PODCAST · religion
Wandering Willow Speaks
by Sam Messersmith
A refuge for reconnecting with nature and your inner world through reflective writing, wisdom, and gentle guidance. wanderingwillow.substack.com
Episodes
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Sometimes Forest Therapy Is Driving Twenty Feet
Sometimes you just gotta take your emotional support coffee over to the tree at the bank. Do you have any stories of the unique ways you engage with the more-than-human world? Bonus points if it includes being weird in public. Spread the word! Every comment, like, and restack helps this reach…
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Trying to Find Balance When You’re Feeling All Over the Place
The seasons are shifting, and maybe you’re feeling a little all over the place, too. Come sit with us for a bit. 🍂 Christie and I pulled cards for the equinox (fall up here in the Northern Hemisphere), and the conversation wandered into something I keep needing to hear myself: we’re allowed to...
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Introducing Embodied Writing: a monthly practice for paid subscribers
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com Sometimes I need a little space to hear myself. To feel where I am, notice what’s here, and let words come from that place. That’s what I’m inviting you into with Embodied Writing, a new monthly video...
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Lion's Gate Portal - All Signs Card Readings with Christie and Sam
In this video Christie Sausa, MS and I talk all things Lions Gate. We also do intuitive readings for all the astrological signs. Subscribe to Wandering Willow and get The 5-Minute Homecoming Zine free—a gentle embodied practice for reconnecting with yourself. There’s also cats. Because… cats. The...
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Please Don’t Pollinate My Boob
A bee landed on my boob. That’s right. A bee touched me without my consent, on a place I would prefer bugs not land. As I write this today, on August 7th, there has been such a theme of power playing out these past few weeks, squarely in Lionsgate portal season. The peak being tomorrow, August…
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The Return of Rooted Word Circle
Rooted Word Circle is a living breathing thing, and it’s been calling me back. Calling me back to offer it to the world. Rooted Word Circle is a live, one-hour poetry workshop on Zoom where we gather in community, write from a shared prompt, share a few words or lines, and weave our words…
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What Turkey Vultures Taught Me About Trolls
How the natural world shows us exactly what we need, when we need it. Join me for my next online gathering July 5th at 1pm EDT, open to paid subscribers. More info here https://wanderingwillow.substack.com/p/show-and-tell-for-grown-ups This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with...
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Gemini season + Tarot/oracle card pulls ♊️
Gemini season invites questions, reflection, overthinking, storytelling, and truth-telling. In this conversation with Christy of The ADHD Tarot , we wander through astrology, tarot, creativity, authenticity, nervous system safety, intuition, AI, burnout, and the courage to share your real voice…
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What in the world is Show & Tell for Grown-Ups?!
I’m not great at endings. Maybe I’m not great at beginnings either haha. I’m just out here keeping it as real as possible. In the age of AI, I’m finally ok with my flaws and imperfections, and my 10 fingers. I made the above video explaining what the heck Show & Tell for Grown-Ups is about. The...
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Liminal Writing: A Conversation with Amanda Saint
There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to talk about the liminal space. Good thing - for you - this video is just under 40 minutes Amanda and I chatted about the liminal space, and how I found myself there. I’m learning that I’m a liminal being at this point. I’ve fully set up camp in the...
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Wacky, wild, and somewhat fiery life update
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com Hello wanderers! This is me giving a mostly casual, slightly feral life update. In the video I mentioned how I’m going live with Amanda Saint on Wednesday May 27 at 11:00am ET, here is the link...
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ADHD & the Wild Mind: Finding Focus Through Nature
In this live conversation, Sam and Christie explore the relationship between nature and ADHD—through lived experience, not just theory. Sam shares how forest therapy became a turning point during burnout and panic attacks, describing it as a heart-based, relational practice where “the forest is…
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Are You Feeling Unseen? Make a Video.
