We Are Map Makers

September is here.

A season of new beginnings.

New pathways.

And, in our family, the harvest of a great love—apples.

Yesterday, we wandered through the apple orchards of Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard, Massachusetts, meandering around the pond among the sculptures of fifty artists. The title of the Art show is "The Art of Noticing".

Sculptures in the landscape may be my favorite form of art.

Art not separated from life,

but in conversation with it.

A sculpture meets a tree.

A reflection meets the water.

Light moves through a branch.

And suddenly, a new story begins.

A new song.

A new way of seeing.

A pathway we may not have noticed before.

I am deeply grateful for places where this creative dialogue with nature is welcomed and celebrated.

It reminds me of my own ongoing conversation through The Language of Light and The Poet-Tree—

a blessing,

a reminder:

Nature is always speaking.

And when we listen,

we become part of the story.

Perhaps this is where map making begins.

Not with knowing where we are going,

but by paying attention to where we are.

We walk. We listen.

We notice.

Something reveals itself.

The Nine Ways Step Into the World

On September 1, I offered The 9 Ways Around the Well: A Practice Toward Wholeness to the Alchemical Constellations community as a practice modality.

It felt like an initiation.

Powerful.

Tender.

Vulnerable.

For many years, the Nine Ways have been gathered through my life and work—through body, movement, breath, sound, story, art, ritual, constellation, and the many visible and invisible ways life speaks to us.

To bring them forward and allow them to stand as a practice in their own right felt like crossing a threshold.

Perhaps there comes a moment when the path we have been walking asks to be named.

And then another moment when the map asks to be shared.

The Map Is Alive in Our Stories

As WellWork continues to grow, I am increasingly aware:

We need stories.

We need myths.

Stories connect us at a Soul level.

They carry memory, image, imagination, belonging, and the wisdom of those who walked before us.

Long before we had written maps, we had stories.

Stories showed us how to cross a threshold.

How to become lost.

How to listen.

How to return.

How to remember.

Perhaps storytelling is one of our oldest forms of cartography.

I have been here.

This is what I encountered.

This helped me find my way.

We walk.

We listen.

We tell the story.

The map reveals itself.

A New WellWork Pathway Is Emerging

This fall, our WellWork webinars begin to form a larger pathway toward connection, creativity, leadership, and facilitation—and, in time, toward carrying the Creative Warrior Curriculum into our communities.

The pathway begins simply:

LISTEN · RESPOND · BECOME

And this is only the beginning.

A larger pathway of WellWork trainings is emerging for those called to become stronger listeners, guides, bridge-makers, creative leaders, and facilitators—and, in time, to carry the Creative Warrior Curriculum into the world.

Leadership not as knowing the way,

but as learning to listen deeply enough to recognize what wants to emerge.

This September, I invite you to walk with us.

We walk.

We listen.

We tell the story.

The map reveals itself.

With love,

Santjes