But first… let me tell you – this wasn’t the first time this creek calling thing happened! 

Let’s travel even farther back in time for a moment… to another creek, another cry-fest, another big life change…

Way back in 2005 (12 years earlier than the Nevada City creek experience), I found myself standing in a creek at Harbin Hot Springs, North of Calistoga in California, and I was sobbing.  (Sound familiar?) My soul was aching with a profound longing to live on that wild sacred land.  It was as if the land itself welcomed me “back” to a home I never knew I had.   

I made the biggest craziest decision of my life. 

Within a few months, I was uprooting my life to move.  Everyone thought I was crazy.  Well, actually, some people thought I was irresponsible, selfish, and narcissistic.  The other ones just worried I was crazy.   

After all, I was leaving the town where my was-band and our kids were living.  I was leaving my five bedroom house on the canyon that I’d chosen so carefully and purchased ten years earlier.  I was leaving San Diego (the town that people flock to, and which no one ever chooses to leave). 

I was leaving all of this to find myself – by living in community by a creek.  

I moved into a tiny cob hut with my breath-work teaching boyfriend, living at Harbin, a hippie hot-springs community with clothing optional pools and hundreds of acres of forest. (Who, ME?  The previously Catholic business lawyer????) Within 20 feet from the cozy one-room dwelling was a year-round babbling creek, and two waterfalls – one warm and one cold.  This was where I bathed in the morning, if I didn’t feel like using the outdoor shower after making breakfast in the outdoor kitchen.  This is where I healed.  This is where I opened. 

For me, this place was a soothing healing paradise.  I recently came across a letter I wrote at the time explaining “Why I choose to move to Harbin” which outlined the beauty, the joy of living among nature and her critters, the community vibe, the understanding of the culture, and the deep feeling of welcome I had there, and the joy that the place brought my kids who spent summers there with me.  

Making that move (even when everyone thought it was nuts) was a pivotal choice, and set me up for the healing and empowerment I needed to step into the powerful path I’m on now.  Even though it seemed like a “crazy” choice at the time. 

I lived in the area, with the creek, for seven years.  And then in 2012 it was time to go home to San Diego and face the “real world” again.  In order to live in San Diego, I learned marketing, re-learned business, and created a six-figure plus business as an intuitive business teacher and mentor.  I reconnected with my folks, healed my relationship with my mom in time for her third and final dance with cancer to take her away from me.  It was a good death.  Painful.  And I was so glad to be there.  I grounded in my own home, with my own kitchen, and enjoyed living with Clarise full time as she navigated high school.   I sent Collin off to his dream college, and enjoyed seeing him succeed.  

Flash forward again to the first story.  It’s now 2017, and I’m standing in yet another creek – this time, Deer Creek in Nevada City, California.  And AGAIN, I’m sobbing, pulsing, longing. Déjà vu to say the least. 

So here’s where I want to share the rest of the story while I also share the 3 steps I take when I get one of these big “downloads” or overwhelming intuitive ahas…

When the Calling appears, I follow these three steps: 

1. I LISTEN with an open heart to feel it all without shutting it down. 
2. I NAVIGATE the right decision by listening to ALL my inner voices ( I call it the Resonant Yes Process)
3. I NEGOTIATE with God to get the best miracle deal that is delicious and pragmatic. 

Now let’s take a good look at these three steps, and how they played out for me in 2017 when I moved to the land of the Nisenan people, Nevada City, the place I still call Home.

1. Listening

It’s hard to believe the deep longing.  Because it doesn’t often make “sense.”  It often feels like too radical a “change” from your imagined “plan.”  So you will be tempted to stuff it, to ignore it, and to miss it. 

My reasonable mind didn’t want to hear the Creek call me again.  It was bad timing. 

Yes, I had dreamed/imagined/fantasized that once Clarise was off to college, I would find my place in the forest again.  The forest is what feeds my soul.  It is my healing place.  The creek is the soundtrack that soothes my soul.  It is my inspiration.  But it seemed like the wrong moment! 

