Paméla Overeynder

ABOUT ME I grew up in a small farming town in south Texas. From the beginning, I loved being in nature. My parents wisely allowed me the freedom to explore the great outdoors, a gift that is hardly possible in today’s world. I studied the fruit orchards, the cotton and carrot fields, the local drainage ditch with its fecund life of squiggly creatures and tadpoles that magically turned into frogs. I adopted baby mice and injured birds, wounded animals of every kind. Some nights I slept in the backyard, under the sparkling stars. My early interests led me to become an environmental activist, healing practitioner, and nature-focused retreat facilitator. Along the way, I have always written—personal journals, poetry, and more recently, essays. I am the author of one volume of poetry, Bird of the Present Moment, published by Plainview Press. My life and writing have been deeply influenced in the last thirty years by the study and practice of various mystical traditions, especially Sufism, which like most mystical religions views all life as sacred revelation—the divine invisible made visible in a world meant to be lived in wholeness. My new book, SACRED KINSHIP, is both a celebration of the sacredness of nature, and a deep reflection on what it means to be human in these times of great turmoil and ecological collapse. It is my hope that my intimate communion with nature and spirit will inspire others to awaken to the fragile beauty of the natural world. Each of us is called to offer our gift, the one thing that is uniquely ours to give. This book is my gift. I live in Austin, Texas near the banks of Barton Creek with my partner, Patricia, and our magical black cat, Luna.