Life breeds life. I found this truth today as I uprooted old crop and weeds from our little vegetable bed, inspiring my spirit to reroot. I used my hands and arms to churn the soil, enjoying the sensation of a cold bed coming back to life. Or at least being prepared to.

I remember a college professor of mine once saying, "the minute you set the intention, you've already begun to change." There's only so much I can viably share in writing. A lot of it belongs to me, and me only. At least for now. But what I can say is that I have changed. The person who I was and who is and who will be, she is all the same being. But this phase is different than ever before. I've seen myself blossom, but not for a long time. And certainly not like this.

For most of us, we've been taught that it's normal to experience a waning for the desire to grow. Our roots of curiosity become blunted and forced into the confines of an organized system. And that's very acceptable. Our soul is given a kind of cubicle. As time is stolen away, our thoughts and actions become crowded until we only have space for survival. But what about thriving? Especially so that future generations may thrive as well? ⁣⁣

The topic of ancestors continues to permeate spaces of magical thinking, as well as traditions of the season. And essential as it is to finally acknowledge once again the importance of what was, perhaps we’re leaving out an important component of our spiritual lineage. What of the descendants, and those to come?

So many of us have been left floating without roots to ground us, which is why the calling to rekindle the ancestral flame now cries out from our burning hearts. This call must not be ignored, distracted away, or shrugged off. Our species may rely on this very wisdom buried within our souls. Like rings of a felled tree, we each contain the truths of our past.

“I discovered that healing happens when you confront your challenging emotions and feel them.“

— written by guest author Jeffery Stone

If there's any major takeaway from this Lion King/Leo Season crossover, it is this: your community is what makes you. You can either exalt and be exalted through it, or consume and be consumed by it.

Maybe the solution begins with patience, service, and learning to make peace with failure. 

We as women and as people must not only accept the bear within us but celebrate it. We are fierce, wild, determined daughters. We are gentle, loving, nurturing mothers. We are naïve girls traipsing through adolescence and tumbling headfirst into our own inspiration. We are the wise women who watch the world over. We retreat in solitude into our dampened dark dens and emerge having birthed new life.

— written by Lindsay Vermillion

Feeling and expressing anger is often a radical practice of love. Like full-to-the-brim love. The kind that is bursting and burning. Anger is revolution, believing in something better and different, which I don’t think we can get enough of these days.

— written by Jennifer Patterson

We live in a time where younger individuals are deciding to open up about their identity to parents and other adults, and it's exceedingly important that they get the support they need. Often, that support is not found at home - which makes school the second most impactful environment for them.

"What is the biggest lie we tell ourselves as Americans?"