September retreat updates…
The September 4-9th dates for the Chiapas Highland Flow Writing Retreathave been secured. I’m reserving the five main house rooms with the option to expand into the full retreat center.
If you’re considering this retreat, I’d love your suggestions for a co-facilitator. Who would be your dream co-host with me? Reply with suggestions.
To reserve your spot, fill out the registration form and place a $250 deposit. Early bird and pay-in-full bonuses are available, as well as a 4-pay plan. 🤩
Dragon 🐉 Letters Guest Collab
In this week’s guest post, Jaimey Walking Bear, my longest coaching client (and qpp), shares captivating tales from his life with me in the lush landscapes of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, where we spent over five years living close to nature.
Our home, nestled in the Northern Highlands, served not only as a sanctuary for us but also for the local wildlife, including our slow-but-sometimes-fast-moving friends — the sloths.
Whether you’re a remote executive like Jaimey, work in a bustling office, or find yourself anywhere in between, the lessons from our sloth friends are universally applicable.
They invite us to slow down, pay attention to our surroundings, and integrate nature’s lessons into our lives. When we face challenges, the sloth’s approach reminds us to proceed without self-judgment and focus on solutions.
Sloth Lessons
by Jaimey Walking Bear
My partner, Ixchel Lunar, and I have lived and worked outside of the U.S. for nearly 7 years, the first five and a half in Matagalpa, Nicaragua (located in the Northern Highlands of the country).
For much of our time in Nicaragua, we were blessed to care for a home just outside and above Matagalpa, on the side of one of the mountain ranges that hugs the city below. It was close enough to be walkable into town and be in the community but far enough away that the 1/2 acre of mature trees surrounding us could serve as a Sanctuary for a wide variety of critters and plants—including regular visits from two-toed sloths.
The space we were caretaking was a bridge for our sloth friends to access other parts of the forest around us — with loads of places around the property and close to the house for them to rest/sleep in safety (like in the bougainvillea and pathos vines in the photo above). Sometimes, our security cameras would also catch them making their way along the eaves on the back side of the house.
Problem-Solving Without Judgement
Ixchel has helped me learn so much about Sloth behavior and medicine, which I keep with me in my somatic and freelancer toolkits.
Sloths have a rep for being slooooowww. The truth is, they’re deceptively fast. When a sloth is on the move, you might blink and be astonished by how much ground (well…trees and sky) they’ve covered.
They are masters at conserving their energy, taking intentional actions, and problem-solving — without judgment.
If you watch a sloth move in the trees, it’ll make sure its front claws have a firm hold on the next branch before it gives up its grip on the branch it’s leaving. It’s this intentionality that masks its speed brilliantly.
And if they hit a dead end, they just course correct—again—without judgment. Ixchel and I had seen it happen multiple times—in trees or along fences we shared with neighbors’ properties.
One morning, a sloth found its way from trees to the beams supporting the patio roof outside our kitchen. We heard a ruckus and were surprised and delighted for this extra-special-up-close visit, maybe 20 feet outside our back door (our German Shepherd, Hugo, was less delighted about the visit from inside the house).
Try as it might, it couldn’t make it from the end of the beam to the nearby trees, to get up to the nature reserve located a short distance above us. We tried multiple things to help create a bridge, holding up branches or a ladder to give it a bridge to make it from the patio to a mango tree just out of reach. Nothing doing.
(I don’t have pics of us problem-solving its escape. Forgot to pull out my Go Go Gadget arms to hold the ladder in place while also snapping pics 😅).
After a short while of trying to problem-solve this route on its own (and basically ignoring our efforts to help it out a little; no shade, Sloth friend-o 😉), it turned around and found an alternate tree route on its own. Again, without judgment, but not without us doing our level best to help it out a little.
Sloth Teaches Us Alchemy Through Surrender
My favorite oracle deck in Ixchel’s collection is the Wild Messengers deck by Lola Pickett (with divine watercolor art by Tanya Casteel). This deck blends animal medicine with traditional tarot.
In their deck, Sloth also represents managing resources and energy. It represents magic and alchemy, realized through a flow of Intention, taking Action, Surrendering to the process, and Trusting the outcome as medicine we need at the moment.
Sloth Teaches Us Loving Kindness
As creatives, leaders, and mischief-makers we so often let the negative self-talk creep in. When we’re overwhelmed or on the verge of burnout. When we tackle a new thing and are facing fear or challenges just outside of our challenge/skills ratio (which is about a 4% stretch, according to the Flow Research Collective). We all experience it, whether you’re a remote-first freelancer like me, work in an office full-time, or have a completely different life reality behind Door #3.
Sometimes, I pretend that folks working 100% remotely need to dip into our problem-solving bags more often, but that’s totally based on my own experiences and POV.
I know, of course, that’s not true. We each have our own version of being unregulated, overcapacity, or outside our comfort zones.
Regardless of where you live, Sloth’s wisdom is there for you to access — Intentionality, Surrender, Non-Judgment as a practice.
You’re also invited to slow down and pay attention to the flora and fauna around you—which exist even in dense city living—to learn and integrate the lessons those teachers have for you.
As we go about our lives and work, we can always feed a growth mindset by acting with purpose while also surrendering to the process. Leaning into the Sloth’s wisdom means making room for alchemy by trusting the outcome, even if it is not precisely what we envisioned at the start.
When we encounter obstacles, we can gently change course without berating ourselves.
For those of us prone to getting derailed by criticism of self and from others, Sloth gives us a gentle reminder to steer away from negative self-talk. By focusing on solutions instead of gaps between reality and ideals, we build the resilience to weather life’s curveballs with Grace and Curiosity.
When we make friends with the present moment exactly as it is, the next right step often comes into view. Sloth reminds us of this.
Stay wild, love fiercely. Your presence is golden.
With stardust and celestial love ✨🪐💫
xo Ixchel
P.S. I would love for you to learn how to keep your awe and wonder alive for your creative practice. Registration for the September Chiapas Highland Flow Writing Retreat is open!
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I was raised and bore children on the traditional, unceded, and stolen lands of the Coast and Central Valley Miwok (colonized as Petaluma, CA) and Nisenan (colonized as Sacramento and Fair Oaks, CA), past, present, and future. I also write, work, and live in the highland forest of the traditional, unceded and stolen lands of the Totonac, Nahua, and Mexicah, past, present, and future, in what is known as Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico.
P.P.S. I do not live or consent to the colonial impositions regarding the construct of Time. I also practice honoring rhythms of work, play, and rest so that I can serve you with embodied presence and with loving care. This means I may take several days to respond to your requests and questions. (h/t Eva Glamaris)
P.P.S. A mention is not necessarily an endorsement of someone. It’s an acknowledgment, a citation, of the origin of information in my process of understanding. (h/t Kelly Diels)
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Copyright © 2026, Cheyenne, WY, and Veracruz, Mexico, All rights reserved. Sharing your lineage of knowledge is decolonial. When iterating, please cite me. Not citing is epistemicide.