Sometimes the thing we’re craving most isn’t more attention… it’s actually seeing ourselves. In this episode of Wandering Willow Speaks, I follow a thread that started with a simple question: “Today is, are you feeling unseen? Make a video.” And it goes somewhere deeper than just “go make…
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Joy is a currency
Joy is a Currency (video at the top) This started with a question I asked this morning: If I’m in the right place, following the nudges…why isn’t the money showing up? What came through wasn’t an answer I could logically work with. It was this: joy is a currency. I don’t fully understand what…
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Pizza is a Spiritual Practice
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com/subscribe
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Following the Nudge: A Live Conversation on Intuition with Diane Pienta
I had the pleasure of hosting a live video with the magical Diane Pienta. She, like me, is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. She is also the author of Be The Magic: Bite-Sized Nuggets of Wisdom to Feed your Joy, Nourish your Soul and Open you…
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Creating while neurodivergent, spirituality, and other randomness
Thank you Brad Did, Ana-Maria Janes, and many others for tuning into my live video with Christie Sausa, MS! We took many tangents on this one. Pretty much how ADHD works, especially with my brain. The midlife mind ain’t doing me any favors either. We chatted about cats, beverages, astrology…
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The Midriff Myth
Content note: This essay discusses body image struggles, diet culture, and the ways girls’ bodies are shaped by harmful cultural messaging. It was the 90s. I was a teen, and the word midriff was used a lot. Mostly because we weren’t allowed to expose it in school. Not that I would have been...
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I met my husband at a gas station
Sometimes love stories start in the most unexpected places. Mine started behind a gas station counter with a guy who had hazel eyes that wouldn't quit. What followed: an elaborate party scheme, floor food, terrible decision-making, and a 2am text that somehow led to 15+ years of marriage. Listen…
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 6
There’s a rhythm to this Advent journey — each day revealing a new facet of the path you’re walking. Some days move you outward, toward wonder and possibility; others draw you inward, inviting steadiness, clarity, and truth. Today’s message meets you right in that inner terrain. If the previous...
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 5
Today’s message moves us deeper into the unfolding journey of this Advent season. If the past few days have invited you to step into the mystery and plant a tender seed of hope, today brings a sense of nourishment — a reminder that something ancient, generous, and wildly abundant is already...
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 4
Today’s message moves us deeper into the unfolding journey of this Advent season. If the past few days have been about entering the unknown and trusting what you can’t yet see, today offers a sense of grounding — a reminder that you are held, supported, and accompanied by something ancient and...
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 3
Today’s card invites us to stay open to the unexpected and trust the path that’s unfolding beneath our feet. Card of the Day: Nothing Is Impossible — Ancient Stones Oracle Nothing Is ImpossibleOpen to the unexpected. You’ll find a way. Audio Summary (provided by AI) Today’s card comes from the...
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 2
The key is asking us to double down on the message from Day 1. Will you embrace the mystery of life and step into the unknown? Card of the Day: Key from The Fairy Tale Heroine Oracle Audio Summary (provided by AI) Today’s card from the Fairytale Heroine Oracle is Key, a symbol of thresholds,...
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🌲 ORACLE CARD ADVENT x Day 1
The day arrives with that subtle shift in the atmosphere — the moment before snow, the moment before dawn. Ravens appear in these in-between spaces, carrying messages you only hear when you stop trying to control the outcome. Card of the Day: Mystery from The Moon Deck Audio Summary (AI…
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Paid Subscriber Astrology Update: New Moon, Retrograde, and Remembering Your Light
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com Astrology Check-In: New Moon, Retrograde Lessons, and What’s Shifting Beneath the Surface The days around the new and full moons tend to heighten everything—intuition, emotions, clarity, and the urge to...
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Soulstice Chat with Sam & TeriLeigh
Winter has a way of stripping life back to its bones.This season arrives quietly at first—the leaves thinning, the mornings darkening—but then one day you look outside and realize, “there’s no color left.” This was the heart of the conversation in our recent live chat: two sensitive humans naming...
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Dark, cold, grey, AND Sensitive!
🌙 Replay: Cold, Dark, & Sensitive Souls Mercury retrograde, time changes, and gray skies — oh my!In this candid and cozy chat, Sam of Wandering Willow and TeriLeigh of HUSH ~ Highly Unapologetic Sensitive Humans dive into how sensitive and neurodivergent souls feel the shift into the darker...
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Listening to the Forest: How Trees Guide Our Lives
Wandering Willow is a space for reflection, rewilding, and deep connection—with yourself, nature, and the stories that shape your life. Rooted in Forest Therapy and a passion for storytelling, you’ll find musings on nature’s wisdom, the heart’s wild truth, and the journey of remembering who you...