My logical mind said this was insane.  Why would I move to a smallish town when I’m building my biz?  Why would I move away from my extended family in San Diego?  Why would I leave a beach house that most people spend their lifetime dreaming to enjoy?  I’ve got it so good.  Seriously.  It’s a silly idea to move. 

My rational mind was totally baffled by this deep longing for a friggen’ creek!  I mean, what the heck? Am I a creek-needer?  A creek-o-holic?  Am I a creek obsessed creek junkie?  (hee hee) 

But I recognized this depth of longing.  

I knew I had to listen. 

Because if I don’t listen to it, resentment towards life itself builds up inside me.   

And I would sabotage my own success before it could happen. 

Yes.  This part of me that was expressing desire would either be heard, or go underground inside of me, sabotaging my success because I would not listen. 

So I listened. 

2. Navigating

Ok, but even when I have a crazy longing, that doesn’t mean I need to uproot my life and follow that longing.  It’s never that simple, is it?  Discernment is an art. 

The key was and is – to navigate inside my longing, and find out where it comes from, whether it’s the right choice, and which parts of me are for and against it. 

I navigate such choices using my Resonant Yes process.  It’s a process of listening deeply to the 7 Inner Teammates – the inner voices that all have an important say in these sorts of decisions.   

So even as I was standing in that creek sobbing, I asked each of the 7 Inner Teammates what they thought.  

1. My Primal Self was a yes because we could afford to buy a house in that area, as long as I was fiscally responsible.  
2. My Desire Self wanted the creek, and the conscious community, and the Northern Cal vibe – so so bad.  She was already a super clear YES.  
3. My Ambition Self was happy that we would be closer to San Francisco/Silicon Valley because many of our clients were there, and that would be good for biz.  
4. My Connection Self was split- scared of missing my friends and family in SD, yet longing to spend more time in conscious circle with my friends up North.  And as I moved through my 
5. Expression Self…
6. My Spirit Self…
7. And my Rational Self….

My innards relaxed into a solid knowing.  

The tears dried on my face.  

A big smile replaced them.  

Yes.  I felt the Resonant Yes.  

Full-bodied Yes.  

Confident Yes.  

And I knew that despite all the logical reasons not to, I was a YES to moving.  A big Resonant Yes. 

3. Negotiating

Ok, so I knew I wanted to move, with all my heart and body.  But I’m a grownup, with responsibilities and real-life pragmatic concerns.  I’m a parent. I know that even with a Resonant Yes, I need to take care of my responsibilities.  I know that the power of a Resonant Yes often creates miracles to clear whatever obstacles might exist in the way of the YES.  

God’s grace is the only force with the power to clear the way towards the Resonant Yes manifesting miraculously. 

So, like the lawyer I am, I started wheeling and dealing with God. 

“Ok God, if you really want me to move, here’s what I want…” I proposed, “I want a four bedroom rental house on a creek to literally drop into my lap.  I don’t want to do some big rental search.  And people say it’s kinda hard to find a rental up here.”   

And the clincher…  “And God, if you want me to move up here soon, you need to get Clarise on board with that.  I’m not dragging my 17 year old daughter into this by the hair.  I can wait two more years until she graduates.  I know she loves the beach.  Clarise would have to be a 100% Resonant Yes.” 

I drove a hard bargain.  And I knew the miracles would arrive if it was meant to be. 

The very next day – my friend Lisa (it was her creek I was crying in) texted me saying that our friend Elayne Kalila had just bought a 4 bedroom house on a creek, and that she wanted to rent it out for a year, starting this summer.   She was anchoring the house as a community center for feminine inspired leadership, by the way, which is an energy I’m pretty comfortable with.  Plus, it has a really nice pool with a waterfall.   

Whoa.  Miracle with 24-hour turnaround.  

Nice work, God.  I had the ideal house handed to me on a silver platter!   

