For those of us tracking the sky, it’s hard to miss the importance of this moment. I am not an astrologer, but I feel deeply the shifts from the movements of planetary bodies. Many will be much better at explaining the intricacies, like astrologer Venus from her newsletter Venus Uninterrupted in her article April 17 Is Not a Fresh Start. It’s a Point of No Return.

The irony is not lost on me that this moment is a collective initiation and Earthborn Magazine’s first issue is indeed exploring the same theme. Like any initiatory moment, there is a moment of pausing and feeling the uncomfortable terrain of what is irking us into change and the uncertainty of what’s next.

This is where I find myself in this moment as well. Unable to write well. Centred, but feeling like I am frantically sending tendrils out to explore too many options at once. A familiar pattern when I don’t have answers to decide how I want to move forward.

Beyond starting the magazine, I am not entirely sure where my contribution to a regenerative world can be. I would love to convert each front and back yard into a food forest. Permaculture, bioregionalism, food sovereignty, children’s education, waste management, and so many more. Our current system certainly leaves many opportunities open.

Earthborn began as an exploration to normalize the initiation process for myself and for others who have no idea where to start. I thought I’d share the baby steps I have taken and what I am doing to begin.

Reading

I have a reading list about books on matriarchy, which I spoke about in a previous post. In addition to this list, I have a reading list about gift economies, mutual aid, systems thinking, and bioregionalism. I’m not in a position to make big moves. But I can learn about those who have already been participating long before I became aware of what’s possible.

The move away from Google

Since December 2025, I’ve slowly been moving away from Google. All my former freelance business’s archives have been moved away from Google Business Suite, along with a vast majority of my personal emails. It’s still a work in progress, but I feel I’m in a great place.

Tech Audit

I’ve also been looking for ways to get off tech when I don’t need it. For example, move to reading physical books and annotating as opposed to relying primarily on eBook versions. I completely redid my notebook ecosystem so that I can be more analog and actually enjoy it. It’s fabulous, and I’m thrilled with how it came along. The other day, I picked up my phone and realized there’s nothing I want to look up on it. I made my phone “boring” over the last few months. I still need to do a better “digital” audit that includes what other subscriptions and data I feel comfortable giving away and what I don’t.

Food Forest Learning

I am currently taking a course on creating a food forest in my own backyard from Ecoversity.

RegenIntel Fellowship

This week, I am incredibly excited to begin my RegenIntel Fellowship. I am the kind of person that needs the lay of that land, and once I have a pulse check I feel I can GO! A sense of belonging washed over me when I learned about the fellowship opportunity and I can’t wait to soak up all the goodness they will share.

First trip back to the land I was born

I left the lands of my birth when I was 3 years old as a refugee. This summer, I am returning for the first time with my ever so curious husband, our adventurous boys, and our new puppy. I cannot place it into words yet, but there is something special that happens when you begin to commune with the land you are on. For me, this reconciliation between the two will be very special as I look to find my place in the world.

On My Radar

Given the fullness of life, I think that’s a pretty good start. But there are a few things I have not yet begun.

Writing by Book

With the production or Earthborn Magazine, my book is something I placed on hold. It will come out when it’s ready.

Involving the kids

I can’t say I did a fabulous job involving the kids as much as I wanted to. As I gain a better grasp, I am beginning to involve them more and more so this is something that will be on my radar in the coming months. So far, my focus, as always, has been to ensure they know who they are and can advocate for themselves. Their inner work will continue!

Earthborn Volume 2 - Exploring Matriarchal Intelligence and Leadership

In my heart, the next issue must explore our relationship to leadership … as in circular leadership, communal decision making, and its inherent need for us to handle difficult conversations. The first volume is still in its infancy, but soon submissions will be opened to explore this topic.

Earthborn Updates

I can’t tell you how excited I am to have both available. My attention can now shift to doing more writing, connecting, sharing, and exploring other distribution pathways available for the magazine.

