Jul 9, 2019
Brenda
first visited the desert as a young girl on family camping trips
and those visits continued into her teen years as a destination for
soul-searching and wandering the space.
Needing a change, Brenda made the move to the
desert with her horses. Upon arriving, she found she had many
friends here and immediately found her way into the
community. Brenda loves the
diversity of the weather, the beauty of the landscape and talks
about the differences of living in Idyllwild and the desert,
particularly the inconveniences of being locked in - or out - for
events like fires or snow.
At her
sanctuary on the mesa, Brenda grows plants, from which she creates
various essences and has created spaces to work on her art, as well
as a space for her clients to do their healing work.
In this
episode, Brenda shares her experiences of living a
corporate life with an environmental company in Japan, which segued
into a job in entertainment.
After
leaving these jobs and living in Idyllwild, CA, Brenda decided to
go back to school to complete her undergrad and Masters. Part of
her Masters included writing a book on post modern and quantum
science for which she won an award, which required that she teach.
Never having taught before, she suddenly found herself in the
lecture hall and discovered it to be extremely satisfying. Twelve
years later, she returned to school to work toward a counseling
degree.
Now
Brenda is creating her own classes and has begun offering them to
the local community and talks about her research into the
differences between PTSD and Complex Trauma.
In the
last part of our conversation, Brenda describes where her interest
in herbalism comes from and how she uses it for self-care and, in
one case, for the care of her beloved horse.