Cassandra Ellis

staying in touch?

How have you been staying in touch with people? How have I been staying in touch with people? How have we not been staying in touch? These questions have been rolling around in my mind and body. What's arisen within me is: some personal experimentsthe phrase "staying in touch" and

are whys floating around you too?

Have the big "why's" been coming up for you? Are why's floating around in the air with all the pollen? I've been moving through a ton of whys lately... asking myself why I'm doing certain things in my life... why am I doing the thing in this way... why is

getting lost is part of the plan

Last week Ernest and I bypassed our usual forest starting point and drove around the corner to another entrance. It's the same forest but on the other side of the creek. We were enjoying the adventure and decided to keep walking past the point we had always previously turned around

going through it

Hi there, Your 'it' is likely different than my 'it' – or more realistically it's 'its' – all the 'its' that you're going through right now. All the challenges, struggles, joys, changes, expansions, endings, beginnings, fears... all your 'its,' all my 'its,' all my neighbor's 'its,' all your child's

being on the same wave

Hi there, I imagine I've always liked patterns. Maybe you too? The patterns that show up in our human habits are specifically very cool to me. One pattern that revealed itself to my elder neighbor friend and me awhile back is when we cross paths frequently and when we don't.

receiving

Funny how awhile back I shared with you that I don't do quick fixes. I've been testing something out for a few weeks now. I've been wanting to share about it with you since I learned about it. Well, I've been diving into the science of gratitude. It's so cool.

creative stage switching

This is the fourth drafted note I've written. I keep writing down ideas that fall flat. So, instead I'll ask, what are you needing right now? How's March going for you? I'm finding life is asking a lot of me right now. I'm needing to do a lot of context

community is...

I'm heading to the storage unit that houses the resources for a wilderness school for which I'm the resource manager. Got this paper at a local garage sale and it gave me the idea to have a quote up in the storage unit for educators to take in whenever they

potlucking with trees

Hey! Welcoming you to this place, wherever you're joining from today. You may have recently joined this Be With Cassandra homebase from a recent gathering together On Nurturing Your Sense of Place. I welcome you if you're new here. I welcome you if you're old here. I welcome you here

a friday candle

In a meeting earlier, I lit the beeswax candle on my desk. Sharing with you now to bring some ease and light to your Friday, or whatever day you're seeing this. 🕯 (sound = white noise) video of medium sized beeswax candle lit and sitting atop a glass plate with some found

crowd-sourcing curiosity

We interrupt our normally scheduled programming for an invitation to join in the questioning of our evolving CoCreation Publication co-creators... hahaha this sentence has made it into the final draft. Upon reading what I had typed, I tilted my head, laughed a bit and questioned myself: "what is our normally

(not) here for

Two simple lists for you today: Be With Cassandra is not here for..."hacks"*quick fixes of most any sort... productivity hacks, cooking hacks, teaching hacks. I can totally get lost in a quick fix for something that's bugging me but it's hardly ever the sustainable gem I want it

this is the very beginning

Maybe this story will offer you a gift today? Let's find out. 🔎Today's story I consider a Co-Creation Classified as I am inviting you to join a few gatherings later this month. Not sure this story is for you? Read this next bit to determine if so.This story is

making it real

What's something in your life that's becoming more real over time? The something might happen pretty fast (like making dinner) or slower (like painting a painting) or even slower (like building a house). There may very well not be a clear end point (like raising a child). Whatever the thing

gray day?

Where do you go when words aren’t enough? Or aren’t coming to you? Or just aren’t what’s needed? It was gray here yesterday. I've been feeling kind of gray with my connection and communication, too. But I still want to connect. Just not through words. I

tell someone

So last week I shared with you the application letter I'll be submitting soon to Ann Friedman for her writing fellowship. I've got it down to a page now! (If you dance your way to the bottom of this post you can see the latest iteration.) I really appreciate the

a letter to Ann

[UPDATE: dance your way to the bottom of this post for the latest update(s) on my application letter] You likely don't know Ann. I don't know her either. I do enjoy reading her weekly newsletter, though. Maybe you read – or want to read! – her newsletter, too? She is taking

delete this after reading (v2)

hey hey, I wrote version 1 of 'delete this after reading' on my old Substack. And I want to bring the concept back today, in week 52 of 2021. In v1, you'll see an experimental list of how one could interact with the newsletter. Now, this newsletter here, I haven't

you matter

that's all – you matter. just wanted to make sure you remember. Til next time, Cassandra P.S. and the coyotes matter. and the hummingbirds and moss and fungi and the salt waters and fresh waters. oh my. so many beings, you included, to behold and embrace. P.P.S. happy

💭 Share More Fragments

On my coffee table sits a huge spiral-bound sketchbook. It's usually open to the latest creation. I mainly use it (1) for visualizing big picture thinking and (2) when I realize the need to re-establish my body+mind connection (since typing on my laptop easily tends towards forgetting). This Venn

🏔️ Listening to the Waterfall

I'm taking part in a writing circle and the host offered us experiments aligning with sound. I've felt distracted with life and death these past several weeks (past several years, too?) and so I let the simplicity of closing my eyes guide me while out on a birthday hike with

🤔 What's the alternative to advice?