I have so many ideas to share Earthborn far and wide, and your support in these early stages means the world.

You can still place your pre-order here => https://anamariajanes.thrivecart.com/earthborn-volume-1/

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xo,

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Initiation.

Instinctively, you can sense it refers to entering something new. As Earthborn Magazine leaves the dreaming stage of winter and enters the mobilizing phase of spring, it seemed fit for Initiation to be the first theme.

When I think of initiation, I immediately feel into the collective currents and deeply relate to something you are moving through. We all sense the collapse of the old ways, the uncertainty of navigating the changing landscape, and are unsure of what lies beyond. It feels too big.

Order Volume 1: Initiation

While the world changes, as individuals, we are experiencing our own unique brand of initiation. We have many of them in our lives. Some are big and obvious, while others are shifts in your mental, emotional, or psyche.

Other initiations are meant to bring us closer to touch our inner power and operate from our Original Self with conviction, courage, and purpose.

Changing our inner architecture is no easy feat, and my goal is to normalize this as a natural process of our psyche.

For that, we need new myths. New stories to match our current epoch, where we see ourselves in others. Each story extends a hand of courage to a reader who needs it to navigate their own initiation.

To help you deepen into what initiation means to you as you read Earthborn, I’d like to give you a model of the phases you might be called to explore. While many frameworks exist, I will share the one Mother Earth taught me through the cycle and rhythm of the seasons.

Autumn

In this phase of initiation, there is a sense that something is not quite right. What you’ve been doing is no longer working. There are ways of being you find scratching beneath our skin.

You push boulders uphill, not realizing that way of being needs to be let go of. They will never work for you the same again.

You experience the range of shades of loss and grief as, moment after moment; you realize you must leave something behind.

As you read through the poetry and essays, let’s acknowledge this disorienting phase for the potential blessing it can offer. Normalize the agony you move through as your outer or inner world is changing with or without your permission.

Winter

Next, you must accept the truth of what you are faced with and come to the realization that you must act differently. When we surrender into this knowing and dissolve into ourselves. This surrender takes faith. Get comfortable with this.

This is also the space between identities. Where you know what you left behind, but you are unsure of what is emerging. Do not villainize the “not knowing what to do next” stage. You are meant to rest and deeply listen here.

At some point, you have a spark that shows you the way forward. Often, it does not look as you had imagined it would. It’s stretchy. Nor can you see the full plan. Become comfortable taking your next step in this world rooted in this new conviction, yet navigating so many unknowns.

Spring

Even if you can no longer see every step ahead, each one you take will give you feedback. Positive or negative. Learn to feel into the courage required not knowing which way it will go. Learn to interpret your feedback as new information and adjust in real time.

Acknowledge how you hold your breath and still do the scary thing that gives you butterflies in your belly.

Acknowledge the successful step that opened new doors you could not have imagined through magical synchronicities you find unbelievable to explain.

Acknowledge the failure that gave you new tools for your path forward.

A new lens for moving in the world is needed. When you surrender into that, you begin to feel how the pieces fall into place and nothing is wasted.

Summer

This is where you land in your new identity and get into the swing of things. You are infused with life force and are living.

Acknowledge how you landed in your new state of being with all the twists and turns that gave life flavour.

Acknowledge the relief of this stage. The joy. The newfound knowings you gained.

Acknowledge what you accomplished.

This is the golden zone we all chase. But we cannot stay in bloom forever. Soon it will be time for Autumn and you must, with a full heart, feel the end approach so you can go through the cycle again.

Each stage is valuable should you choose to see it through new eyes. As you read the stories in this volume, may you rest in the knowing you are moving through one of the most natural cycles that exist.

Some parts may be more unpleasant than others. After all, who has not been conditioned to chase the heights of summer and avoid the depths of collapse in Autumn and Winter. We’ve never been taught how to navigate them, and of course they seem challenging until we get the hang of it.

My deepest wish is that you take a moment to notice in which stage you are currently in. Pause and consciously begin to work with this process instead of against it. For life is infinitely more beautiful on the other side of integrating this cycle.

