The Snake in My Firewood and the Call to Let Go 

Yesterday morning I asked Alexa for “good news,” and what played instead was the Secretary of Defense’s speech. He began with praise for our military, then shifted into criticism and a call to return to the standards of the past. I only listened for about fifteen minutes, and what I heard struck me as more nostalgic than forward-looking. Still, maybe that’s the point: even when a message feels misaligned, it can spark reflection on what we’re holding onto and what it may be time to shed. I can’t pretend to know the weight of those decisions or what it’s like to carry that responsibility. But it left me with a question: what happens when our focus turns toward recreating the past, instead of envisioning what is truly required for the future? 

During the day, a few moments offered me some insight into that question. Later, while stacking firewood, I surprised a snake. I took a break and simply observed, even apologizing for the disruption. That evening, a friend shared her new oracle deck. The card I pulled? Let go.  

That same thread ran through my travels last month. At Bandelier National Monument, I walked through the cliffside dwellings of the ancestral Puebloans. These homes showed ingenuity yet by the mid-1500s they moved on to larger communities along the Rio Grande. When conditions shifted, they didn’t cling to the old way of life. They built something new. 

Not far from Bandelier lies Los Alamos, birthplace of the Manhattan Project. That site represents another kind of legacy: innovation born in urgency yet shadowed by deep ethical questions. J. Robert Oppenheimer later reflected on the consequences of those choices, quoting the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” His words are a reminder that power without space for long-term vision can ripple into outcomes we’re not ready to carry. 

Seen together, the Secretary’s remarks, the snake in my woodpile, the oracle card, and the Puebloans all point in the same direction. At some point we have to release what no longer fits. Clinging to the familiar may feel safe, but it cannot carry us forward. Nostalgia isn’t strategy. 

Oppenheimer’s reflection felt a little different but connected. It wasn’t about holding onto the past, but about the weight of choices made without space to imagine what might come after. His words remind me that letting go is only part of the work. We also need the vision to create with awareness of what our choices set in motion. 

This is the heart of Disrupting Gracefully. The Puebloans didn’t cling to old systems that no longer sustained them. The snake cannot remain in its old skin. And people today are faced with the same choice: cling to what feels familiar, or step into what is truly required next. To do that, we need to cultivate a state of being rooted in awareness and interconnectedness. This is what I call disrupting gracefully, the space where we can recognize what no longer serves and consciously create what comes next. 

So, here’s the reflection I’ll leave with you: 

• What “old skins” are you still carrying? 

• Where are you relying on nostalgia instead of creating a vision for what’s next? 

• And what would it look like to step into a model that fits who you are becoming, not who you used to be? 

These are the very questions I’ll be exploring this October at Aligned Wellness and Events in Canon City, CO.  

• Pattern Disruption Workshop: Explore the hidden lenses shaping your choices and learn how to release the patterns that keep you stuck, so you can step into a clearer, more authentic way of being. 

• Lilith Rising Free Q&A:  A supportive gathering where you can ask questions, experience the heart of the membership, and discover what life can look like when you step fully into yourself and the membership. 

You can find details for these and other upcoming events here: https://www.alignedwellnessandevents.com/events 

And looking ahead to November, I’ll be introducing a new workshop that moves beyond the pattern, exploring what it means to live in a state of expanded consciousness. I’ll also be opening space for one-on-one sessions for those who want a more personal path of exploration. Details will be shared soon. 

Learn more about me and Disrupting Gracefully at: https://www.disruptinggracefully.com/