Gave me chicken skin all over. 

“Cool,” I thought, “but it’s still a No unless Clarise wants to move.” 

Well, “coincidentally” Clarise was on her way up to Nor Cal to see her brother’s play.  And we’d been talking about visiting some colleges to re-inspire her to school.  So… we visited places in the Bay Area and then we drove up to Nevada City to see if she had the 100% Resonant Yes that I had come to.  I figured it was a long-shot. But hey, God got us that house offer in 24 hours… so anything is possible. 

In those first few days visiting, Clarise did not adore Nevada City.  And I began to let my dream go.  I mean, she liked the town ok, but she loves the beach so much.  It wasn’t going to happen.  And I did my work to detach from my dream of this, figuring I needed this now to plan ahead for after Clarise graduated.  I was disappointed, but I found my peace and gratitude with her no.   

“Do you want to skip the high school tour and just go home tomorrow, then,” I asked Clarise. 

She paused. 

“No,” she said, “I don’t have a total No yet.  I still feel open to checking it out.”  

So we toured Nevada Union High with the principal, Kelly, on a Friday that was a make-up day for a snow day so she just happened to have tons of time to host us, introducing us to so many happy, present, smart teachers. 

Wow. 

We were both blown away by the quality of this school. 

Clarise has been longing to study digital arts, video, lighting, and to go to a design-centered college in a couple of years.   

Well, this school has studios and training for livestream video broadcasting (yes seriously), digital photography and graphic arts, two theatres, and a studio arts program.  It was like the school had been designed to set Clarise up for success for her chosen future path. 

By the time we sat in the car after the high school tour, Clarise said “When can we move?” 

I was sitting there in the car of the high school and my jaw dropped open.  Clarise went on to explain “San Diego has been amazing for me, and I admit it feels like what I want at the present.  But clearly, this school and this town are right for my FUTURE.  Yes, Mom, I want to live here now.”  (Yes, this is the kid whose birth blew my intuitive gifts open, BTW.  She is a conscious amazing powerhouse.)

Over the next couple of days, we explored the area more, saw the house we’d be renting, and I even took Clarise through the 7 Steps of the Resonant Yes system to clarify her choice, and to make sure she was at 100% Yes.  She was.  And our energy together was pulsing with enthusiasm. 

Negotiation with God successfully completed.   Perfect house locked in.  Clarise on board.  Miracle gates fully open! 

And the miracles kept rolling in.  

Opportunities for work.  

New friends for Clarise. 

Collaborations to create new things in the area.  

And then, as soon as we had the Resonant YES that we wanted to OWN property in Nevada City, the perfect big house on 20-acres of Cedar, Oak, Pine and Madrone trees dropped into my lap.  Located… get this… on the SAME creek that had Called me to this town in the first place!

We moved in less than a year later, and dubbed our new land Sacred Cedars.

Oh yes.

It was meant-to-be. 

This is my Home.

The miracles are still surprising me every day. 

Now, five years later, Sacred Cedars has become more than a beautiful home and a little hobby farm… chickens for eggs, hilarious goats to keep the brush down, and a beautiful swimming hole in the creek.    Now, due to more miraculous YES’s and my thriving business, along with a team of incredible co-creators, Sacred Cedars has become a sanctuary and retreat, complete with a chemical-free natural swimming pond, where you can relax on a sandy beach while gazing at 35 feet of rambling waterfalls, or swim with the tadpoles.   The cob sauna and outdoor kitchen for groups will be built this summer.  Our small onsite community practice conscious communication and joyful co-creation together with the land. 

Honestly, it feels perfect. A dream come true.

I believe it’s because we are flowing with this Resonant Yes, powered by intuition.

And we aren’t done yet!  Sacred Cedars is only just beginning to blossom – a co-creation with spirit and land – a place for ceremony, retreat, and learning.  

And I am in deep gratitude.  I intend to keep finding the YES!