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xo,

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INITIATION

Earthborn Volume I:
Initiation explores the lived experience of crossing from one way of being into another.

EXPLORE THE VOLUME | ORDER DIGITAL | PRE-ORDER PRINT

UPCOMING VOLUMES

INITIATION

Earthborn Volume I: Initiation explores the lived experience of crossing from one way of being into another.

ORDER VOLUME 1

Featuring essays, poetry, and lived reflections, this issue examines what it means to anchor into presence, take responsibility for our participation, and begin shaping regenerative futures rooted in matriarchal intelligence.

Initiation treats transition as formative terrain, inviting readers to stabilize their capacity, root into place, and repattern daily life in regenerative ways in an era where certainty has dissolved.

It’s the kind of magazine you leave on your coffee table, within hand’s reach. The kind you pick up on cozy mornings or when your nervous system need an exhale. The kind that feels as beautiful in your hands as it does in your mind.

Earthborn is a collective editorial journey that moves you from awareness to embodied participation through the voices of our 20 contributors.

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Earthborn Magazine is a layered, literary immersion designed to shift how you see, how you live, and how you participate.

• Essays that help you name the tension between despair and responsibility in an age of uncertainty.

• Poetry and lived reflections that validate the heaviness of what we often can’t name.

• A steady reminder that you are not alone in feeling both grief and hope at the same time.

• Cultural analysis that reframes these changing times as initiation rather than finality.

• Honest accounts of people navigating transition without pretending to have the answers.

• Invitations to examine your participation in extractive systems.

• Questions that linger long after you close the page and begin reshaping how you see your daily life.

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Become Earthborn.

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Submissions | Order Volume 1 INITIATION

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My last field notes were a little over a month ago and in that time, I’ve been enjoying every contributor’s submission. Through this process, I got to know many of them a little better, and I could not have asked for a better group of humans to get together and make the first issues of Earthborn Magazine special.

That was the fun part. The part that I wish I did not have to share is that I almost delayed the launch. February hit me hard with two separate colds that had me running at half speed. I decided a long time ago I would prioritize rest, but this lingered for so long that I was walking on the uncomfortable line of running out of rest time to allow myself and still move my goals forward.

And so it was a mad dash to the finish line to work on the design of the magazine. That part was creative and fun, but it did take triple the amount of time I thought it would. To say I was not nervous I would make it is an understatement.

As it stands, I printed it off and I am going through the physical version making design notes and later this week I’ll be adding the finishing touches so that the digital version will be ready on Saturday!

I was sharing the news with our contributors, and a few were delighted a print edition will also be available. It won’t be ready this Saturday, but the pre-order window will open for the print edition, and it will be ready to ship in the next 6-8 weeks. This means you can enjoy the digital version now while you wait for your keepsake print edition.

It’s surreal arriving at this moment. Let me tell you a little bit about why.

Last summer, I was at work at Hasmark Publishing hosting a retreat on the most beautiful lavender farm with our team and authors who joined us. After everyone had a turn, moving through the ritual, in the most circular leadership example I’ve witnessed in real time, I was lovingly coaxed to give it a go. When it came time to bury what was holding me back, I decided to let go of this idea: I cannot finish projects I start if they are for my own happiness, joy and passions. After dirt was placed on that piece of paper along with rocks, one participant placed a flower instead. It was game over in that moment.

I broke down crying hard when I realized I never complete projects for myself because I am not deserving of the dedication, love and care that go into something like this. Once that wave of awareness came, it was like an avalanche of ugly crying leaving me hanging on tight to our loving guest Jeff Orr who happens to be an impeccable space holder and moves folks through grief for a living. I should have told you I get to work with some incredible people, and in that moment, he had my back. I still have his flower to this day.

