Hello, hello!
I’m so happy you’re here!
As a homeschooling mama for 15 years, I have felt the overwhelm and exhaustion that comes along with all the to-dos. I also know the heavy-heartedness that can come when making meaningful connections with your little ones gets pushed to the bottom of the list.
I want to help connect your children to the wonder of nature and books and you to each other. Light-heartedness, joy in parenting and life just might ensue. ;)
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I am a musician, writer, teacher, dreamer, wife, mama of 2 children as well as many critters, and an enthusiastic student of life whose favorite classroom is nature.
The plants, animals and elements are some of my best friends and teachers and I believe there is magic surrounding us every day! It’s in exploring and expressing our authentic selves, that the big magic of healing the world begins—one soul at a time.
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I homeschooled my own children for nearly 15 years, and led nature walks using a combination of Waldorf curricula and creating my own, uniquely fitting the interests and needs of my children, family or group with which I was working. I am a Registered Yoga Instructor (RYT, CYT), experienced in Shamanic Journeying and practices as well as Qi Gong and use these healing modalities in my daily life.
In my spare time, you’ll find me in the forest, hanging with my herd of guinea pigs, playing my great grandmother’s grand piano, talking to the flowers, singing a tune, or having a dance party in the living room with my family. Oh, and rarely will you see me without a sharpened pencil and paper! ;)
I believe play is the best way to lighten our unnecessarily heavy hearts, and specialize in naturally weaving authentic celebration, ceremony and MAGIC into everyday life, all year long to lift folks out of the heaviness we can sometimes feel as grown-ups. This play and magic can be awakened and woven through song, verse, dance, a quiet moment, a candle, a smile, a hug, a drawing, an act of service… and is available to anyone who allows it to come alive in them.
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Reviews & Feedback
Overall Portfolio Review/Feedback on my Poetry by
Writer, Editor & Coach, Ann L. Stapleton:
Bright Spirit:
There is a dear, brave, compassionate, bright spirit animating Kristin’s poems—an optimistic lover of life whose greatest fear is that someone somewhere might be missing out on all the incredible beauty, excitement, fulfillment, and yes, fun this life affords. You can’t learn this or acquire it. You simply have it or you don’t. And Kristin does. It’s lovely!
Love for Nature:
Kristin’s genuine and deep regard for nature and animals is lovely and very hopeful and finds its way into so many of her poems. Beautiful, how she advocates for other creatures and for the green world itself. Her poems say, to everyone and everything, and in such a healing way, “Live!”
Good Guidance:
The speakers in Kristin’s poems often inspire in the reader a high level of confidence and a desire to follow along wherever the path may take him, and this conviction that the journey will be worthwhile is seldom misplaced. Whether to the mysteries of nature, around the campfire of family life, or in the wilderness of a child’s own heart, she is a good guide.
Belief in Taking Action:
In Kristin’s work, the heights of being are to be reached, yes, but that is just the beginning of a journey that also requires action. She reminds the reader that life is not just to be observed and understood, but truly lived.
Invitation:
So many of Kristin’s poems extend heartfelt, essential invitations to others to “taste and see” this magical world we are so blessed to inhabit. Her poems are filled with many instances of an admirable generosity (both intellectual and emotional) as she seeks to bring everyone into the beautiful circle of life. Lovely!
Rescue Impulse:
So often Kristin’s poems reach out to rescue lost souls, misfits, or those who are isolated by their own self-doubt. This kindness and refusal to let loneliness win is one of the great gifts of her work. I can imagine that there are many children out there who are in need of her words of reassurance and comfort. This is such a lovely mission to embark upon!
Humor:
Kristin’s poems exhibit a fine eye and ear for the comedic moments in life, particularly with regard to (though not limited to) the behavior of children. And she has a wonderful ability seemingly to report from inside the mind and heart of a little one, helping the reader feel supported in knowing (or remembering) what consequential work it is, this business of growing up.
Freshness:
The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, describing the natural world in his “God’s Grandeur,” writes: “There lives the dearest freshness deep down things,” and I was reminded of this line as I read over Kristin’s poems. Her heart is wide open to this world and her expression is natural and feels newmade.
Empathy:
Kristin’s poems unfailingly exhibit a wonderful degree of empathy, and this ability to enter into the cares and hopes and daily ways of other lives is fundamental to all good poetry. And this is such an important quality to model for the younger generation. Caring begets more of the same, a lovely cycle.
Vocabulary:
Kristin has a wonderful vocabulary—flexible and diverse, and capable of encompassing deep adult concerns as well as those of children. She possesses a remarkable ability to render the world around her into the charming, honest, heartfelt language of childhood. Lovely.
Inclusivity:
Wonderful how Kristin’s poems foster a spirit of genuine caring and inclusivity. No one is left out or forgotten. Each one is taken by the hand and pulled close to the hearth to be warmed by human love and acceptance. All are welcome within the gently powerful, powerfully gentle blessing of her words.
Inspiring Example:
An intrepid, can-do, let’s find the way together spirit informs all Kristin’s poems and gives the reader (especially the young one, I imagine) needed courage and excitement with regard to her own life in all its possibilities. This is a wonderful gift to hold out to others, and you never know how very much it might be needed.
Generosity:
Kristin’s work finds what is beautiful and good in the world and then, not content to hoard such wonder for itself, continually reaches out to others to come share in the abundance and beauty she finds. A lovely sort of sharing indeed! One of her highest gifts.
Advocacy for LIFE:
As Robert Frost said of himself, yours is a “lover’s quarrel” with the world, characterized not by bitterness or rejection or a desire to destroy, but by a deep and abiding fondness. This animates all Kristin’s work and communicates itself to the reader as an urgent call for full-throttle participation in life and a kind reassurance that joy will come from that.
Love of Language:
Kristin’s love for words and innate understanding of their power to teach, comfort, and extend love to whoever might be in need of it is evident in all your poems. Beautiful! Just keep doing what you do, Kristin!
Respect for Young Hearts:
Kristin’s poems are always respectful of children’s experiences, their deep affections and fondest hopes, and she clearly knows and remembers how thrilling-difficult it is to be a little person in a very big world. She comes alongside young ones and invites them to grow upward without ever talking down to them. One of Kristin’s most characteristic and lovely gifts.
Fearlessness:
Kristin is fearless with regard to subject matter and will enthusiastically take up any topic that suggests itself to her. Yes! Poetry is all about taking any moment at all that signifies, no matter how controversial or usually set aside, and creating a home for that experience in words.
Boldness:
Kristin’s poems are informed by a bold, intrepid spirit that communicates a deep and justified confidence in life and all it holds for us, if only we have the courage to go out and meet it. She is a bold explorer of Life with a capital L! And this encourages the reader to follow suit.
Values:
Kristin does a wonderful job of communicating excellent values (for children—or anyone, really) in her poems. Honesty, reverence for life, good stewardship, and the Golden Rule infuse her poems with light and offer the reader (especially children) a worthy path to follow in a sometimes confused and chaotic, even at times cruel, world. Good for her!
Joy in the Work:
Kristin clearly is living her purpose in writing her lovely poems and she exhibits a blissful attitude when immersed in creative activity. Nice to observe such a happy gardener moving along the green rows of language! And to enjoy the fruits of this labor.