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brandice

They/Them. #INFJ.
♉️🌞/ ♏️🌙/ ♑️🌅

Enjoying the #weighanchortarot tarot challenge by

Enjoying the #weighanchortarot tarot challenge by @tarotbyveronica. It’s helping me fall in love with the #modernwitchtarot, with #tarot itself, and with @mantis_tarot’s book #trulyeasytarot as well. Lots of good reflection when I’ve needed it amid the chaos. Also: Black lives matter, and community mask avoidance is a lack of basic empathy, fellow humans.

Full moon flare. I took a dozen crappy snapshots o

Full moon flare. I took a dozen crappy snapshots of the full moon and then THIS one at 11:52 pm EST. It almost looks like daylight. The only filtering I did was to try and darken it. Such a weird and grainy shot from my backyard, but I love it. Today was a Saturday rather than a holiday. Gave money, shared words better than mine, sat with some new and heavy personal things, swam the #ACNH ocean, tended a very anxious dog who hates fireworks, and then spent this moment with the moon. Somehow all of it came together as needed.🕯

It’s too hot for this today, but the bike has be

It’s too hot for this today, but the bike has been such a mind clearer, so my meditation today was a mental bike ride down one particularly breezy path I hope to see again soon. I’m so disgusted with my town of North Canton today, with police who let a white man pull a gun on peaceful unarmed protestors and then get in the truck he had just driven into those protestors (with the gun still in his possession) and drive down the street to be politely arrested. The outrage is at Black people for yelling at those cops, is at protestors for being in the street, at anyone EXCEPT the man with an unlicensed handgun who veered out of his lane to drive through a crowd and then aimed a gun at unarmed people. This small, racist, transphobic town that sees itself as peaceful and quiet is really in need of a wake up call. If the cost of peaceful and quiet is the oppression of others, there is no real peace and it’s only quiet because anyone who would make necessary noise has been driven away, forced out, or never allowed to be a part of the community to begin with. #blacklivesmatter #blacktranslivesmatter #abolishthepolice

My home office smells DELICIOUS as hell right now.

My home office smells DELICIOUS as hell right now. I will definitely be a repeat customer, @litbysonshine! 🕯😍

🕯 Repurposing #healthaid #kombucha bottles in n

🕯 Repurposing #healthaid #kombucha bottles in new ways each season. Will #citronellaoil #abolishthepolice in addition to mosquitos? 🤔🤞🏻Here’s hoping.

This season’s altar space has asked for very dif

This season’s altar space has asked for very different energy. There’s a steadfast feel to my altar space that wasn’t present in spring. Letting it evolve, letting it show me where I am steadfast and where I am working toward being steadfast. •

Reconnecting with consistent soulful practices as my brain feels available space for it. Sitting in the constant remembering that soulful is a constant balancing of stillness, action, and intentionality in all of it. Where I am still I am refueling toward continued action, and where I take action I am in motion toward my next refueling. I must have both, and both energies can exist in different pockets of my overall life. ♥️ 🕯

My #planner game is strong these days. No wonder I

My #planner game is strong these days. No wonder I’ve been confused about July being next week.🤦🏼 •

ALSO: #BreonnaTaylor was murdered by police who still have not been arrested or charged. •

Some available action and places to donate: pb-resources.com/ | created by @alexisdenisew

Spending time looking up while resting on solid gr

Spending time looking up while resting on solid ground has been a source of renewal in recent weeks. Staying present requires a lot of me but never “too much” of me. I hope this past weekend allowed for moments of looking up and also being present for the world as it is. •

REMINDER: #BreonnaTaylor was murdered by cops who have still not been arrested or charged. •

Options for staying present:
http://www.pb-resources.com/

It was a good fire. Solstice blessings, all. 🔥☀️🌕

A season’s worth of altar space. I don’t know

A season’s worth of altar space. I don’t know that I’ve ever been as continuously connected to and engaged with an altar in the way that I’ve tended this small space during each day of this season. •

This has been a living, dying, shifting, shrinking, expanding space that’s held new bits on top of old bits, fresh candles on top of old, and this final bit of red geranium today for my Great-Grandma L, because her thread in the thick cord of my lineage has been a strong presence this year. •

This weekend, this will all be given over to a solstice fire, clearing space for a summer’s worth of non-passive, unflinching, sustainable movement through continued change in the forms of needed destruction and evolution, of collective and personal witnessing of the world, witnessing with responsibility, witnessing as a calling, witnessing myself as my own ever-shifting altar. •

This altar has allowed me to grieve what this season couldn’t be, stay present for what it was instead, and maintain a connection to a source that fuels survival of all of it. ♥️ •

Whatever this weekend contains, I hope it includes a small touchstone that can be reached for on the other side and throughout the uncertain season ahead. Wishing you blessings for a new season, for continued growth, for the sustainable and continued destruction of white supremacy, for the parent(s) we love and the parents we’ve been to ourselves and others, and for our continued witnessing of all of it, always.

