On the last post I imagined a “Healing Space” group and I was asking for support. On the post before that I imagined a cycle of Mind-Body Skills Groups. This writing is a kind of working space, and it is evolving. Things don’t come out the way they started. Just brainstorming tonight, and will make more posts in the future when it comes in more clearly.

I would like to bring people together for in-person cooking classes. And to play music. Simple ingredients for a good time, music and food. I would also like to talk about things on the internet. On the blog, or maybe on Youtube or Twitter. Hmmm.

It may be that the Good Life Clinic needs a board. Who wants to be on the advisory board for my holistic health project? Bringing people together for the good stuff. 

What is going on on Mondays? On Wednesdays? Maybe I am not yet ready for a committed regular project. But if I were, I would want to host things where experts share things. (I check my phone.)

Wow. Amanda is leading a song class tomorrow from 12-2. Holy shit I wanna go. $29. Worth it. I met her on the West Coast while traveling and she is a songwriting Momma.

I had opened my phone to look for the dates for an event that’s already planned in Minnesota that seems to overlap so much with what I am aiming to do. And in checking my FB events, I found Amanda’s event which I had almost missed.

What I was looking for was that Offers and Needs Market on the 22nd that Slow is hosting. I just made a calendar so I don’t miss things. Recently I did not attend many events. But that is changing.

Hello. Thank you for clicking the link and taking a few moments to read this message. I am looking for a partner, or partners who can hold space in a loving way for my healing process. I am working with an IFS therapist, and I intend to work with others who can help me on my recovery journey. I am not an alcoholic, but I do have significant mental health challenges that I hope can improve in the context of loving support from a community that chooses to invest some amount of their time and attention on me and my healing story. So thanks again for being here.

In Feb 2022, I bought a four-bedroom home on Quail Ave N on behalf of a community of 5 who were excited to move in and live together. It was really a family of 4 that I was inviting to live with me. At the time, I had little insight or concern about some of the practical aspects of home maintenance, cleaning, and repairs. I was swept away by the excitement and the energy of being in this community that for me was represented in Community Heart Share circles on Thursday nights.

In March 2023, one of the members of our household had come to the decision that it was time to leave. The 4 of us continued together for the next few months, but later decided the time to make a change would be in the summer before the school year started. So by August 2023, I was in this 4 bedroom home alone. With a dog and a cat. Okay. I’m sorry if I’m getting too long-winded, but I think this helps to set the foundation for where we are going.

I enjoyed playing the piano more and being in the house alone. I had the idea to invite another friend in with their son, but it ultimately didn’t seem like it would work. So I continued in the house on my own through the winter. In April 2024, a couple who had moved to Mexico were back in town and they started staying with me on a short-term basis. It was great to have them in the house, and I invited them to stay longer. In the end, they stayed til Nov 2024 when the weather was getting cold and it was time to return to Mexico, and overall, it had worked pretty well for us.

Now I am still wondering about the vision for this house and how it can be used to serve its highest purpose as a community house. Even the phrase “community house” has so many meanings implied that might be different from what I am intending. I want to be well. And I want the house to be a reflection of my wellness and for it to support events that are nourishing to others. I am hoping for ripples of wealth (energetically) in the community.

On Thursday night I went to CHS at a new home. It was a reunion of sorts, and the people and the space were shining and there was an abundance of love and community care in the house. I wondered, how can I cultivate this kind of environment for people who visit me? I know that a lot of work is needed, and that I have stumbling blocks that lead me to cycles of frustration and inaction. How can I ask to be supported in my own healing and the healing of this space?

What I would like to do is develop relationships with individuals who would like to be supportive of me in this reclamation project. At one point I imagined hosting a weekly progress report meeting. Maybe it is a board meeting for the house? Maybe it is a council for me? And maybe it could serve others who are also working on healing themselves and their home spaces?

There will be limitations if we try to take on too much. In this group, I am asking to be at the center for my own healing. I need that kind of support, and my needs will dissolve into the background if others are coming in with more pressing needs than my own. I have heard “don’t outgrieve the griever”. Perhaps this is a grief group? I imagine and hope it will be a lot more practical than just airing grievances. But this writing may be doing part of that work too.

So what would it look like to have this group, or even for individuals to choose to communicate with me about these topics? Well, fortunately I do have space in my schedule for meetings and time to do the work. Mondays and Wednesdays are especially good for me.

So I could imagine chatting with you once a week, and possibly also have a group that meets once a week. I would share about what is going on at the house, what opportunities there are for improvements, what is stuck, what feels hopeless. And maybe we brainstorm and come up with ideas or plans to make improvements. 

I think if there is one person who would agree to come over and walk through the house with me and help organize the tasks that could be completed to help make the house shine. And some of these projects I have significant resistance to completing on my own. It can feel out of proportion and inexplicable. I am looking for folks who can be patient and supportive as I heal through the blocks that have made it so difficult for me at times.