Now you see how important it was for me to bring Earthborn Magazine to completion. It was my initiation into active participation in shaping what comes next. It felt more important than ever to take this step. To feel the discomfort buzzing through the layers of my body. To feel the waves of the fear of failure and let them keep on flowing. And to be comfortable not exactly knowing what will come of this endeavour. More than ever, I am convinced each and everyone one of us is called into active participation in shaping our world in whatever way is available to us.

Earthborn is my offering. It’s me extending my hand to yours as we look at these changing times in the face and have the courage to explore different ways societies can organize themselves.

The first theme is Initiation. Each and every contributor had faced their own. They never told me with these words, but you can tell from the depth of their poetry or from the fire in their essays. These souls were brave enough to enter the uncertain and unknown territory of letting their gifts flow into the world and participate in the best way they know how.

I cannot wait for you to meet them through their writing, both inside Earthborn and out in the world.

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xo,

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Welcome to Ana-Maria’s Field Notes, the behind the scenes of making Earthborn Magazine.

Surprisingly, I have been fairly calm, peaceful, and operating in joy as I navigate the landscape of creating a magazine. A far cry from my usual over planning and desire to control the direction of a creative project. That is until a few days ago.

I looked at the timeline and realized we are six weeks away from my target launch date. Talk about the butterflies coming fully online. This is the first project I undertook where I listened to creativity fully. Where I did not hijack it with my own shoulds … at least not too much. I promise the impulse was there, but I reigned myself back and listened … I listened deeply.

One of those shoulds was to write pieces for Substack before the magazine has a chance to go live. Much to my chagrin, this was something I had to let go of. A few other foundational pieces needed my attention. Namelly, the print version.

I found a solution that would be a great compromise to what I initially had in mind. My goal was to always have a print version that we can touch, feel and annotate. A volume we can return to again and again. And as I took my own advice from the Winter Retreat I am currently running on my personal Substack Originborn … I loosened my attachments to what a printed magazine should look like. The inside won’t have those staple glossy pages that almost feel like plastic. But they will be printed on coloured paper and look incredible.

What I was not able to accomplish for the first volume is to find a way to print the magazine on paper I know was made sustainably. That will be an ongoing investigation.

In the meantime, I received a printed test copy of the Contributions and Inspiration Guide and it felt incredible to have something tangible to look at. Here’s a sneak peek.

Everything is taking shape beautifully, and it is now time for me to also dive in and finish the pieces I will be writing inside the magazine.

I won’t officially share that the target launch date is Saturday, March 21st 2026 for the digital version until I finalize what I had in mind as the virtual event and accompanying experience that will lead us into living with the first volume. I am beyond excited to work on this accompanying project to merge the theories with practical action.

Don’t mark your calendar yet … but keep that day in your prayers for me!

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And if you desire to contribute, there’s still time to submit your work and be featured. In this post you’ll find all the details you might need and be sure to download the Contribution and Inspiration Guide.

xo,

Submit your work to Earthborn Magazine

One of my favourite things about Earthborn is that it’s an invitation to step into the next evolution of showing up in the world … which has more of a “we” flavour as opposed to an “I” focus.

For a little while now, we we’ve been in this phase of remembering who we are but more so focused at the individual level. We see this with the New Age, movement that taught us it is possible to have hope and think positively. The rise of somatic work and those who teach about trauma, who together embedded the importance of embodiment work into our collective consciousness. And the rise of the guru or influencers who taught us what system worked for them so that perhaps we can individually replicate it. It would be a miss for me to mention the countless ancient modalities that resurfaced to help us as individuals remember who we are, have a pause and rebalance our nervous system and get us to a place of “what’s next?”.

We are in the infancy stages of remembering what working together with a community looks like. Many already have this built-in knowledge in their bones, some are waking up into the grief of the missing village, and others are lost in varying stages of trying to figure out where do we go from here. And that is a worthy exploration. Earthborn is a place for this exploration.

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Here is what we explore.

Culture, Power & Systems Change

We explore how society organizes itself differently. We publish work that explores power, culture, and governance through matriarchal intelligence, relational, ethical, and rooted in responsibility to the whole.

