Solo Passage

Summary

In her search to find healing and meaning in midlife, Glenda Goodrich undertakes a series of wilderness quests into the backcountry of Oregon, Washington, and California to discover what the natural world has to teach her about life, death, happiness, spirituality, and forgiveness.

This book chronicles the sacred ceremonies that connected Goodrich to the land, wove her into nature’s web, and transformed her from a woman who worked to please others into a woman who forged her own path. It is a brilliant collection of adventures—the touch of coyote fur, a snake’s kiss, a ceremonial blood offering—and a profound reflection on the healing and restorative power of nature.

"Glenda Goodrich’s mesmerizing memoir of her over twenty years of solo wilderness quests is an exhilarating and tender read. In moving and penetrating prose, she faces her fears, grief, regrets, even transgressions with the trees, rocks and creatures as her companions. Supported by the wisdom of the Medicine Wheel traditions and able guides, she stunningly recreates her sacred ceremonies as she more fully embraces her artist, wise woman self."

—Wendy Judith Cutler, co-author of Writing Alone Together: Journalling in a Circle of Women for Creativity, Compassion and Connection and co-editor of Finding Home Within: Sanctuary and Solace During Tumultuous Times

About the Author

As an artist, art doula, SoulCollage® facilitator, writer, and convener of ceremony, Glenda Goodrich brings together earth-based rituals, community gatherings, and creative expression in a search for new ways to show love for the Earth. She feels most alive exploring wild places and spending time with her two children, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Glenda lives in a cottage in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.