Dragonfly Cottage has been many things since it’s inception in 1999, the year that I left a 30 year marriage and my whole world went through a Phoenix cycle of crashing and burning and rising again (and again and again and again through the years). I left the large home that I had lived in, raised my children in, and thought I would live the rest of my life in, and moved into a tiny white cottage with a little white picket fence. I had to climb a scary iron staircase to get up into the cottage and my tiny abode was nestled in the trees in the sky, it was like living in a treehouse.
That first summer, wading through a sea of depression and sometimes suicidal thoughts the dragonflies began to visit me. In my little garden they were always there but in all manner of places that one would never expect to see them. They were everywhere. They would land on my shoulder and just sit there for long periods of time. I began to go through a deep transformation as I realized that the dragonfly was my totem and was here to teach me and guide me. The dragonfly leads one out of the darkness and into the light and he surely has led me to the light over and over again all these years. In August of 1999 I had a very large dragonfly tattoo put on the back of my right, writing hand to remind me to always use my writing for spiritual good. It was an act of taking on the mantle of spiritual warrior and healer, and a shamanic journey began.
In the autumn of 1999 I would do something that would forever change my life. I started Dragonfly Cottage Community For Women and could not have dreamed what an impact it would have. By the end of the first week hundreds of women had joined seeking a safe haven as I had, one where the precepts that I felt sacred and held to firmly in the community, loving-kindness and compassion, non-judgment and acceptance of others, no sexual content whatsoever, and other rules that were put in place so that the women who came to my community knew, upon entering, that they were honored, valued, and celebrated, and that no one would remain a member of the community if they did not adhere to the rules. Dragonfly Cottage Community for Women continued through 2006 when I closed it because my heart wanted to reach a wider world.
In 2007 I created my long running blog, Maitri’s Heart, that to date has had almost 2 million visitors from around the world. I have moved that blog to this website, with all of the archives. There is a dropdown menu on the top of the right hand column with the entries all the way back to 2007. The blog continues on here on the website on the main page and will be the heart of my work here.
As the years have gone along I lived number of different places until finding my way to the real and permanent Dragonfly Cottage in 2010, but every place that I lived through the years was Dragonfly Cottage. The cottage became not just a physical location but a state of mind. The journey that I have been on since 1999 to reach this place has been so profound it is difficult to put it into words but what Dragonfly Cottage came to represent to me, and what I believe it offers others, is a vision that no matter who you are, what your life is, or wants to be, it is possible to find and create a life for yourself that fits you, even if no one else understands. We all have the power to travel out of the darkness and into the light. The vision of my cottage is one that I hold inside, it is the light that I always journey towards. With my garden and animals, in silence and in solitude, and in a cloistered world I live and work as a writer and artist, a healer and teacher, and I offer my work, my life, my love through this website now, and the community that I am creating, through this online venue, to help others find their own source of light, to find peace, health, and happiness and a life that they, too, can create to live the life of their dreams, the one where they can seek, find, and live their full potential. This is my solemn vow.
Ten years ago I had the most profound and startling experience of my lifetime. I sat alone in the little cottage I lived in at the time and was in such a deep depression I was at the brink of suicide. I could see no way out. Suddenly, through my tears, I looked up and was stunned to see, floating in through my patio door which stood ajar, the largest and most beautiful dragonfly I had ever seen. He was golden and shimmery. He came to me and landed softly on my hand. He stayed with me for half an hour and allowed me to get up and walk around with him so that I was able to get my camera and take a number of photographs. There was a miraculous communication during which all thoughts of suicide disappeared. His message was that I was to move forward as a teacher, a healer, and a guide to help others find their way to the light. In that moment my life changed forever and the seeds of the life that I would live until I die were planted.
Having worked with people in all different settings for over 30 years teaching the journal writing method for healing and to connect to the divine within I went on to become a Reiki Master, A Shamballa Master Healer, was ordained as an interfaith minister, and continued to publish my writings and do my art, both visual art and fiber art. As I moved away from the outside world to this place of solitude I have begun to craft both a life for myself and a way to help others through this medium.
Afterward…
On the night of February 5, 2014, Dragonfly Cottage burned to the ground leaving a shell of a house. I lost 4 precious parrots that I had hand-raised from babies and had for nearly 20 years. I still weep over their loss. But the contents of the house don’t matter and I plan to begin again. I got my precious pugs out the back of the house but couldn’t reach the front where my little parrots were. That loss will cut deep for the rest of my life, but once more the Phoenix will rise again…
Update, April 2019…
I started this webpage in 2013, the year before the fire, and wrote the Afterward the year after the fire in 2015. It is now 2019 and in 3 days, on April 30, I will turn 65. It has been a lifetime, “Dragonfly Cottage” is 20 years old this year. I am now creating a world through pictures intended for a “picture book for adults” about Maisie and Daisy, my alter-ego and my little chihuahua mix Molly (Daisy) that I adopted in January after losing the last of my pugs in December, the day after Christmas. I had adopted 11 pugs over the years and lost 3 last year. It was too much, my pugs were my heart, and they will be in my heart forever but now Molly and I carry on, and through Maisie and Daisy’s story my message to the world is that you can live the biggest, brightest, most expansive life possible within whatever life and limitations you may have. I am agoraphobic among other things but oh what a marvelous life I have here.
Now my life is about my art and writing, and I am beginning to garden again, in pots, for the first time since the fire 5 years ago. Our lives are ever expanding, there are limitless possibilities for us all. May your world be merry and bright. You can follow the blog to read about my journey and I will be creating a new webpage dedicated to the creation of Maisie and Daisy’s world.
I Am Sending You Warm Regards and Deepest Blessings To All. Welcome to Dragonfly Cottage!
