You are entering the Nicole Zone. Be aware, very aware, you will most likely emerge altered in some significant way as a result. All kidding aside, I do feel a warning is merited. The volume of what I have and want to share is pretty epic and Open Heart, Open Hands is an ongoing unfolding of who I am and what I have to offer, which like me, is BIG! I love big, write big, think big and am generally the most voluminous being in most spaces. This doesn’t mean your encounter here will reflect that. The nice thing about this format is that you get to absorb or interact at your own pace and in whatever way suits you at whatever time of day or night works best for you.

I am just starting on this next leg of my adventure and this blog and website will be the dock for my ship when I am in port. I’ll be sailing the spiritual seas and sending messages back, not in bottles, but here. This website is in the nascent phase of its creation. I have no idea what it will morph into, but I wanted a large platform for all of what I have to offer. I am so grateful for the opportunity to find ways to serve Holiness through this particular vessel/screen/method of interaction and engagement.

As someone who has spent her entire life riding and attending to the waves of feeling and emotion of those around me and the planet, Open Heart, Open Hands is the best description of who I am and how I want to be in the world. I also think it is a model that can serve others. I don’t feel I have yet found the best way to be of service to this planet and the people on it. I know that this journey is a process and I may never find THE BEST WAY. I am committed to finding a better way for my future though. I’m excited to share this journey with you!

Open Heart, Open Hands is foremost intended to be a resource for folks on a spiritual journey, a place to learn about rituals that may be helpful for you when handling anything painful or wondrous, a very Jewishly flavored place to encounter the gems of the Jewish tradition without having to be Jewish or speak or know Hebrew. It’s also a resource for parents and folks in relationships. I have raised many children, besides my own, and been learning and offering help to folks navigating the various challenges and delights of parenting, which doesn’t stop when your children become adults. I’ve been married now for twenty-six years. I serve as a Lay Leader for my local Jewish community and I am also the Chair of the Humboldt Hevra Kadisha (the Jewish Sacred/Burial society). I have dealt with illness, death, dying and all things connected to these for many years and want to share what I have found and know.

This is also a place to stop the violence, noise and news of the world that inserts itself into all of our lives and tends to color them in a swath of fear, anxiety and nastiness. This is a warm and fuzzy and playful place, a loving place, an honest place for examining hard feelings or difficult subjects but without being bombarded or violated by doing so.

This is a place for growing your heart and opening up your hands and reaching for more; more connection to beauty, to holiness, to grace, to each other, to healing, to the planet, to all beings here with us, those in pain and those who give delight. It’s also a place of contemplation, where you can linger if you like in one section or poem and see what comes forth.

If you were to physically engage with me, what you would encounter would be a woman whose heart is the most important muscle spiritually and physically. If I could feed, love, heal and nourish all the folks I encountered on this planet, I would. I cannot physically do that, but I can offer here, in this place, a large menu of care and ideas to engage and support your bodies, hearts and minds.

I hope you find much here that will help you Open your Heart and your Hands.

Big Love,