Know better, then do better. It is never too late

Know better, then do better. It is never too late to realize that #blacklivesmatter and to better understand why it has to be said. It should be scarier to be left behind than to have been wrong, because being wrong never has to be a permanent stop on the journey. Repairing and growing is how we develop resilience. It’s how we grow into people who make fewer mistakes and do greater good. Be willing to know better and then, rather than camping out in the knowing part, DO better. •

Resource sharing in stories, ongoing. •

Artwork by @scarecrowbar

My “things that help right now” list has been

My “things that help right now” list has been a #pandemic lifehack in my planner for the past few weeks and this week the list is pretty straightforward. Locals, if you have info or want info about local organizing, DM me. Also, lots of resource sharing in my stories. Do something, say something, stay informed and active.
#blacklivesmatter #nojusticenopeace

My current happy place. 🚲🌿

My current happy place. 🚲🌿

Love my weekly circle time with the #SoulfulFocus

Love my weekly circle time with the #SoulfulFocus crew. This was such a rich and relevant discussion. ♥️🌿 #boundariesandprotection #discussioncircle #patreoncommunity #sharedspace #covidwitnessing #soulcircle

Lovely new plant on display, new blooms outside my

Lovely new plant on display, new blooms outside my office window, personal assistant sleeping on the job, and good altar energy holding space today while telehealthing.🌿

Rapid cycling between these two states during this

Rapid cycling between these two states during this current phase of shelter-in-place life (as pictured): 1) I can do this and I am doing it. 2) Am I REALLY though? Reeeeeallllllly???

May memes aside, wishing you blessings for mid-spr

May memes aside, wishing you blessings for mid-spring. When benchmarks are difficult to find from day to day, I find comfort in the reference created by our place in relationship to the sun, the seasonal and mid-seasonal touchstones. This spring especially, I’ve enjoyed creating an altar that changes, dries up, makes way for new spring blossoms, all of it eventually surrendered to a summer solstice fire when the time comes. Watching it change has offered some grounding. I hope you’re able to find similar touchstones as we move through uncertain times. ♥️🌿

He said it was gonna be and so it is. I will never

He said it was gonna be and so it is. I will never tire of this meme.

30 quiet seconds with my mid-spring altar. • Th

30 quiet seconds with my mid-spring altar. •

There are some updates on the blog (link in bio), and patrons will find an update where you can give input on a future plan to spend a small handful of minutes in quiet space together journaling/meditating/grounding. ♥️🌿

Day 1 of 39 was good. ♥️🌿Cut off the quaran

Day 1 of 39 was good. ♥️🌿Cut off the quarantine haircut and feel so much better. Bought birthday plants more than once. Played #animalcrossing. Ate tacos, delicious allergen-friendly cake, and perfectly cooked steak and baked potatoes. Saw kindred spirits for the #SoulfulFocus Soul Circle call and felt seen while getting to see others. Had a surprise birthday video chat with a bunch of my favorite people (I wish I had thought to grab a screenshot!), thanks to my awesome spouse who also cooked all the delicious food. I’ll take it with gratitude.

Social distancing birthday is under way. This morn

Social distancing birthday is under way. This morning I can be found in my home office breathing in the scent of remaining hyacinth blooms, playing #animalcrossing, sticker puzzling, and #diamondpainting (thank you @mgilby!). This will be my last year of my 30s and I have feeling this will be a weird time to head down the last stretch to 40. Grateful for real life balloons and my little island full peaches, pears, apples, oranges, and cherries.

My mid-spring altar is slowly emerging. I find it

My mid-spring altar is slowly emerging. I find it fitting to use fallen petals from early spring blooms as a foundation for altar space this time of year, witnessing the evolution of early spring growth cycle into later spring. Adding other personal touches, shrink art made in quarantine, this lovely handmade lace pottery from @morganlynlamb, and always, always, always candles. What does simple or even more elaborate seasonal observance look like for you right now? How is it different in our current world? How do you use sacred touchstones to anchor yourself (or could this be new and welcome for you right now)?

Don’t forget to register for this week’s call

Don’t forget to register for this week’s call if you’re a Patreon subscriber at $5 or above. These are now WEEKLY gatherings live on Zoom for reading through Boundaries & Protection by @pixielighthorse and sharing gentle witnessing space for each other. They have often been my favorite part of the week. 💛🌿✨Linkage in bio or at soulfulfocus.com. [Note: My community has a Discord chat server with access that is currently open to ANYONE. Message me if you want an invite and are not a subscriber on Patreon.]

