Allison Nicole

Mile 3, or 4. We make it to the first trail junction and stop. “Anyone feeling hot in their shoes?” No answer. I feel my feet and search the faces of the group, it’s hard to tell. “Let me know…this is a good time to stop a blister before it makes trouble,” Everyone seems well. I haven’t heard a gunshot in the last half hour. I think Dan was right about the hunters tapering off mid-day. I still feel cautious, “So…if you move off trail make some noise,” We scatter to find places to crouch and pee. I rustle leaves kicking left and right, and pull my orange hood over my head. Turning back, I see four of us behind trees or in bushes. I notice the light shining through Clara’s elder woman bouffant, w ... read more

I arrive at the potluck. I had convinced myself that I had no time to make the salad I was now holding. Baby spinach, green onion curlicues, sharp cheddar, smoked almonds, dried cranberry, sesame oil, fresh from the back of my car: trunk salad. Yes, I had placed it there before dance, but after the coffee date which came after the faculty meeting following a French toast breakfast n’ phone call. I have arrived. I am holding a cool salad….I smile, being cool…feeling as if I’ve been on a loop d’ loop all day long. There is so much happening, happening here. I make my way through the entry -waving, sloshing the salad bowl to the kitchen onto the table, a plentiful spread. I open a beer, head to the back deck, a second story offshoot ... read more

I was obviously going the other way. Everyone else was headed that direction. That direction being, all the tents I saw from the window of the ferry. Traveling from Victoria to Seattle was easy. The “Victoria Clipper” was a lot like a plane on water with seats, trays, stewards, and a movie. Customs was easy too. A woman asked me where I lived, “Bloomington, Indiana.” Done. I walked away from Pier 69 heading east. Being in opposition of the crowd was a delight, like a front row seat in a people zoo. I had a good sense where these people were headed, but no idea of why. At first, I thought fair or concert. But, it could have been a sporting event, or some occasion like the arrival of an important ship, or departure of someone ... read more

Camping on the edge of the world, Cape Flattery in the distance, the edge of the continent…brings me to the edge of myself. I blend with the serious depth of the Pacific crash, rushing in, receding. It is the same as city traffic sounds fluid, but organic. I’ve emerged from the Ashland Hakomi circle into the wilderness with a friend- out one chute, into another. We’ve decided to make this Olympic Trek together Olympia to Victoria, BC in 4 days. He takes time now to do what he needs to do, what this remoteness inspires him to do. I sit on this abandoned driftwood and write surround by mist…. There is something churning and curious about the Pacific coast this far north, mythic…ethereal. The grey is bright and warming, although the air is cool, and angular ... read more

It comes up so quickly in this work for me, being completely aware in a very young state. I have questions around how to best serve this when it comes out. Here, I am very alive, but often very afraid. In Hakomi, we practice safety and techniques to work with child states, to know when they are emerging and how to roll with them, be with them. The method in full session form is a precise, elegent, non-violent channel to “evoke” and work with these states. What we are doing is re-accessing, and re-wiring neural circuits by moving through patterns that were perhaps not wired to their best use early on. Changing brain patterning is no easy ride and yet if it is necessary for a person, there is no other way. My infant circuits are ... read more