“What is hidden and secret quietly erodes mental health and trust and connection. Only once secrets are acknowledged and brought into the open can healing begin.” (Slobhan Darrow: “The darkness and the light”, Duke Magazine Special Issue 2017, The Secrets Issue.) This includes those secrets we keep hidden even from ourselves.

Research indicates that we all dream whether or not we remember our dreams on waking. Remaining open to the wisdom of the dream is the challenge. We are prone to say, “I know exactly what that was about”, or “That was strange, I have no idea what it was about” and then race on with our waking journey.

The Wateree River, and by extension Lake Wateree, is named for one of the most powerful Native American tribes inhabiting central South Carolina as far back as the time of the Spanish settlements at Santa Elena in the late 1560s. The name is thought to come from the Catawba language, wateran, “to float on water”.

It feels like nesting, this reimagining and creating a new definition and environment for my practice. I find myself mirrored in it. I see now what had not previously been visible even in my imagination. I find myself integrating that…

Sometimes you find yourself alone when you least expect it—suddenly left behind. The previous long horizon of plans and dreams abruptly disappears. All seems to halt against the harsh vacuum of absence. It seems the only reliable companion is ones shadow, no matter how small that sliver.