Stacey L.L. Couch's Blog, page 2
September 11, 2023
Healing the Loneliness Epidemic
This year, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the United States Surgeon General, made a public advisory about an “Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”. He states that “approximately half of U.S. adults reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness.”
Seen as an urgent, widespread health crisis that “has profound consequences for our individual and collective health and well-being”, this announcement about the epidemic of loneliness made headlines across all major networks. Th...
May 12, 2023
Chronic Illness: The Stamina to Keep Caring
World ME/CFS Awareness Day is May 12th. This time three years ago, I shared about having ME/CFS and how I make meaning in it. The reality is that this is a chronic illness and there is no cure. I feel it’s important to post occasional updates to be real about my long-term residency in the kingdom of the sick.
What is it like to make a home here? Those of you with your own residency cards know what I speak of, the day in and day out of the same daunting reality. This is not a hero’s journey. The ...
May 3, 2023
SNOW LEOPARD Spirit Animal
Ghosting and Going Unseen
Known as the “Ghost of the Mountains”, snow leopard spirit animal teaches us how to be elusive. Her camouflaged coat, quiet movement, wary habits, and vast, inaccessible home range make snow leopard sightings extremely rare.
Snow leopard spirit animal carries the ghost archetype. She’s an expert at ghosting.
Challenges come with inhabiting the ghost. You can feel in between worlds. Be apart from the world. This is isolating and lonely, like ha...
February 13, 2023
Cycles of Creativity: Little Brier Rose
Link to the story of Little Brier Rose and others of this tale type: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html
Meaning of the SpindleThe spindle is a symbol of lengthy and monotonous hard work.
A recurring symbol in European folktales, the spindle is long rod with a pointed end and made of wood or metal. A ball of wool (or flax) is spun into yarn around the spindle by hand. This is simple technology, but ridiculously time and energy consuming. It is ea...
Waking Up Creativity: Little Brier Rose
Link to the story of Little Brier Rose and others of this tale type: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html
Meaning of the SpindleThe spindle is a symbol of lengthy and monotonous hard work.
A recurring symbol in European folktales, the spindle is long rod with a pointed end and made of wood or metal. A ball of wool (or flax) is spun into yarn around the spindle by hand. This is simple technology, but ridiculously time and energy consuming. It is ea...
Little Briar Rose – Waking Up Creativity
Link to the story of Little Briar Rose and others of this tale type: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html
Meaning of the SpindleThe spindle is a symbol of lengthy and monotonous hard work.
A recurring symbol in European folktales, the spindle is long rod with a pointed end and made of wood or metal. A ball of wool is spun into yarn around the spindle by hand. This is simple technology, but ridiculously time and energy consuming. It is easiest to ...
September 23, 2022
The Seven Ravens: Integrating the Spiritual Life
Original artwork by Stacey Couch © 2022
SummaryThe wisdom for the spiritual life that the fairytale “The Seven Ravens” teaches is:
How to integrate your spiritual life into your daily life. It involves bringing the masculine and feminine into balance and experiencing all the sides of yourself and your life, including the hard parts. We all experience the pain of illness and loss. Suffering continues with burying the pain of loss.Entering into the mystery (raven symbolism) and unveiling this h...The Seven Ravens: Finding Healing After Loss
The wisdom for the spiritual path that the fairytale “The Seven Ravens” brings us is:
We all experience the pain of illness and loss. Suffering continues with burying the pain of loss. Entering into the mystery (raven symbolism) and unveiling this hidden pain brings healing. Entering into the fragility of life (the glass mountain) helps us find resilience and union.Instructions for how we can bring the masculine and feminine into balance and how to experience all the sides of ourselves...August 22, 2022
Releasing Emotions that Won’t Go
A practice of releasing emotions before they build up can be helpful. Why is this? Because stuffing difficult emotions is harmful to our health. The bottled up emotions (anger, frustration, sadness, grief, fear) make their way back to the surface eventually.
The eruption of old feelings can come in an uncontrollable torrent of expression at an inopportune time. This is harmful to the health of our relationships, jobs, and sanity.
The old feelings can also manife...
Prayer for Releasing Emotions that Won’t Go
A practice of releasing emotions before they build up can be helpful. Why is this? Because stuffing difficult emotions is harmful to our health. The bottled up emotions (anger, frustration, sadness, grief, fear) make their way back to the surface eventually.
The eruption of old feelings can come in an uncontrollable torrent of expression at an inopportune time. This is harmful to the health of our relationships, jobs, and sanity.
The old feelings can also manife...
