Questing for Truth with "The Holy Children"

Dear Glenda,

People who have read my book keeping telling me how brave I am, but I don't consider myself brave. I think of myself as curious and willing. When something captures my attention and feels right, I'm all in. I trust my intuitive knowing...most of the time anyway.

A dear friend recently said something to me that resonated deeply: if you live with integrity life will reach up and out and meet you where you are. By integrity she means if you are brave enough to live clear and true with what feels right for you, and if your external actions are in alignment with your internal truth, life will meet you there and open up possibilities you may never have dreamed of. Living with clarity and integrity requires clearing obstacles and mining for the truth that lies within your own heart, and as we all know this doesn't always come easily. Hence the psilocybin journey!

In late December I participated in the Oregon Health Authority's Psilocybin Therapy program with a wonderful friend and certified guide (email me if you'd like her contact information). For those who don't know, psilocybin is a psychedelic mushroom that the Mazateca healers from Oaxaca Mexico called "the holy children."

I would sum up the experience of my psilocybin journey like this: journeying with psilocybin filled in some of the missing puzzle pieces that are critical to understanding myself and finding compassion for the trauma I have carried throughout my life. People have asked me if I've noticed any changes in my life from my experience. Struggling to summarize the impact of my journey in words, I came up with this simple answer: I have more of me available to me.

Let me be clear here, I am not recommending a psilocybin journey to all of you. It's definitely not for everyone. The experience I had was overwhelmingly somatic and arduous as I purged traumatic residue from my body, mind, and spirit. But I followed my intuition about whether or not journeying with "the holy children" was right for me, and am glad that I did. If you are interested in learning more about my journey, please reach out. I'm happy to share more.

As William Shakespeare said in act 1, scene 3 of Hamlet: "To thine own self be true."

Happy Leap Day!

Leap year happens every four years, so we will actually have 366 days this year.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious extra day of 2024? (Thank you, Mary Oliver)

SoulCollage^® Gatherings

Friday Gatherings

Morning session 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Afternoon session 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

GG's Down to Earth Studio

Sessions facilitated by GG and Kim Buller

March 15, 2024: Intuitive Creativity (openings in both AM and PM sessions)

April 19, 2024: Your Soul Essence (openings in AM session; PM session is full)

May 17, 2024: Rhythms of Your Soul (openings in AM session; PM session is full)



Sliding scale fee: $25 - $40. Fee includes all supplies and the 3-hour session.

Please pay* in advance to secure your spot. Venmo (Glenda-Goodrich), Paypal (glendaanne@msn.com) or mail a check made out to me to 240 Bush Street S., Salem, OR 97302. Thank you!

Those new to SoulCollage® can come one hour early for an overview. Newcomer Fee for the one-hour introductory overview + all supplies + three-hour gathering is $65. 

Email GG to register for SoulCollage gatherings.

*Refund policy: Full refund if you cancel 7 days or more before the gathering; If you cancel less than 7 days before the gathering, I will issue a refund if I can fill your spot.

Dynamic Collage and Painting Workshop

Silverton Art Association, Silverton, OR

March 16, 2024, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

In this fun and light workshop we will explore true mixed media. We will combine paint, papers, stenciling, and Posca pens, to reveal “windows” of delight. We will create pieces ranging from whimsical to serene, from birds to bouquets. Come engage in this critic-free environment that encourages relaxed playful expression. No drawing or collage experience needed.



Option to bring your own supplies or pay a material fee $25 and GG will bring you a supply kit.



Register with Silverton Art Association here.

Mining the Muse Within Creative Process Workshop

Newport Paper and Book Arts Festival

April 11 - 12, 2024

Discover and work with your own personal and symbolic imagery with focused explorations in collage, doodling and painting. Set aside what you think you already know about technique and deepen your relationship with the materials and yourself as an artist. Practice ways of mining the riches of the unconscious.

We begin with collage, exploring image vocabulary, and a discussion of how to make the most of your creative process. A sequence of doodling exercises invites essential artistic style expressed in the language of line, color, and shape.

We complete and integrate the workshop experience with deeper exploration by making a Muse Journal of your work. Be prepared to come away with a blast of creative momentum! All levels. No experience necessary.

Register with Coast Arts here

Sumi Ink Serendipity

Art Department Supply Store

May 4, 2024, 10:30 am to 4:30 pm

All skill levels will experience success in this joyful exploration of serendipitous abstract design that can be used in large format, as framed art, or in smaller pieces for cards or collage papers. Designs are created with Sumi ink and watercolor, watercolor pencils, colored inks, gel pens, glitter pens, spray inks…pretty much anything goes for color! Artists blow air through a straw to move ink around in abstract designs on paper.

GG is your guide as you experiment with techniques and methods for creating spontaneous artwork that may surprise you. It’s a great way to get out of your head and go with the flow (of the ink!). Color combinations and basic elements of design will be included in the instruction. No experience is needed.

Workshop fee: $85.00

Register with the Art Department here.

Fall 2024 SoulCollage® Retreat at

Breitenbush Hot Springs

Save the date! September 12-15, 2024

Breitenbush Hot Springs Resort

What is your soul longing for? Let the magic of SoulCollage^® deepen the relationship with your longing and knowing. The Autumn Equinox is a meaningful time of year to honor the harvest. The changing seasons are key points in the cycle of life in nature, and within this cycle lies powerful messages about balance and reflection. Unleash your creative spirit as you play in the pure joy of creating personal collages using imagery. Expand your awareness through journaling, meditation, dream imagery, sound, and time in nature.

In the peaceful setting of Breitenbush, this retreat offers the perfect combination of exploring the soul through the magical imagery of SoulCollage® and time for rest and renewal in nature. The sacred grounds, nourishing food, and soaking in the natural springs can bring life into balance.

Registration information will be coming soon.

New Mantra at GG's Down to Earth Studio

We have a new modus operandi at the Down to Earth Studio: "Trust What Comes." Thank you Molly Chidsey @ladyferngraphics for the beautiful hand-lettered calligraphy sign. I love, love, love it!

Find out more about Molly and Ladyferngraphics here.

Other Offerings and Invitations

You're invited to read an excerpt from the first chapter of my book, Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions, "Belonging to the Land," in the latest issue of The Wild Roof Journal here.

You can listen to a podcast I did on "The Golden Thread" with Judy Murdoch from Pocket of Serendipity - Loving Kindness for Busy People (I love the name of her business!)