By Gussie Fauntleroy
Almost none of the creative interests that Jessica Forman is weaving together and offering to the world were evident early in her life: a passion for herbalism and other paths to wellness, intuitive communication with ancient ancestors, storytelling, poetry and other forms of writing, and teaching young children to be good humans — all these threads emerged over time. They arose in particular through travel and absorbing the ways of other cultures, through addressing her own health, and through motherhood.
Now 39 and reflecting on the place where she grew up — the semi-affluent suburban environment of Irvine,...
By Gussie Fauntleroy.
A young girl who grew up watching her father perform magic tricks on stage could become cynical, knowing how the seeming magic was achieved. Or she could become someone who sees all of life as filled with wonder, mystery, and real magic. Morgaine Faust is the second kind of person. “I’ve always believed in magic, I’ve always believed anything is possible, and nothing surprised me,” she said, sitting in the meditation loft of her mountain foothills home in the Baca. The serene, light-filled space represents an affirmation of her belief that through implausible twists of fate, the...
By Gussie Fauntleroy
For seven years in the small community of Nevada City, California, Michael DiMartino ran what he called The Hub. It was a “community resilience center” that provided an event space, offices, a speakers series, and a video/audio broadcast studio where DiMartino produced and hosted the Golden Road Show on radio and television from 2012 to 2020. Each of The Hub’s offerings reinforced what he sees as a critical and necessary way forward for addressing the world’s increasingly complex and serious issues.
DiMartino calls the approach “full spectrum regenerative design.” Like the name of his former center in California,...
By Gussie Fauntleroy
Burt Wadman was a very inquisitive 5-year-old when a friend who lived next door in rural Long Island, New York, decided he wanted a small playhouse. The boy’s older brother agreed to build it. The night after the floor platform was in place, Burt couldn’t sleep. As hard as he tried, he could not figure out what would make the walls stay up. He tried standing up a 2x4 board, but it kept falling over. But then he watched, fascinated, as the older boy framed the walls.
Looking back from the vantage point of an 82-year-old architect, Burt...
By Gussie Fauntleroy.
After Cynthia Nielsen did Watsu, or aquatic bodywork, on a client in a Valley View Hot Springs pool not long ago, the woman told her, “I feel like I went to mermaid school.” She added that massage in water made her feel like a baby, with no separation between herself and the liquid environment.
It was a fitting testimonial for a therapist for whom being in and around water has been central to her life for as long as she can remember. For the past 12 years this has included Cynthia’s role as therapy coordinator at Valley View,...
Editor’s note: Who We Are will return next month.
By Karen Barbee.
He can’t help himself. He simply must follow his heart, saying “if there are people who need help, we can find those who are able to help.” This man lives from the foundation that a community takes care of its own, that when we come together to do right by each other there will be enough.
He is a connector, finding those who can help and asking directly for that help; finding those who need help and giving it his all to find the resources that will help them...
By Gussie Fauntleroy
The event took no more than a few, horrifying seconds to unfold, but it changed everything in Eden Elderberry and her partner Leah Garcia’s life. It led them to seriously reconsider their priorities, and eventually brought them to Crestone.
It happened on a moonless night near the small Ohio city where Eden grew up and where she and Leah, young adults at the time, were living. Eden was driving a 4-wheeler and Leah was on the seat behind her when they suddenly emerged from a wooded track into the brightness of a streetlight where the track met a...
Leighton Burt has lived in Crestone/Baca a year and it’s still a marvel to him that this place, which feels like the home he always wanted, was here all the time, just an hour from where he grew up. His parents own and run Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa, and the family spent time hiking in the mountains next to Crestone when Leighton was a boy. But rumors about the town, about cults, religious zealots, lawlessness, and dangerous drifters, swirled around the southern end of the San Luis Valley. When night began to fall, the family was always sure...