I would like to have a weekly cooking class at the house. It would be a group of 2-5, and I’m looking to deputize a leader for each week to plan and organize the meal. We will cook and eat together and talk about food and ways to make it streamlined for ourselves to be well fed in a world where that can seem so complicated.

I may be inviting a housemate to live with me soon. It will be critical to me that they are understanding and supportive of my process of self healing and healing the space, and that they can be a collaborator in that. I am not prepared to be a landlord and to charge rent, or to host guests who can receive support from the house for their own creative projects yet, though I hope that that changes in time.

1. Do you appreciate reading this message and are you willing to communicate about this through texts? We can do that individually, or you can be added to a “Healing Spaces” group. 2. Would you be willing to talk on the phone (or Zoom) on a regular or intermittent basis about “Healing Spaces”? 3. Is there anything else you would like me to know about how you can support me on my healing journey?

I would like to be leading a weekly group on Mondays that is similar in format to other series I have hosted of Mind-Body Skills Groups. The last one I did was for the Sanity Project, and I will post a link to the description for that group in the comment below. This one will be different. But I think it will be a rolling group rather than a committed one. People can come and go to the container each week and we will make it work.

There are basically 8-12 weeks possible. I could repeat some of the lessons. But we will do drawings and shaking and dancing, talking with a symptom exercise, guided relaxations and imagery. We will work with soft belly breathing and meditation.

And everyone is invited to be on screen and to take part of the time for their check-in each week. Each person gets to speak when we do the exercises and I do my best to manage the time. It’s not perfect and that’s okay.

Where do I want to recruit from? I can share it with Community Visioning on Signal. I can invite Libby Boo and Marta. I don’t expect them. But they are invited. Who else? More of NAAS? What about MAHA? Who is MAHA? Is it people who respond to Monica’s post on FB? 

What about people who watch Suzanne Humphries’ videos? They have few views, but she knows what she is talking about.

What about Bridget? What would she want to teach at NorthPoint to pregnant mommas? She is a leader. She can lead classes at NorthPoint or at the Music Box. Joshua too. How can we generate income if they are bringing people in. And we can bill insurance. Someone knows how to do it. We can hire a biller and coder. I don’t know how to do all the parts. This is a big operation. It is a healing center. We can use insurance. What is the big MAHA vision? What does healing look like? It is at the house, and it is online on Zoom. We have dancers and singers and story tellers. We bring our big hearts and our authentic selves. We are loved by Master G, the Love Guru.

The Tea House continues. The MBSG resumes. It is happening.

What time? Let me know in the comments? 930am? 830? 1pm? 4pm?

The will go for 2 hours I think. The first one might be more of an info session. Can we start on 3/10/25? I think why not?

Hello, I am inviting you to help support me in changing my role in the health care system. You might know that I work as a medical doctor, and the reality is, that in 2024, I can not handle it for very much longer. There is an honor in showing up to that patient-doctor relationship. There is a part of me that still wants that model to work. And there are still plenty of people who are coming in, and they are dependent on that system. And even my very best efforts seem to miss the mark.

My personal health is not strong. I avoided receiving the COVID-19 shot, but I have picked up so much of the culture of the system over the years, and I have lost discipline to care for my own health. I don’t exactly know the way forward, but I want to invite others over to come together to discuss health topics. Let’s share our best health practices. I am the student. But I am a student with a big role to play in helping bridge with the system.

I am sick because of my connection to the system, and I am longing to speak freely about the problem of the vaccines. How we know they cause harm, and that the regulators know but they look the other way. Because they are just doing their jobs too to protect their paycheck. This whole world runs on paychecks. But within that world, there are those who run on love. And we can love each other and help each other to be well outside of the system. Like what Patch Adams was doing. And so I am looking to break free from the system, first with myself, and then with others. I can invite my classmates that I trained with in the future, and help them to break free too.

I am asking people to defect from the system. Because we are calling out the harms of the system, because the harms are real. People were really harmed by the COVID shots, and they have been harmed by the other vaccines for years. It’s the obvious truth that we need to be talking about. Not to convince or persuade, but to find the people who know so that we can work together effectively. Because things are moving fast, and what we know is important.

So let’s get together. Let’s make time to talk about our health practices and our health journeys together. It’s non-judgemental, non-hierarchical. I have a unique perspective, but I am a beginner with so far to go.

What is a good night? Monday? Tuesday? Wednesday?

Hello my friends, and thank you for reading this blog. I have a lot to say, but I haven’t had focused time to sit at the computer and write. I’ve got a few plates spinning, which is typical for me.