Psychology, Consciousness & the Inner Shift

Who do we need to become to create a new society rooted in relational living and reciprocity? We publish embodied, honest explorations of the psychological and nervous-system shifts required to live differently in these times.

Food, Land & Nourishment

We publish work that explores food activism and food sovereignty.

Sustainable & Regenerative Living

We feature grounded, lived explorations of regenerative ways of living that restore relationships with land, resources, and each other.

Art, Story & World-Making

We publish creative work that expands perception and allows us to imagine new ways of being human together. Stories. Myths. Fiction. Art. Photography. Visual Storytelling. How else can we stir what’s inside our soul?

Ritual, Embodiment & Lived Practice

We shouldn’t have a favourite feature, but this one would be it. We feature individuals and organizations in the trenches carving new paths forward, challenging us to think differently, and bidding us to get involved in creating the bright future we envision.

If you have a story to share, a movement you want to highlight, a poem that inspires, or art that moves, we’d love to feature you.

Here are a few ways we can feature your work:

1. Submit for the next digital and print publication

2. Submit for the Substack publication.

3. Submit for the next print or digital issue.

Submit Your Work

If you are ready to submit your work, have questions, or desire to explore collaborating, email is us hello@earthbornmagazine.com.

You can also submit your work via this online form:

Submit Your Work

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xo,

Submit your work to Earthborn Magazine

In the last few years, a big part of what I focused on researching and learning about obsessively is working understanding of our psyche. But for all my inner work, Earthborn is where I explore how to apply it right earth-side.

And for that, I am getting a bit more practical.

One thing that became clear to me is that if one person has an idea or works out a problem, soon many more will have the same one. Have you ever noticed how you have a storyline idea and don’t do anything about it only for a book to be released with remarkable similarities? That’s the morphogenic field at work.

In many ways, it’s still in its infancy in terms of our understanding. The way I perceive it is that it is a collective organizing field where, amongst other things, our collective thoughts live.

When I talk about “seeding something” or “amplifying” it is in direct relationship to

Because I believe that those who came before me seeded our collective ideas, thoughts, practices, or systems of organizing, I am approaching this work with reverence towards their efforts.

To move a society forward, we don’t need to start from scratch. That would be a waste of time when so many that came before us dedicated their lives to plant and water seeds that we can now pick up on and continue to nurture.

The same way, we must now build on their work and continue to lay the path forward for that better world we can see in our hearts but not quite experience in its fullness yet.

Considering many of our collective ancestors of time passed sacrificed greatly, and there are those living today who continue to sound alarm bells have inherently had to embrace more difficult lives we can imagine, it is a natural starting place to enter this work by first understanding the landscape what had already been done.

In this way, we honour how far we could get thanks to those who came before us. We honour them even more by standing at their side and picking up the next brick that needs to be layed.

An emerging idea I can’t get rid of, is that we don’t need some else to start another “movement”. Too many already exist where one person bravely forges ahead and inevitably burns out. What we need next in our next phase of evolution is to explore how we can work together to mobilize resources towards existing movements to render them more effective. At its core, this is the question at the heart of Earthborn.

Righ now I’m reading Emergent Strategies by adrienne maree brown to get any insights that might be helpful in mobilizing what I have in mind for Earthborn.

But in terms of better being able to create the experiences and shifts for this community in 2026, this is my curated reading list of books to learn more about matriarchy and leading from the lens of relationship.

The Descent of the Goddess: a Way of Initiation for Women by Sylvia Brington Perera

The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock

The Great Mother by Erich Newmann

The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler

Matriarchal Societies by Heide Goettner-Abendroth

The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Barbara Mor

The Living Goddess by Marija Gimbutas

The Goddess and Gods of Old Europe by Marija Gimbutas

There are so many more I can add to this list. As it is, I wish with all my heart I could put these books under my pillow and overnight have them download all their wisdom into my heart and brain as I sleep.

