Kristy Taylor Counselling & Psychotherapy Services
2nd Floor - 1345 Pembina Highway R3T 2B6 Winnipeg, MB, Canada

"Creativity is one of those intimidating words, like artist, musician, writer, and so on, which has been co-opted to mean something rarefied and unreachable. We... think of ourselves as being 'a creative type' or not, as if it were a quality bestowed on the chosen few. But if we decolonize the word and take it back to its true origins, we find the Latin root crescere, a word which means to come forth, spring up, grow, thrive, swell. Like the crescent moon, creativity is the living impulse in each of us which continually begins again" (Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, Toko-pa Turner). Our Great Cosmic Mother is who we turn to when recovering, discovering, and deepening this living creative impulse. To learn more and to register: https://greatcosmicmother.eventbrite.

Another updated and expanded list of organizations to look to for support:

Wise Woman Principle Two: Embracing Solitude Embracing Solitude Solitude suggests the absence of distraction, an awareness/consciousness of simple things otherw...ise lost in the usual hubbub of the ordinary. We have time to stop and listen. The quieter we become, the more we can hear. We pay closer attention to our inner landscape, our own soul, our own heart, listening to things that matter most to us. Solitude is thus an invitation to presence, appreciating the now of our lives. There is a difference between solitude and loneliness. Loneliness might reference the inability to communicate the things that seem important to us or be experienced when we hold certain view that others find inadmissible. Within these contexts, we feel isolated, silenced. Solitude, by way of contrast, is experienced when we are at home on our own, comfortable with/interested in our thoughts and feelings, at peace with our singularity. Our thoughts and feelings may consolidate fragments, observations, insights, to make meaning--create a wholeness that provides grounding in the days and nights that come. Solitude allows a conversation with the deeper parts of ourselves, a sense of our connection with the cosmos, creates a place of silence and communion with nature, perhaps, a feeling of at-onement overriding the usual boundaries that might obtain between Self and Other. Some questions you might consider as you explore some new found time on your own: -Is the concept of solitude something new for you to consider? -What feelings come up at the idea of or the experience of solitude? -Have there been any surprises or delights in your finding room for solitude? -Are there places you discover that promote or sustain this experience? -Are you discovering more about yourself through the experience of solitude? Please feel free to share your responses. In this way we bring our conversation together. Artwork courtesy of Jeanie Tomanek; https://www.jeanietomanek.com/

The Great Mother in Her many aspectsmaiden, raging warrior, benevolent mother, death-dealing and all-wise crone, unknowable and ultimate wyrdis now powerfull...y reemerging and rising again in human consciousness Isis, Mawu-Lisa, Demeter, Gaia, Shakit, Dakinis, Shekhinah, Astarte, Ishtar, Rhea, Freya, Nerthus, Brigid, Danucall Her what you mayhas been with us from the beginning and awaits us now. The Great Cosmic Mother, Monica Sjöö & Barbara Mor The Great Mother is the wine of life, the mother of all living things. She is the green Earth, the mysteries of the waters. She is the creative force, the primogenitor of wave, tide, and wind. While we commonly associate Mother to Child, she is not limited to the convention of childbirth, and childrearing. In her saltwater cauldron, gestates idea, art, music, dance, invention in the broadest sense - Life. She is maker, illuminator, muse. She is who we can turn to in time of need, as, in her light, she is compassionate, merciful, and loving. She is an advocate of connection, fusion, and relationship to Self, others, and the creative process within. Please joins us as we explore the creative energies embodied in the Mother archetype, what happens to our creative process when those energies feel as though they have been extinguished, and how, in these times, we may reignite our creative Self. This full-day workshop will be held on Saturday, February13th, from 9:30AM- 4:30PM on Zoom - both on and off-line. Participants can expect a reading of The Little Match Girl, small and large group discussion, visualization, and personal reflection through writing, representing, and Soul Collage. Participants will be given non-screen time to complete their Soul Collage. Preliminary instructions and materials for the Soul Collage process will be forthcoming in the Welcome Note to participants in good time for the day’s event. Mother workshop collaborative guests: Odette Heyn C.M. Red with Grace Choreography: Stephanie Ballard Marci Wenn, LCSW-R, Soul Collage Facilitator This workshop is open to anyone who wishes to engage in this conversation. https://greatcosmicmother.eventbrite.ca This event presented by LIVING STORY PROJECT: Living Story Project is an initiative focused on storytelling to foster connection, creativity, and community. Stories allow us to better understand what is often incomplete, untold, or hidden in prevailing mainstream narratives. Using an array of oral and written storytelling traditions from across the globe, Living Story Project creates an inclusive space for interactive and dynamic conversations about issues that matter. While Living Story Project’s theme-based events centre around specific topics regarding the human experience, it is the vitality of the conversations among participants that generate community-learning and bring these topics to life. The objective of Living Story Project is to connect people to themselves, to one another, to time, and to place. LSP Artwork by Jeanie Tomanek, https://www.jeanietomanek.com/ Design and communications by Krishna Lalbiharie, [email protected]