Quarantine prompted a reclaiming of a space in my

Quarantine prompted a reclaiming of a space in my home that is just mine. I’m fortunate to have the room to do this, and I’m grateful, because it’s turning into a space that keeps me grounded even when I’m not in it, because I know it’s there. I also updated this used cabinet that used to be in our living room and the color (which is unfiltered) is Confident Yellow. I’m obsessed with the pop of brightness with the rich teal walls that have been refreshed. It’s been interesting to reconnect with my hearth space after years of existing in it without noticing the space itself. We’re getting to know each other again and I’m grateful for that too. There are a lot of ways in which stress and coping with constant overload is the flavor of the day, but this piece of it is meaningful to me... living in my house instead of existing inside of it. This particular space is still evolving, but it feels formed enough to share. 💛🌿How has this week of the journey been for you?

My cactus is blooming again and it was a lovely su

My cactus is blooming again and it was a lovely surprise this week. Thankful for the space being held weekly in the Soul Circle calls for #SoulfulFocus right now. This week’s pages from Boundaries & Protection came together in ways that I’m still digesting and really needed in order to feel more settled in the reality of right now. There’s a lot of room for giving others and ourselves grace (and healthy accountability) right now for who we’re able to be in the midst of change or who others are able to be in the midst of their own experience. Feeling more settled in unsettling times through allowing it all to be changeable, uncertain, and exactly as complicated as it is. I’m also remembering that community is what gets us through, not a burden to be put down in order to feel safer in silos that have nothing to do with social distancing.

Giving special love to the people I don’t have t

Giving special love to the people I don’t have to chase down and find right now, who answer when I check in and who check in until I answer. Those are my people. That’s my foundation. Everyone has their place, and I absolutely don’t forget about the quiet ones, but those actively present people are my heart space right now. Thank you if I’ve been able to look at your face live this week and feel seen amid a lot of time spent seeing others, either at work or at home. Thank you also to this small crocus for arriving and to the grounded parts of me for keeping the rest of me present in most moments. This is just one day in an entire life and I am just one person living it.

I’m exhausted and yet things are quiet but also

I’m exhausted and yet things are quiet but also not quiet. Managing internal traffic, professional responsibilities, and collective energies by way of one very careful step at a time.

Before all the social distancing kicked in, I got

Before all the social distancing kicked in, I got to spent giggly, poorly behaved crafting time with this gem of a human. ♥️ Sending love to the extroverts of the world (like @drnibaez) who are probably really feeling this community distance right now. If an introvert like me feels it, it’s REALLY quiet. •

Doing what I can to support myself and others this week and it’s a tricky balance. Many seem to be scrambling to take their whole life and whole business online, but without the infrastructure (school, childcare, 12-step meetings, church, libraries) that supports our having that much to give. I have the urge but also I’m very aware of how much less energy and alone time I have for showing up beyond the responsibilities I have to meet at home and in my practice. That, and the spaces I’ve already created are mostly all I’ve got right now. To be continued as this interim life evolves, I’m sure. ♥️ •

Being gentle with myself and with life right now.

I love that this stone lives in my succulent nurse

I love that this stone lives in my succulent nursery. I held that little heart tightly, calling in every available energetic resource in the months leading up to March 4, 2014, and then I held it tightly while every member of that gathered family held me through one of the hardest days of my life. Tomorrow will be six years and I always take a moment with this stone, thankful, reflective, and reminded of my own immense power, some that is purely mine, some borrowed from the daughter who came into the world with power in abundance, and some that carries many lifetimes worth of memory. In celebrating six years of parenthood, I also celebrate six years of the reparative healing that comes with doing things differently for all of us, including those who did what they were capable of doing for six year old me. In raising well, I also raise me. And them. And those before them. 🌱

Scene of a Zoom call. Thankful for the input, shar

Scene of a Zoom call. Thankful for the input, shared space today, and potential created for these calls going forward for #SoulfulFocus. ♥️

The sky is awake, so I am awake.🌞 • I sat in

The sky is awake, so I am awake.🌞 •

I sat in my office window like a sun-thirsty plant this morning and felt for inner sprouts. Spring is waving.

Loving this little @kaweco.germany pen. It’s har

Loving this little @kaweco.germany pen. It’s hard to find inexpensive fountain pens with extra fine nibs that also don’t suck and this one wins on all fronts, including the stock ink playing nicely with my @hobonichi1101 Weeks Mega. Glad I snagged the gold clip thingy, which is an add-on. Happy March and Monday, all.

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