What’s on your list that should be added to this collection? Let’s see if we can curate a formidable list on matriarchal intelligence in the comments.

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xo,

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Welcome to my first field notes post, where I share the behind the scenes of getting Earthborn Magazine off the ground.

It’s been exactly one week since I went public with Earthborn, and the tingles have not left. They have evolved. A big lesson I was initiated into when I went into my own personal underworld and started to follow the threads of my purpose is that I can only see the very next steps … and to trust them.

There’s something to be said about acting on your next treads that are being revealed to you. To keep on taking action because only then will more and more clarity emerge.

Earthborn’s Home

One of these threads has been in the tinkering with the tech and figuring out where Earthborn will live. I initially created a website are earthbornmag.com, but it seems like it does not quite feel right for the heart and soul of Earthborn to live there. It felt more like a business card than a home.

So when I had an inkling to go all in on Substack, of course my natural reaction was resistance. “But don’t all “serious” businesses and publications need a website” is what kept coming to mind. Funny how my aim is to change the way we do things only to realize how deeply I still am entrenched in conditioning on my own.

When I dropped into the liminal space to check with the energy of Earthborn and my team, the message that came through was:

“You travel to the beat of a different drum. It’s time to acknowledge you do not fit a mold that is not in tune with you. Find your rhythm; respond to the heartbeat of the distant drum.”.
(from the Mystical Shaman Oracle by Alberto Villoldo, Collette Baron-Reid, and Marcella Lobos).

Well, I nearly cried because that was exactly the kick in the butt to remember who the F I am.

And because I am a Virgo Moon, and therefore a details and systems girl, I had already registered earthbornmagazine.com. That will be the new home of Earthborn pointing right here on Substack. At least it will be once the tech co-operations and all is done in the back end.

Truthfully, if my aim is to create ways of exploring what’s possible, spend more time in the world living the change I desire to see, and be on the looking for amazing folks to feature, I need Earthborn to be agile in the teach and maintenance yet rooted enough to hold space for what’s to come. So far, I’m happy and at peace visiting Earthborn Magazine on Substack each day.

Our first contributions are in

I had the idea to start Earthborn Magazine in the autumn of 2025. I had no idea at the time if it would be viable because, more than anything, I did not want it to be about me. I knew in my heart it belongs to our collective. The first thing I did was to reach out to dear friends and folks in my network and see if anyone would be interested in contributing to the first magazine.

In what still feels surreal, many said yes. Even more unreal is that the first three submissions are in.

The beauty and depth of their writing took my breath away. So much so that it took me a day at least to even respond to them because I was in so much awe I couldn’t configure words to express how big my heart grew, how I had tears as I immersed myself in their writing, and how much gratitude I held for them … I was speechless for a long time.

In the coming weeks, I cannot wait to introduce you to these amazing humans.

Publishing schedule, digital version and online articles

I wish I had everything figured out on this front, and in a way it’s still irking me that I have not. Two point I have been pondering.

The first is that initially, I wanted to publish the first issue in time for March 2026 and the start of spring. But I realized everyone would have to submit their articles by January 1st … meaning they would work during the holidays. Not ideal. As I’m feeling into the possibilities for the first issue, I must give myself and the contributors grace and aim for the first issue to be sometime between March and June 2026.

The second item that’s been on my mind is that this is a long time to wait until the first issue to be live, and part of me is impatient. In between issues, I want to see what it can look like to collaborate and invite contributors to add their work on the online publication on Substack as well. We shall see how this will take shape. For now, I’m off to let our contributors know!

What I’ve been exploring

Earthborn was always meant to be an exploration of what relational and regenerative paths are available and who we must become to make those changes in our culture and society as a whole. For 2026, I have my reading list to learn more from others who have paved the way before me; these will become my non-blood ancient and modern ancestors.

The Book I’m reading is Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown (as inspired by Juliet Diaz’s Book Coven February ‘s pick)

The personal development training I’m taking is Spiritual Leadership Immersion by Sora Schilling from the Devoted Way.