Hello, We are happy to announce that we are able to offer Bluebeard as a five week, on-line course, Embodying Wild and Wise Woman, beginning April 22rd and ending May 20th. From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Kristy and Deborah will be joining Liz Koch, an international somatic educator. The course will integrate three movements: body, story, and creative response (any form(s) participants wish to engage in their individual exploration). During the five weeks, we will examine the variou...s archetypes, symbols, motifs, and life lessons found in the chosen myth Bluebeard to draw a direct line to Wise Woman. As we journey alongside one another, we will be led through dark lands, where we too, will find fragmented parts of our own psyche in order to piece our wild selves back together, bone by bone. Bluebeard tells the tale of sabotageboth from within and from without. It speaks of a predatory force, known as the Saboteur. This force is in all of us and can make its presence known anywhere, whether it be in the marketplace, the local bar, the classroom, or in the privacy of one’s own mind. The objects of our desire, as devised by the Saboteur, are fool’s gold, which always proves subversive and destructive. This incredibly powerful force is one we must reckon. There are ways to track the Saboteur, to discover the key questions that open the doors to knowing. By discerning approaches, and discovering our inner resources within the wild body, we can call into play the forces designed to challenge the Saboteur's seductive power. In so doing, we bring the Saboteur out from the shadows of our unawareness and into the light of our better knowing. In a supportive and nurturing environment, these sessions will explore how the movements within the story and the movements of our bodies work together to - provide insight into our life stories and psyches -move from constraint and restriction to expansion in the journey toward knowing -deepen our experience with knowing and choice making -embody the capacity to live fully and in our power to prevail against seemingly insurmountable habits, forces, and conventions * These sessions are open to self-identifying women. The fee is $125.00 USD. A PDF copy of the Bluebeard story as told by Estés and relevant session materials will be made available to participants in advance of the April 23rd start-up date. To enroll in Embodying Wise and Wild Woman, please contact Liz Koch at: https://coreawareness.com//online-embodying-the-wild-wise/ Course Educators Liz Koch is a conceptual artist, international somatic educator, and the author of Stalking Wild Psoas: Embodying Your Core Intelligence. Kristy Taylor, M.Ed., C.C.C., is a Canadian counselor focusing on insight therapy and the Wise Woman's journey to embody wholeness. Deborah Schnitzer, Ph.D., National 3M Teaching Fellow, is a teacher, writer, filmmaker, and Professor Emerita of English (retired) at the University of Winnipeg.

When so much seems beyond our control, we can feel fearful, helpless, and sometimes even hopeless. The Handless Maiden gives us opportunity to explore not only... loss, but also courage, choice, power, and purpose. Please join us on Sunday November 15th, from 7:00PM - 10:00PM as we explore this story and engage in meaningful conversation. https://handlessmaiden.eventbrite.ca Artwork: Silver Hands (Handless Maiden), by Jeanie Tomanek

When so much seems beyond our control, we can feel fearful, helpless, and sometimes even hopeless. The Handless Maiden gives us opportunity to explore not only... loss, but also courage, choice, power, and purpose. Please join us on Sunday November 15th, from 7:00PM - 10:00PM as we explore this story and engage in meaningful conversation. https://handlessmaiden.eventbrite.ca Artwork: Silver Hands (Handless Maiden), by Jeanie Tomanek