Later today, I will be driving to Little Falls, MN for an evening musical performance at the Great River Arts space with my friends Frances and Collin. On Tuesday I’ll be hosting an open mic at my house, and on Wednesday, I’m co-hosting a big event with my friend C-Star in the backyard. On Saturday the 17th I will be at the Organic Compound and I will be performing a short set there too.

I am spending most of September on the West Coast. More details will be coming about that trip on my Substack blog and social media.

In October, I am anticipating spending more time at home, hosting out-of-town guests for most of that time in a lead-up to the election on November 5th. We will be making music, telling stories, dancing, and recording and distributing online.

At the end of November I am planning a retreat in Duluth for the week after Thanksgiving. More details on that in the next post.

Thanks for reading. God bless!

-Leaf Waterbird

Hello! Thank you for clicking on the link and welcome to my WordPress blog page. I started this as a private blog while I was working as a medical resident back in 2018. During the pandemic, I revived it for a bit to share some of my controversial opinions as I wondered if I would have a future at all within the medical establishment system. So far, I continue to navigate as a licensed MD working in a low-income clinic and I have learned how to protect my own energy as I encounter overwhelming situations routinely through my daily work.

I have been an enthusiastic supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s Presidential campaign, and I appreciate the opportunity I have to support his political efforts as a slightly veiled confession of my controversial ideology. I read Substack articles by Toby Rogers and Meryl Nass and I read books by Peter McCullough, Suzanne Humphries, and Bobby Kennedy. I’ve listened to the Highwire and watched interviews on Children’s Health Defense. And I still work in a clinic that recommends COVID booster shots and the childhood CDC vaccine schedule.

Most of my patients are adults, and most of them do not have a primary doctor when they come to see me. They have been on chronic opioids prescribed by a doctor now retired, or they have been in the hospital with a mental health or physical health crisis. They have been on the streets or they have moved here recently from Central America, Mexico or African countries. It is interesting and meaningful to show and provide basic medical care for demographics where the needs are high.

The reason for this post is not about my work at the clinic. I am intending to put my name on the ballot as an independent (We The People) candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives in district 43B. In order to qualify, I need to collect 500 signatures in less than 2 weeks, by June 4th at 5:00pm. I am building a team of volunteers and supporters to help me with this ambitious goal, and you are invited to be part of this effort.

I will use this page for updates and events. I intend to host at least 3 events before the deadline, and I will distribute signature-collection sheets to neighbors and volunteers who are willing to help reach this goal. With 10 volunteers, we each would need to collect 50 signatures. And if we can get 50 volunteers, then we could each get 10 signatures, maybe with as little as 1 hour of door-knocking. Does this math make sense to you? Leave a comment below or send a message through the contact tab if you would like to be involved.

Tentatively:

May 28th Potluck and Meet & Greet

May 30th Potluck and Strategy Coversation

June 1st Morning Door Knocking

June 3rd Final Signature Collection Rally

June 4th Petition Submission

I bought a house in Golden Valley, MN in Feb. 2022. The dream was to live in community, to build community. And it’s ongoing. But the 2 adults and 2 kids that started with me, moved out at the end of Summer 2023, so I’ve had a good period to be in the house myself, on a kind of personal retreat. It’s been good to have the space. 

I do have dreams with this space, as a Music Box, a Farmhouse, and as a Retreat Center, which serves for both healing and artistic retreats. It will be funded through the maternal gift economy principles. Which means that when I have guests, I will gift them. I invest in them, so they can invest in the world. And it starts with Cata and Tenzen. They are coming with their 2 cats at the end of April.

On May 1st, there is a big party planned. I will have more to say about it here for the rest of the month. But there will be a concert, potluck and possible camping opportunity at the house and in the backyard.

Before then, I would like to have at least one open mic or talent show. I’ll have to pick a date, how about April 27? Because I am going out of town on the 17th-22nd. I can set up some opportunities in Omaha too. It is a busy time. I need to get my taxes done soon. I am going to talk about money on this blog. The economy of things is important, and I’ve got some big ideas.

So if you’re reading, thanks for reading. I intend to post here once a week, on Wednesdays. And I’d appreciate if you keep me accountable in the comments. Let me know you are reading!

Thanks again for reading. It’s that little act of paying attention that makes me feel seen.

-Leaf Waterbird

Hello! My name is Drew Dietle, and I would like to invite you to a weekly meeting that I am hosting and facilitating through Zoom. This call is for Heart-Centered Creatives to talk about business and money. The goal is for each of us to have space to share, and to get feedback to support us exactly where we are now.

It is okay to share about a creative project that isn’t a business at all. I believe we all have gifts or skills to share, and that as we step into “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible”, we will see the ways that we can be fully supported as we express those gifts. We are all a work in progress.