The song I’m listening to is Step Into Your Power by Manifestica Studio

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xo,

Submit your work to Earthborn Magazine

Instinctively, you can sense it refers to entering something new. As Earthborn Magazine leaves the dreaming stage of winter and enters the mobilizing phase of spring, it seemed fit for Initiation to be the first theme.

When I think of initiation, I immediately feel into the collective currents and deeply relate to something you are moving through. We all sense the collapse of the old ways, the uncertainty of navigating the changing landscape, and are unsure of what lies beyond. It feels too big.

While the world changes, as individuals, we are experiencing our own unique brand of initiation. We have many of them in our lives. Some are big and obvious, while others are shifts in your mental, emotional, or psyche.

Each one brings us closer to touch our inner power and operate from our Original Self with conviction, courage, and purpose. Changing our inner architecture is no easy feat, and my goal is to normalize this as a natural process of our psyche. For that, we need new myths. New stories to match our current epoch, where we see ourselves in others. Each story extends a hand of courage to a reader who needs it to navigate their own initiation.

AUTUMN

In this phase of initiation, there is a sense that something is not quite right. What you’ve been doing is no longer working. There are ways of being you find scratching beneath our skin. You push boulders uphill not realizing that way of being needs to be let go of. You experience the range of shades of loss and grief as, moment after moment; you realize you must leave something behind.

You can share about the agony you move through as our outer or inner world is changing with or without our permission.

WINTER

Next, you must accept the truth of what you are faced with and come to the realization that you must act differently. When we surrender into this knowing and dissolve into ourselves. This surrender takes faith. Write about that.

This is also the space between identities. Where you know what you left behind, but you are unsure of what is emerging. Write about not knowing what to do.

At some point, you have a spark that shows you the way forward. Often, it does not look like you had imagined you would do. It’s stretchy. Nor can you see the full plan. Write about that. Write about how to take your next step in this world rooted in this new conviction, yet navigating so many unknowns.

SPRING

Each step will give you feedback. Positive or negative. Write what it feels like taking courageous steps while not being landed in your new identity. Write about the support you found helpful. Write about how you held your breath and still did the scary thing. Write about the successful outcome that opened new doors you could not have imagined. Write about the failure that gave you new tools for your path forward.

SUMMER

This is where you land in your new identity and get into the swing of things. You are infused with life force and are living.

Write about how you landed in your new state of being. Write about the relief. The joy. The newfound knowings you gained. Write about what you felt and what you accomplished. Write about how you felt the end approach so you can go through the cycle again.

Each stage is valuable. Write about one or all. Capture one emotion or many. This is your story to tell. Your message to leave behind from this version of you. Your snapshot in time that will help someone navigate their initiation.

Visit the Earthborn Contribution page and download the Contribution and Inspiration Guide. Along with practical information, you’ll also find a guided writing ritual to help your piece come forward.

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xo,

Submit your work to Earthborn Magazine

Partly because anytime we are entering something new, the initiation process is activated. We must pass through the discomfort of the unknown, have no guarantees of success, move through a myriad of fears and still do the thing we are called to do.

The main reason initiation is an important topic to talk about is because we are grossly under prepared on how to pass through the gates of initiation with our minds and psyche.

It’s a profoundly uncomfortable process in a culture who has been conditioned to value comfort and convenience above all else.

We need to talk about it.
We need to guide each other through it.
Most of all, we need to normalize it if we are to take part in any meaningful change.

Everyone can sense the world is shifting. Every one of us is at his or her own personal crossroads. We see systems and the way we’ve been doing things crumble, not working, gaps being exposed, and different ways of doing things are emerging in all our hearts.

There are so many paths when faced with this crossroad.

Will we choose our actions based on preserving our comfort?
Will we numb out, become the living dead, or live full of despair?
Will we choose to listen to the change emerging in our hearts as the next steps forward?