Do we send our children to school? Do we keep them at home? Arriving at an answer requires us to ask very difficult questions questions we never imagined fac...ing in this lifetime. Finding the right questions to ask might leave us wondering if those making the decisions on our behalf are listening; if their understanding of a safe school aligns with ours; if their appreciation of the return to school as an experiment misrepresents children and educators as a replaceable resource; whether the loss of school-based socialization is reason enough to re-open classrooms, even if adequate social distancing can’t be assured; if the decisions being made take into account diverse and complex immediate and extended family needs and circumstances. While it may seem that we are powerless, given the current options in play, the act of formulating such questions is an initiation into our own power. This initiation, individual and/or collective, is what we require if a thoughtful and peaceful resolution is to be achieved. Asking difficult questions is not easy; oftentimes, neither is hearing the answers. We need practice and we need community. Living Story Project is committed to creating spaces for these processes. Bluebeard: Key to Knowing the Saboteur, a three-hour, on-line workshop offered on Thursday, September 17th from 7:00PM to 10:00PM, explores how power in choice making is denied and recovered. https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/living-story-project-28394851283

Excited to share Living Story Project's next storytelling event: THE HANDLESS MAIDEN: INITIATION IN THE UNDERGROUND FOREST, Sunday, November 15th, 2020 at 7PM. Please see poster and Eventbrite link below for all information, including how to register.

Do we send our children to school? Do we keep them at home? Arriving at an answer requires us to ask very difficult questions questions we never imagined fac...ing in this lifetime. Finding the right questions to ask might leave us wondering if those making the decisions on our behalf are listening; if their understanding of a safe school aligns with ours; if their appreciation of the return to school as an experiment misrepresents children and educators as a replaceable resource; whether the loss of school-based socialization is reason enough to re-open classrooms, even if adequate social distancing can’t be assured; if the decisions being made take into account diverse and complex immediate and extended family needs and circumstances. While it may seem that we are powerless, given the current options in play, the act of formulating such questions is an initiation into our own power. This initiation, individual and/or collective, is what we require if a thoughtful and peaceful resolution is to be achieved. Asking difficult questions is not easy; oftentimes, neither is hearing the answers. We need practice and we need community. Living Story Project is committed to creating spaces for these processes. Bluebeard: Key to Knowing the Saboteur, a three-hour, on-line workshop offered on Thursday, September 17th from 7:00PM to 10:00PM, explores how power in choice making is denied and recovered. https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/living-story-project-28394851283

Living Story Project is excited to announce its second story-telling event: BLUEBEARD: KEY TO KNOWING THE SABOTEUR. EVENT INFO: https://www.facebook.com/events/284598799320366/ TICKETS: https://bluebeardkey.eventbrite.ca... The story of Bluebeard explores a crisis in culture pervasive in contemporary society. For thousands of years, women's power, creativity, insight, and knowing have been written out of history. Women have been maligned, muzzled, and murdered by patriarchal predators who contend that women have no integrity of vision, no deep insight, no original voice, and no decisive action. Please join us as we explore these four shadowy introjects that sabotage women's rights to live fully in both their power and their purpose.

LIVING STORY PROJECT is excited to announce its second story-telling event: BLUEBEARD: KEY TO KNOWING THE SABOTEUR. "In order to banish the predator, we must unlock or pry ourselves and other matters open to see what is inside. We must use our abilities to stand what we see. We must speak our truth in a clear voice. And we must be able to use our wits to do what needs be about what we see." Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Women Who Run With the Wolves The story of Bluebeard ex...plores a crisis in culture pervasive in contemporary society. For thousands of years, women's power, creativity, insight, and knowing have been written out of history. Women have been maligned, muzzled, and murdered by patriarchal predators who contend that women have no integrity of vision, no deep insight, no original voice, and no decisive action. Please join us as we explore these four shadowy introjects that sabotage women's rights to live fully in both their power and their purpose. This workshop is open to all peoples. Please click on the link below, for more information and how to register. LSP