check all the boxes? Thanks again for your help.

[Babbie Stern]

Some wild roses from Alaska…