Nature Does Not Hurry. Neither Did Rooted.
A Guide to Return to What Matters
I thought finishing the Rooted Guide by December 2025 would be a matter of discipline. Why? This has been living in my head for years, and if I didn’t get it out now, it would simply die as another great idea. And I couldn’t have that at all.
Instead, what it taught me was trust.
This is about why slowing down was not a delay.
It was the work.
When slowing down is no longer optional
There comes a point when slowing down stops being a lifestyle choice and becomes a necessity.
Not because you are lazy.
Not because you lack discipline.
But because your body, spirit, or life will no longer cooperate with the speed.
And they say sometimes the most productive thing you can do is slow down.
~ Justin Welsh
“When we slow down and act with more intention, we create space for stuff that really matters. We build more meaningful relationships, make more impactful decisions, and find greater fulfillment in the things we choose to work on.”
I had high hopes of finishing Rooted in December 2025. I had a timeline. A plan. A quiet pressure to get it done before Christmas, before travel, before life interrupted.
Which feels ironic, considering my entire body of work is about slowing down, intentional living, and returning to what actually matters.
And yet, I was rushing.
So Spirit intervened.
Not loudly. Not dramatically. Just enough to slow the train wreck that was moving at lightning speed, so I could see where I was actually headed.
December became something else entirely.
The drum arrived before the guide did.
Before the Rooted guide was finished, my drum arrived.
I ordered it from Amalia Fonfara, an Animist Artist, Shamanic Practitioner, and Drum Maker. This was not an impulse purchase. It was three years in the making. Though in truth, much longer than that.
Five years into this spiritual path, I can now see the trail clearly. The healing. The unraveling. The remembering.
Three years ago, I had a dream about this drum. It began calling me. Quietly. Persistently. Like meeting someone you loved in another life.
In the fall of 2025, the message returned. Calm. Certain. It was time.
When the box arrived, dried herbs and flowers spilled out of the box like a blessing. I cried before I even saw the drum. From a place that doesn’t use language. A place that recognizes home.
I wasn’t holding an object.
I was holding proof that this path was never random. Never accidental. I’m just catching up.
Letting go of the deadline
After that, I let go of the deadline.
I stopped forcing, and I stayed present with my kids over the Holidays. I decluttered at the end of the year, and I cooked nourishing food. I stepped away from the noise. I traveled to Berlin to meet with my best friend and walked for hours without an agenda. Then, when I returned to Denmark, I got sick. Properly sick.
Weeks of coughing and exhaustion brought me to stillness, whether I wanted it or not. And somewhere in that forced slowing, something settled.
Lao Tzu, the philosopher, said, “Nature does not hurry. Yet everything is accomplished.” And now I get it.
Rooted arrived when it was ready
When I finally returned to the work, it was ready.
Not because I pushed harder.
But because I stopped fighting the rhythm of my own life.
Rooted did not need more effort.
It needed alignment.
This is something modern productivity culture rarely teaches us. That timing is not something you dominate. It is something you learn to listen to.
The Drum Journey and the real Teacher in the room
Shortly after, I led my first public drum journey for a group of 40+ internationals.
We entered with a simple intention. To journey inward to meet our power animal or spirit guide. To allow whatever was ready to come forward.
I was nervous. I soaked my drum too much and had to run outside into the cold air, waved it dry before we began. A very human beginning.
Then I took a breath. I centered. And I remembered something important.
I was not there to lead.
Spirit was.
I had simply done the years of work required to be a clear vessel.
We sat in a circle. We cleansed. We asked for protection. We named the intention. People closed their eyes. We took deep breaths. I began drumming.
The energy shifted.
This work is about remembering, not Performing
Afterward, people shared what they experienced.
A turtle.
A giraffe.
A whale.
A snake.
Some met more than one. Many said they didn’t think something like this was possible for them. Years ago, I would have said the same thing.
They thanked me, and all I felt was gratitude.
Because this work is not about being seen.
It is about holding steady space so people can reconnect with something inside themselves that has always been there.
Why Rooted had to exist
This is why the Rooted guide was created.
Every day, I see women online living in constant motion. Busy. Burned out. Chaotic. Holding everything together while quietly falling apart.
I recognize them because I was them.
I know what it feels like to confuse productivity with worth. To keep going because stopping feels unsafe and just not an option. To be surrounded by advice, tools, and noise while feeling deeply disconnected from yourself.
Rooted was not created to escape real life.
It was created to meet it differently.
To offer a grounded, Indigenous-rooted foundation for living that does not require abandoning your responsibilities, your family, or your ambition.
But it does require participation.
Healing is cyclical. Growth happens in layers. You return to the same foundations again and again, each time with more awareness.
This is the work.
What Rooted really offers
The Rooted guide came from this season. From years of lived experience. From slowing. From listening. From trusting timing over pressure.
It is a guide for anyone tired of forcing themselves through life.
It offers structure without rigidity. Reflection without fluff. Space to remember your rhythm in a world that keeps speeding up.
More present.
More connected.
More rooted.
If you are craving a slower, more intentional way of living, Rooted is now available.
I am holding space for you to begin gently.
Rooted is not about becoming someone new.
It is about returning to what has always held you.
You can explore the Rooted Guide here and begin at the foundation, at your own pace, in your own time.
Because nothing meaningful is rushed.
Not in nature.
Not in healing.
Not in you.
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