Empowering Community through Writing

MeHello! I am thrilled you stopped by to hear my story. I want to change my community for the better by building bridges of connection across cultures and class. I believe I can do that through writing programs, retreats, mentoring and collaborative learning. 

Your donation goes toward the cost of Gateless Writing Certification, a unique program providing skills training, mentoring and peer support to bring this methodology to youth and adults, either online or in-person. I have been a student of Gateless Writing for the past five years and can see the difference the process has made in my own writing journey.

What is Gateless Writing? From the website: "Gateless Writing is a methodology that uses creative brain science, ancient Zen, and highly-effective craft tools and resources to move you beyond the conditioned, critical mind to a place of limitless creative potential beyond."

 I want to bring this methodology to my community through youth programs, on-line classes and one-on-one mentoring. Combined with a foundation of exploring and being curious about the natural world around us, Pasque flower (Joe Fierst)I see potential for individual growth and an awakening awareness to our connection with the other-than-human life that surrounds us.

Who is my community? My community includes the people in and around Bemidji, Minnesota, a small town tucked between three Ojibwe Nation Reservations in northern Minnesota. Working with the multiple organizations that support individuals and families across our region, I want to use writing as a tool to help individuals recognize their own brilliance and creativity. 

My community also includes the Harvesting wild rice on Upper Rice Lake, Minnesotawild rice gatherers who participate in harvesting native  wild rice, known in Ojibwe as manoomin, from the lakes and rivers of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. From 2005-2008 I met, shared coffee, and engaged with this community to understand their history and connection with wild rice, Zizania palustris. My book-in-progress, Shattering Seeds, is dedicated to the conservation and protection of this wild aquatic grass.

Finally, I belong to a community of writers. Women and men who share their brilliance and stories in salon on Sunday nights and in retreats where nature is invited to be part of the conversation. Here too, I hope to bring my work and passion forward. I have participated in Gateless Writing for the past four years and the practice has moved my book along greatly. With the mentoring and encouragement of peers who have walked this journey ahead of me through Gateless I see my manuscript completed within the year.

If you are nudged to support me, more information can be found here at  Gateless Writing Certification. The next certification session is in late September on the east coast, after wild rice harvest wraps up in northern Minnesota. I hope to be at the training. There are scholarships available, however I feel called to raise my own funds, leaving the scholarships available to others who may have fewer resources available to them. 

A bit more about me:Sharing wild rice with all ages at a community event. I'm a first generation college graduate, starting in the Community College system in Rochester, Minnesota and over time, finishing a Ph.D. in Land Resources, at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. My research focused on wild rice harvest and management across state, tribal and treaty ceded lands. Working with my advisor we secured the entire support of my research through fellowships, grants, and instructional positions.  My work life has included stream and watershed work with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and facilitating Environmental Education through SEER, Headwaters Science Center and the Office of Environmental Assistance.  Teaching has been my passion. I'm a former instructor in the Forest Ecology Program at Leech Lake Tribal College and taught a wide array of biology courses at  Bemidji State University.

As a writer I want to igniteFloating the Turtle River, my river of balance. curiosity about the natural world, through experiences and through my writing. I organize women's canoe trips, hikes and wild rice gathering, to share my knowledge and skill sets. I write to document and share my personal experiences with nature, some of which can be found on my website at Wild Rice Voices. Working together to bring about change in our relationship with the environment is my life's goal. Thank you for your support, whether in words or funds! Please pass this forward.