Hey beautiful human,

I've been pondering a question this weekend:

How do you come back into everyday life from a life-changing experience that somehow shifted who you are?

I'm reflecting on this, as I'm processing the gathering I just came home from. I am taking it slow and letting things settle.

I spent Friday with 130 regenerative change-makers (and Thursday to prepare), coming together to share our stories, experiences, and hold important questions of our time. It wasn’t just any old conference; it was really a co-created gathering, where everyone is a co-creator and a participant, a teacher and a student at the same time.

The program was created organically from the contributions we received after the open call before the summer - 24 different sessions on topics of nature, humans’ place in it and a different way of being and relating to each other. Teaching what we live and learning together. I prepared a dreaming session for the newly established association, Regenerative Stemmer (Regenerative Voices), so we could tap into the collective dreams of how the association can support the development of the field. The association is now open to new members, in case your heart calls. 💚

And what a day it was - bookended by the sound of the drum and fire ceremony both at the start and the end.

A few weeks ago, the organising team unexpectedly asked me to do the opening speech, and it felt like the right moment to step into the circle, even though I’ve not stood on any stages for some years in my attempt to dismantle the expert role.

But something wanted to be said, and I followed that when I wrote the speech. It doesn’t feel like it belongs to me at all. I’m just the messenger. I am still editing the English version, and I’ll send it out in the next few days. People appreciated it, and I hope it will also find you at the right time.

I was also unexpectedly asked to look after the fire in the opening and closing ceremonies led by Kompagniet ILT.🔥 I’ve sat with and tended to fires before, but never as big as this. The fire is not just a physical entity, but also the energy of the space and the process that unfolds within it, and I take responsibility for it seriously.

Something got burned away in the process for me, and likely for other people, too. When the ceremony was over, we sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Nobody moved. It was deep. It was sacred - a moment I will never forget.

It changed me in ways I don’t yet have words for. And I don’t know where it leads, but I will follow the call. If you’ve read my purpose email, you will know that my inner leader is a firekeeper and that fire is my element (I’m an Aries, born in March at the beginning of the energetic year). 🔥🔥🔥 The fire has always called to me, and so this might be one of those points of no return, where my work pivots towards something more profound.

I slept over at the festival location until Saturday. In the morning, I packed my heavy backpack, put on my hiking boots and slowly walked through Gribskov forest towards the train station. It took 4 hours to get there, and another hour on the train before I was home. I needed space, instead of hurrying home to the everyday whirl of family life. So very often, we don't let things settle, but if you keep stirring the water in the pond, you can't see clearly.

I took three long breaks on my hike, just sitting in the forest, listening to nature, reflecting on the festival and reading the last chapter of the book I had started last summer - The Wind Is My Mother. Only now it was time to receive the medicine the last chapter had to offer.

The festival, the fire, the connection, the magic - the emotional wave of what happened hit me full force on Saturday. It felt like I just shed my skin and was now completely exposed and vulnerable. The mask was shed, too. As I walked, I shed tears, too - at the beauty and power of it all. And I wished that we could gather our politicians in the forest like this, because I’m pretty sure they would not leave unchanged.

With that wild dream in my heart, I will leave you with a quote from the book, which touched me deeply:

“Someone once said to me: ”I wish I had the same amount of Spirit that you have.” I turned to him and said: “We were all given the same amount of Spirit. None more, none less. The difference between individuals is allowing the Spirit to have more of you.”

― Bear Heart

Will you - allow the Spirit to have more of you? ❤️‍🔥

With much gratitude that you’re here on this journey with me. Martina

Hi, I'm Martina. I coach creative leaders, change-makers and teams through defining transitions. My approach is relational and focused on growing vibrant, trusting cultures full of life. Our work together serves a systemic paradigm shift towards a regenerative, life-affirming worldview. ​ I am committed to anti-racism and decolonisation, and all my paid client work enables me to support impact leaders and communities of the global majority through scholarships or pro-bono work. ​ And as for me - I am wildly intuitive, ancestrally rooted and happiest in treetops. 🌳 ​

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