My Story

I was born Amanda Virginia, the second and youngest daughter to my parents on the lands of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho in what is now called Denver, Colorado. 

I am the granddaughter of immigrants; a wild stew of Italian, Irish, Scottish, English, Scandinavian, Germanic and Romaní peoples of old Europe. Many of whose bones rest in the region of present day New York. 

I am also the granddaughter of a Muhheconneok (Mohican) chief whose son changed his name to VanGelder in order to try to fit in with white settlers. 

I’m the daughter of a complicated and messy lineage of mixed descent, finding myself born to a “new” land that is old to me. And within a culture that values looking forward, getting ahead, a fresh new start on fertile promising land, having left behind and forgotten about the stories of the peoples and the places from which we came—a culture within which many have been hurt, memory has been lost, and I’ve struggled to find where I belong.

I am many lives rolled into one; the call of my ancestors strong. Always mysteriously guiding me back to the original seeds I carry—the ones that only I can sow.

I am a woman born from an ancient lineage with an intact warrior spirit. An unrelenting creative with an internal spark that will not accept anything less than a fully awake, soul-led life of depth and meaning. 

I’m a medicine maker, basket weaver, fire maker, and a lover of story. And laughter. Lots of that.

I’m an apprentice to the old ways and the wisdom of our ancestors guiding us all back to our own original song. 

In some ways I’m an expert lemonade maker—a dancer who lost use of her body; an artist who lost use of her hands; an old soul born lost in these times but who is finding her way home.

Ten years ago I survived a high level spinal cord injury and mild head injury that left me paralyzed from the neck down. The major recovery period ensued for the following two years, some of which is ongoing, but all of which has blessed me in how I move through the world now.

It has been a journey, a fight, a triumph, a struggle, a love song, a wake up call, an ongoing challenge, a sweet embrace, and the greatest blessing I could ever imagine. It has been a trauma that has allowed me to recognize my strength, my resilience and to quest with the greater purpose of it all.

I am a woman who has been blessed with a wild journey through jagged terrain. And beauty. Enough to break my heart wide open. 

Our tears are our healers and our challenges are our greatest blessings. It is a knowing in my bones that each of us comes to this life carrying a specific gift—a medicine. There is purpose in what we go through, and it is in the breaking apart that we are able to let the light shine on the true purpose and meaning of our lives. 

I give thanks for my wild journey that has led me now, to you—where our paths cross.

I cannot wait to hear your story.