There is a loose association between this group that I am hosting, and Charles Eisenstein’s online program hosted on the “New and Ancient Story” (NAAS) network. He is launching a new program on March 19th, which I will say more about in another post. But, there are specific guidelines (more info through link at the bottom of this post) that have been crafted for the online network that he and Patsy host, and I do promote this group to that network.

So, these calls run from 9:30am-11:30am CT, and it is okay to arrive late or to leave early. As host, I make sure everyone gets a chance to speak, and I help navigate the time to best accommodate the group that is present each week. Feel free to reach out with questions. It is free to participate in these calls.

Here’s the link to the Thursday morning call:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82729039326

For more information about NAAS: https://www.naascommunity.org/posts/about-this-network

My friend is hosting a 2-hour gathering tomorrow night, and 10 of us have been asked to share 2-minute responses to the following 3 prompts. Here are mine:

(1) My dreams and desires for community: I would like my house to serve as a retreat center for visionary artists. I imagine finding a house manager who collaborates in creating and holding the powerful field of this physical space for this project. With each retreat, there is a public offering that includes a short speech or presentation about their retreat experience. For example, a poet might read a new or newly edited work, or a small group may rehearse the scene of a play. Surely there will be groups and individual musicians who rehearse and give a show. Over time, the cycle of successful performances helps spread both the messages of the artists, and the reputation of the house so that the invitation stretches far and wide for creatives from around the world come to book a retreat at the Music Box Retreat Center.

I would like to also host as often as weekly or monthly open mics or piano karaoke nights in the living room. I would love to come to Phoenix’s for a weekly potluck, or have one at my place. I would love for the kids to ride their bikes over and take music lessons and spend some time with my animals.

(2) My needs / desires that could be met with community resources: I am looking for help with maintaining/managing the energy of the house at the high level that a “retreat center” deserves. This could look like part-time work for someone to come on an occasional or regular basis. This also could look like a housemate who would be interested in reduced or free rent in exchange for house stewardship.

I would love to have a list of possible house sitters to watch the animals and enjoy the space of the house when I plan for travel.

(3) The gifts and resources I wish to contribute in community: I would like to share my home space as a center for creative expression, engaging conversation, and mindful retreat. I would like to play the piano and sing for guests, and I would like to connect audiences with performers for living room and backyard shows. I would like to teach music lessons, and have people over to sing at the piano. I want you to know you can come for an overnight visit, and we can make it into a personal retreat for you.

I am also offering a weekly online meeting for spiritual entrepreneurs on Thursday mornings called the Skill Share Collective. You can read more about that in the previous post: https://waterbirdmedicine.com/2024/01/22/skill-share-collective-part-2/

You are invited! I am hosting a weekly check-in/accountability group for budding entrepreneurs. It’s okay if you haven’t used that word: “entrepreneur”. I mean human beings using their spiritual gifts as the source of their livelihood. Yes, this is a big deal. I have thought that “it isn’t ethical or ‘spiritual’ to receive payment or to exchange money for an act of loving service”. That “a righteous devotee would trust the lord completely and leave money alone”. And maybe that is possible, to live totally in the gift economy, so if that is your goal, you are welcome. But especially for those people who want to talk about how we relate to money and business, this group is for you.

During each Zoom meeting, each person gets a chance to share with the group updates about their business or creative projects, and ask for suggestions or feedback if desired. I’ll help manage the time time and keep the attention focused so that each person gets a chance to be on the hot seat. It is okay to come late or leave early, but it is appreciated if you can be on time to help set the container together, especially if it is your first time.

Recently, I led a weekly group on Charles Eisenstein’s online community, the Sanity Project, that focused on Mind-Body Connection. In some way, this is a kind of continuity of that. Step 1, focus on the basics of embodiment, step 2, focus on a devotional aspect of how you choose to offer your loving service to the world. What is the loving service I want to provide that I am willing to bill for, so that I can have my livelihood in service of the good?

Until I am able to step into this kind of spiritual entrepreneurism, I continue work under the system of control. I am having a wake up call, and it is hard to give up my salary when I don’t have any alternative source of livelihood. I am paid in US dollars by a medical clinic for providing my services according to their rules and their values. And I need those dollars to pay my living expenses as well as payments on my huge educational debt. Not to mention that I have sacrificed so much time and money to earn that big time degree, the MD.

Well, the reality is that I want to use my heart-center skills in service of humanity, and I do that by running a successful spirit-led business. It creates the opportunity to end my employment with the system. I will be able to earn money directly from my customers. I am becoming a successful businessman. And you get to come along and do it too. I am not charging any money for this class, though it does seem consistent to receive donations in exchange for the facilitation I offer. We will be in a peer group, and over time, we will support each other at whatever phase of the journey we are in. Come on in! Reach out to me with any questions.

Thursdays 9:30-11:30 am CT

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82729039326