Covered in today's share: motion vs. actiontiming + capacityadvice vs. inspirationMotion vs. ActionYesterday I was listening to Brené Brown and James Clear in their Part 2 conversation on Brené Brown's Dare to Lead podcast. James Clear spoke directly to my present experience: JC: Oh, I have fallen into this before, all

Downing a Bottle of Concentrated Juice

No wonder I'm tired. (Are you tired, too?) No wonder my mind is simultaneously full and empty. (Maybe yours too?) On Monday I returned from a very quick trip to Florida to celebrate my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday – and to be with her and more family (like Betsy! A reader

🚪 What's Behind Door #2?

This story flowed out of my fingers a few days ago in one sitting. That certainly doesn't happen every time. I sat at the table after eating lunch, still wearing the clothes I wear on my late morning walk with Ernest (which lately have a yummy mix of rain water,

🌀 it's gone: losing the familiar

Last week I started playing with another two part-er – or as I'm starting to call them – two part(i)ers. Last week was part 1 and here we have part 2!Peek back at part 1, if you wish. In the corner of the world in which I live it

✨ Stick Around For This Unfolding Vision

Maybe you've poked around here for a bit. Maybe this is your first time here. Whether you've stopped by here before or not, you may be wondering what Be With Cassandra is all about. This small portal on the Internet is unfolding into and becoming: a place to reinvigorate your

⭕ pen for a Venn Diagram Retrospective

A few weeks ago I brought you a 2 part-er (OG, original, posts in which I split them into a Part 1 and Part 2). Maybe I'll start calling them 2 partiers? As I flowed with writing this sharing today, I sensed this would make for a sweet 2 part(

"Spit out the sour taste of unmet expectation"

🌬️ Over Zoom one time maybe about a year ago, a friend said our conversation was reminding him of a poem he knew. As I was walking with Ernest the other day, the poem floated back into my mind and heart, meeting an inner need of mine in that moment.  I

Spontaneous Interview?

But not really an interview. More like a deluge of question marbles rolling around in my mind. Maybe you'd like to stop one with the toe of a shoe, pick it up and let it roll around in your mind for awhile. Want to share your responses to one or

🕸️ Softening Taut Tendrils

Last week I started playing with something new – a two part-er. Last week was part 1 and here we have part 2!Peek back at part 1, if you wish. Touching the shadowed and weeping walls of the caves, immediately I sense grief, loss, change. I slow down to step

🐌 Lingering and Unteathered

I'm playing with something new - a two part-er. This week = Part 1, next week = Part 2. Let's dive in... I still have goodbye cards and picture magnets to give to the young children I was teaching when the pandemic arrived in our corner of the world. I designed and

🏘️ What's Your Community Threshold?

Want to get a glimpse into something I've been noodling over for awhile? Read on when you have a moment to sink in... I talked with a lot of people about leaving Facebook before I left it. You might very well be one of the people! I thought and wrote

Episode Zero: Being With Change Transcript

[birds sing three twirls] Cassandra: [00:00:00] Hello. Welcome to [laughs] the podcast formerly known as Change Is. And I'll share the new name of the podcast at the end of this little welcome. So, I published the trailer back in May. And what I've come to realize is

🌕 🍂 Podcast Episode Zero Is Here & Self-Support Too

Snuggled in between the harvest full moon yesterday and the autumnal equinox (or spring equinox in the southern hemisphere) tomorrow, I published "episode zero" of my newly renamed podcast earlier today. Months ago I published the trailer of the podcast. I share about the whys and hows of the renaming

👷🏽‍♀️ Dreaming & Building in Public

Today is the start of a dream in public / build in public experiment. I'm excited and nervous to tell you about it. I first came across the term "build in public" in someone's short bio at the end of some article they wrote and latched onto it, diving into a

🌱 Tending to The Starting

Starting can be a challenge. Re-starting something can be a challenge, too. Saying "hi" to someone new can be nerve-wracking. (Re)kindling a relationship, a practice, a habit, a routine, a ritual can take guts. Starting can lead to ease. Starting can lead to failure. Starting can unfold into joys

Belief Statement + The Eight Embodied Values

☆ Belief Statement About The Work I ShareThe work I share with the world - and how I share it -  is a mysteriously beautiful, beautifully mysterious mix of my offerings (innate and learned), the universe’s offerings (clear and beyond-the-known), and societal offerings (advantages and restrictions). My sphere of influence

👩🏻‍🔬 Experiment! Play! Be Messy!

Is there a word that you gravitate towards? Is there a word that you just want to keep using in your writing or your speaking? Maybe you don't even know why it sticks with you - or leaves your mind and then keeps returning again and again. I have several

Humble Beginnings

This is my humble beginning here in a place with my name on it, Be With Cassandra. Putting my name in the name feels like a humble declaration, a way of vulnerably choosing myself.

Change Is: Coming Soon

Welcome to the Change Is Podcast! Cassandra is in the midst of bringing this podcast to your listening ears. What you can do right now: Listen to the 3 min. trailer.Subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast listening platform. You will be the first, then, to hear episode

On Pruning Bobby

Yes, the tomato plant I'm tending to has a name.