I hiked to the top of the mountain
Bared footed, sister by my side
Grappling with this life infinitely unfolding
Portals of love
And whirlpools of grief
I hiked up barefoot,
Not to prove some hero’s journey
But to see how lightly I could step
How many times I could kiss the earth
And feel the focus of taking care
Of the tender bits
As volcanic rock provided the next step up
Sometimes vines
Sometimes smooth
Each step I let be a prayer up and into the
Moment that I get to arrive…
Many commented…asking if there was pain
And I could only respond
This is easier for me
Sometimes shedding
Letting your nakedness
Invite in the greater wisdom
The layer that is unseen by many
And understood by few
They say there’s 7 layers of understanding
The Quran
And I am grateful to have heard this
On the land in Türkiye
Because I think there’s seven layers to life
A women acting tough, proving her suffering walking up the mountain bare foot
Or a tender soul
Asking for support from softness, asking for the wisdom for the right step, to tread lightly
To feel the full raw effect of this life against my own skin
I want to be soft
I want to be strong
I want to stay open
To the unseen wisdom
That emerges only through direct experience
In this first episode of Inner Landscapes, Alexa riffs on one of the most quietly important questions in psychospiritual work: is this my path, or is it pathology?
Drawing from Mahamudra Buddhism, Internal Family Systems, Bill Plotkin’s loyal soldier, and a personal story of ancestral trance work with her Scottish motherline, Alexa explores how our deepest gifts and our most stubborn patterns are often made of the exact same material — and why rushing to fix what we haven’t yet understood can cost us the very gold hidden inside it.
This one is better heard than read. There is something in the pacing, the pauses, the way this lands in the body — that the written word can’t quite hold.
Press play.
Tell me your thoughts….
What path or pathology are you walking with — and dancing within?
Does the dynamic feel synergistic, alive, even beautiful in its complexity?
Or does it feel hopeless, heavy, like you’re drowning in your own silk?
If you want a thinking partner for this terrain, I’m here.
If you find yourself sitting with these questions — path or pathology, gift or burden, survival or soul — and you want a thinking partner in this terrain, I’m here.
Alchemical Gold is my monthly audio support membership — $45/month.
Send me a voice message, receive a personal audio response within 48 hours.
One month at a time, or ongoing. No long-term commitment required.
To register, text me: +1 (603) 502-4511 I’ll send you an invoice and we begin.