I’m willing to bet that most of the time, you move on this spectrum back and forth, not sure how to even begin to make an impact. This is where I sat for a long time. Unsure of what my purpose is. Unsure of where I needed to concentrate my efforts. I struggled against the despair, feeling I had limited time after completing my duties and responsibilities.

Earthborn magazine shows collectively what’s possible. Because let’s face it, we’re going to go through a period of time marked by doubt, worry and wondering what comes next. Do we stay the course, or do we have the courage to take the first step into the uncharted territory of meaningful change?

For those of you who are following your calling, who are standing up for what you believe to be right, even though it opposes the current norm, the road can get scary. And lonely.

In having spent an ungodly amount of time observing the state of the world, one pattern I noticed is that the current systems are well organized and mobilized.

While it’s incredible to see the sheer number of humans stepping into their calling and advocating for meaningful change, in the face of what they’re up against, organized and well-resourced is not how I would describe them.

And therefore I wanted to start Earthborn. To highlight these individuals. To help us organize and mobilize causes that are rooted in reciprocity.

The time for your personal development to be done in isolation has ended. This is our collective initiation, to come together and step out of identities that we have outgrown and into new ones that will help us shape our future.

We are all invited to become comfortable being uncomfortable if we are to be ready to face the reshaping of our ever-so-fragile systems in the next 5 to 10 years.

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xo,

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You are born on Earth.

Here we are.

Each epoch comes with its own challenges. Ours is defined by everything moving fast. Too fast for our nervous systems to keep up. So fast, systems are exhausting themselves and are held together at the seams. Worse yet, we need a hot minute to pause and reimagine what is possible when we accept we must become comfortable being uncomfortable in order to make the changes asked of our time.

For better or for worse, we inherited the systems currently in place. The question is, what do you want to do about it?

Will you accept them as they are?
Will you see the gaps?
Will you have the courage to stand up for what needs to be done?

When I look back on my life, I want to know I gave my energy to becoming the living ancestor that looks out for the next generations. That I paved the way for our collective descendants to inherit a world better than the one I entered.

Yet when I think of the work that lies ahead, it feels impossible to do anything of significance. I consider how we could change our structure to earn money, and how the current systems extract the most productivity to generate the most profit for the few at the top.

I think of our food supply chain, and my heart aches at how far we’ve veered from eating real food. What a shame we used technology with the goal of once again extracting maximum profits at the expense of the health of people.

I think of Mother Earth and how we have forgotten that she is one big ecosystem we exploit for the benefit of profits instead of developing a relational strategy to care for all her ecosystems and not just the bottom line.

I see how the school system is designed to raise people who can follow orders in jobs that create maximum profits for the few at the top, not people who know themselves. Whose else’s blood boils when you hear news of “record profits” yet employees struggle to make ends meet?

When I go back to the question, “Will you have the courage to stand up for what needs to be done?” I often think it’s not so much about courage, but more about overcoming despair at not knowing where to even start.

Like all quests, often when we seek too hard, there is a sense the answers are right there behind the fog of our minds, yet painfully out of reach.

And so Earthborn came as an idea like a lightning bolt, but only when I stopped asking and started listening.

Collectively, we are at a decision point. But a confused mind will always say no. At least until the pain of staying the same exceeds the pain of changing.

Earthborn’s purpose makes this decision easier. To remind us that there are already incredible people doing the soul work that needs to be done. It is a collection of writing that gives us hope, direction, and a sense of purpose, knowing that even the smallest action done with the intent of creating a better earth matters and ripples beyond us.

I know I will not see the gorgeous future that is possible for us in this lifetime. I came to peace with that. What made me restless was that I confused peace with inaction.

I do not have all the answers. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t have any at all. What I know to be true is that the systems we deeply crave will not be created by one alone. They are to be created by all of us.

That is the main reason Earthborn exists. To allow for the pause needed to have the conversation about possible ways forward that are regenerative and reciprocal.

I welcome you to Earthborn. Come in and stay a while.

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xo,

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