What's this place about?

Think of this digital space as a clearing in the woods where dancing with loss, curiosity about what remains, and the joy of wild things gather ... in writing.

PoetOwl.com started years ago as a personal blog. Then it morphed into a professional site focused on serving those feeling lost after the death of someone they love, lingering trauma, and other life-altering ways one's world can change.

After being for me then being for others, PoetOwl now aims to be the clearing where we meet.

It's a space for me to write what seemingly wants to be written through me—both the raw and the polished—so that what I discover can nurture others.

Here you'll find a combination of:

• In-the-moment writing, Field Notes
• Issues of my twice-monthly letter, The Wild Now
• A growing collection of poems, personal essays, creative nonfiction as well as mindful practices & resources for feeling fully alive
• Links to my mentoring and coaching services (on a separate site)
• Information about the books I've written and working with me as a speaker

About me

Literally living in a clearing in the redwoods of Northern California, I'm an award-winner writer and poet with a 'thing' for birds and for helping people navigate the wild, luminous journey through grief and renewal.

I believe in the marrow of my bones that we are each here because life wants, no, needs, to happen through us. We may never know what our 'purpose' on this planet may be, but you and I bring something to this world that only we can give.

Yes, death, trauma, harm, and hurt visit our lives. 

Still. We. Are. Here. So, our journey is still unfolding

Joy, peace, curiosity, creativity, caring relationships, resilience, and real well-being aren't just goals.
They are the what, the why, and the way we keep going. 

🔆

About my writing

I'm the author of two books:

• Mosslight, a poetry collection, honored with a 2011 FutureCycle Press National Poetry Book Prize.
• Grieving Us: A Field Guide for Living With Loss Without Losing Yourself, a #1 New Release on Amazon upon publication in 2021 that has since reached readers in at least 34 countries.

My poetry, creative nonfiction, and personal essays have appeared in a range of literary journals as well as major publications, such as The Sun Magazine and The Oregonian.

I was awarded a 2000 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. Additionally, my work has been recognized with a 2012 Pushcart Prize nomination as well as being selected for the 2000 William Stafford Poetry Prize, the 2011 Jody Stutz Poetry Prize, and other honors.

🌿 Why I write

🔆 I write to explore an unknowable mystery—what it means to live, with significance and serenity, even as we know that those we love and, yes, we ourselves, are temporary beings.

🔆 I write out of curiosity, grief, delight, and peristence.

🔆 I write to connect the physical, natural world ‘out there,’ with the untouchable, hidden world ‘in here,’ because we are both animal bodies and human minds—and it’s hard to be happy if you’re not whole.

🔆 I write to share what I unearth with others, because I know that now, even with largest human population ever on this planet and technology that allows for global communication, many of us feel alone.

🔆 I write because, let’s be honest, we are a wordy species, and I want to tip the balance from words that hurt to words that lift.

🔆 I write to make magic, the sound of lead on paper or fingers tapping keys, creating snippets of stories, images, ideas, voilà!, out of the white emptiness before my eyes.

🔆 I write the Wild Now (my twice-monthly letter) as a kindred journey, so as we step forward in a world that often seems random and mean, it’s easier to find, then embrace, what is lovely and meaningful to each of us.

About my professional life

Before moving full-on into life-after-loss mentoring & coaching, I spent 25+ years as a philanthropy leader and charitable & end-of-life planning advisor.

I've held leadership and professional roles with foundations, universities, and an international humanitarian organization. My work has taken me from Alaskan rainforests to the Andean highlands of Ecuador to the villages of rural Sierra Leone, connecting across cultures. 

After becoming a certified life coach and meditation trainer, I've gone on to complete training in post-traumatic growth and nervous system regulation.

About my personal journey

My dance with loss started early. As a toddler, I survived a house fire that my sisters, sleeping in the same room, did not. 

Over time I weathered many life-altering losses that come with living on the plane awhile and walked the tender path of caregiver.

Losing my mother, soon after the suicide of a friend, hit me the hardest. I spent two years in "loss limbo" until I figured out a system for living with loss and with joy every day ... starting with what I call a 'tiny-come-back-to-your-senses' ritual (you can learn about it on my app).

At heart, I’m simply a person who notices things—the way grief changes shape & texture, how joy & delight appear in unexpected places, and the power of the natural world to teach us, again and again, how to begin anew.

FAQ: Why PoetOwl?

When my husband and I got our very first email account with AOL—remember, "You've got mail"?—we shared a single address. Hmmm, what name to use?

He being a wildlife biologist focused on owls and me a writer-poet, voila!, PoetOwl. Eventually AOL faded, and he got his own email address.

By then I'd become known as PoetOwl—part poet, part naturalist, often tapped for a bit of wisdom in navigating life's quirks and occasional dark corners.