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Making space for what we carry and Join us in October 🌿
Thank you Salwa, Teri Leigh 💜, Sherry Taveras, Rhiannon, Eddie Burns, and many others for tuning into my live video with Jeannie Ewing! In our conversation, we explored how grief shows up not only through loss, but also in life’s transitions, shifting identities, and unexpected moments. We…
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What Happens When We Gather and Create
Live Reflection: Community, Nature, and Creativity In today’s spontaneous live, I shared about the beauty of gathering in community and how vulnerable it can feel to be seen while creating together. From conversations with trees and birds to noticing how nature holds us without judgment, I...
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Tarot Chat - ruminating on reversals & more✨
Thank you Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Jenny K, and many others for tuning into my live video with Christie Sausa, MS! Exploring Tarot Reversals: Light, Shadow, and Intuition This conversation dives deep into the practice of reading tarot reversals—those moments when a card appears upside down in a spread....
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Wednesday Chat - tarot decks revealed & more
Thank you Corie Feiner, Anne Wareham, Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Rhiannon, and many others for tuning into my live video with Christie Sausa, MS! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes…
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Tuesday Chat - diet, ADHD and everything else
Live Conversation Recap: ADHD, Diet, and Finding Your Voice I had the pleasure of going live with Christie Sausa, a writer from Medium who shares powerful insights about ADHD and neurodivergence. What started as a conversation about diet and ADHD became a deep dive into authenticity, friendship...
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Rooted in Words: Writing Together in Community🌱
Wandering Willow is a space for reflection, rewilding, and deep connection—with yourself, nature, and the stories that shape your life. Rooted in Forest Therapy and a passion for storytelling, you'll find musings on nature’s wisdom, the heart’s wild truth, and the journey of remembering who you...
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Celebrate Earth Day with nature poems & forest wisdom
This post is an AI summary using my writing voice, based on the transcript of the live video chat. On Earth Day, I found myself in good company: Corie Feiner, some beautiful humans from Substack, and the quiet companionship of poems, memories, and the hum of the forest within me. I shared a bit...
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Crafting an Abundant Money Mindset
Thank you Teri Leigh 💜, Angela Bigler, and many others for tuning into my live video withDr. Axel Meierhoefer 🏕️🔥 and Courtney Cunningham! Join me for my next live video in the app. The Power of Conviction: Investing, Balance, and Trusting Your Choices In any journey—whether in life…
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Breaking Free and Thriving: Our Journey to an Abundant Money Mindset
Thank you Teri Leigh 💜, Kathleen Thorne RN, LMT, and many others for tuning into my live video with Teri Leigh 💜 and Courtney Cunningham! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...
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Wednesday night random chat
I did not know it was recording when it said it was “connecting” LOL. Playing around with the live feature from the Substack app. Watch if you are bored and want to see my cats. See how ridiculous I am. Should I do more live videos? What do you wanna chat about? Let me know in the comments. Join…
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Seasons, Cycles, and a Birthday
Burden is the word. Though I much prefer the word to be “bird.” (The bird is the word, always.) This past week has felt very heavy. ... My season of winter, of rest and of doing nothing. Which is really, truly something. If you are interested in a Nature and Forest therapy session, I am offering…
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How Nature and Forest Therapy Changed My Life
After a dark night of the soul, the forest helped me to remember who I truly am This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com/subscribe
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Summertime Glimmers
Glimmers are embodied moments where our presence is the pleasure. Summer brings many glimmers, a lot of which are food related. Exploring some of my favorite glimmers in today's episode. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus…
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Brambles and Berries
When life gives you thorns, reach for the berries. What is a bramble anyway? Listen to find out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wanderingwillow.substack.com/subscribe
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A refuge for reconnecting with nature and your inner world through reflective writing, wisdom, and gentle guidance.
wanderingwillow.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Sam Messersmith
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Wandering Willow Speaks have?
Wandering Willow Speaks currently has 43 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Wandering Willow Speaks about?
A refuge for reconnecting with nature and your inner world through reflective writing, wisdom, and gentle guidance. wanderingwillow.substack.com
How often does Wandering Willow Speaks release new episodes?
Wandering Willow Speaks has 43 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Wandering Willow Speaks?
You can listen to Wandering Willow Speaks on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Wandering Willow Speaks?
Wandering Willow Speaks is created and hosted by Sam Messersmith.
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