Hi! A warm welcome to this humble website! Most people call me Frances. You can call me that too, but I’m not super attached to it – I’ve been blessed with many nicknames and I’ve enjoyed most of them. My father named me after the country France, which he was very fond of back in the 80’s. I don’t know what he loved about France in particular, but I’m guessing it was the various cheeses. He used to smuggle some home via his carry-on-luggage on the plane. The aviation folks don’t like you to do that, but what can I say, my dad was a rule breaker 😉 And that worked great for me, because I LOVE cheese.
Currently, I live in Kentucky with my husband, two children, two cats and a sourdough starter (yes, it counts as a pet – I feed and water it everyday and sometimes talk to it too). We used to have several ducks and chickens, but all that remains from that now are two roosters (long story!).
I was born and raised in the wild urban jungle that is Manila, in the Philippines. We had road rules there, just like most cities do, but you wouldn’t think it. It was funny watching the colorful jeepneys, taxis and buses do all sorts of interesting maneuvers in heavy traffic. Of course the private cars participated too, but the public vehicles – they were grand masters! I spent way too many hours of my childhood on the road, travelling from home to school and back again, as it usually took 6x the amount of time to get from A to B. Like any third world city, Manila as I experienced it was a melting pot of hustle and bustle, rich with variety; stark contrasts evident at every turn, such as slums backdropping shiny high-rise buildings and street food vendors thriving amongst fancy restaurants.
I left home when I was 19 to study in the UK. I lived and worked there for 10 years. I was in London for 8, where I had a wonderful time sampling world cuisines and enjoying all the musicals, plays, concerts, indie films and art exhibits I could afford. I met my husband Sam, and not long after, we moved to the US. We lived in blustery downtown Chicago for 5 years, and it was during this time that our children were born.
Disenchanted from city life, we moved to the suburbs of North Dallas, where we grew a small food forest supported by native plants. We raised our first flock of 12 hens and discovered the joy of fresh eggs and Chicken TV (chicken antics are far more entertaining than television). Two years later, we took a leap of faith and moved to the countryside – 13 hours’ drive away, to a small town tucked between forested hills in beautiful Kentucky. We became debt-free (and BS-free in so many ways, haha!) and set up a little homestead. We grew fruits and veggies, foraged wild herbs and berries, raised ducks and chickens for eggs and meat, adopted a dog and two cats, harvest rainwater from our roof and hillside, practiced more ways of sourcing and preserving food, learned how to cook and heat our home with fire, and joined the farmers market community in town where we offered baked yummies, wildflower bouquets and microgreens. We played in the creek, hung out in the woods and zoomed around our fields with an ATV. We picked up frogs, snakes, turtles and salamanders; saw deer, beavers, owls, cranes, vultures, opossums, cayotes, woodpeckers, hawks, Canada geese and goslings and some fascinating-looking bugs. Ah, the sweet country life!
We’ve lived here now for 2 years and 4 months and have collected many rich experiences, adventures and stories. This magical place will always be very special to me, because it was here that my heart was opened into remembrance of who I truly am: infinite consciousness in human form, having an experience here on earth. In the peacefulness and awe-inspiring beauty of this little valley, I accepted the invitation to transmute and release the lifetime of dense energies I carried around in my body and field – the big, heavy stuff such as anger, sadness, resentment, fear, loneliness, lack and control.
After many cycles of clearing (ie crying ^__^) from the inner work, from deep introspection, I am now able to listen better to the wisdom within and around me, without the muddy filters of my traumas. And with a little (ok, a lot!) help from my multidimensional friends I remember what I came here to do. I’m here to love myself, and by extension others, unconditionally, and to spread and make contagious the message of unconditional love. See, didn’t I tell you I love cheese? 😉
I am also here to help build the new earth, as well as to support the bridge to it. I am beyond excited for what’s to come!
I dream of stewarding several acres one day, of living off the land with friends and soul family. I envision living within forests and gardens, and by springs, creeks and ponds that offer an abundance of food, water, craft + building materials, shelter and nurturing spaces for work, rest, play, expression and connection. Somewhere where I can watch the sun rise and set each day, and look up at a star-covered sky at night. A welcoming place where I can host retreats, festivals, markets and learning opportunities. But for now, I am called back to the road. Travel and stories await. And perhaps that perfect piece of land is waiting for me to stumble upon it too.
Why Wildflower On Tour?
I love wildflowers.
They are resilient, irrepressible, beautiful in the most free and romantic way, and simply… magical. They are full of color and are always in service to the whole. They return every spring, providing nourishment to a wide range of creatures, including the ones who live in the soil. These gorgeous flowers patiently transform into seeds, which fall to the ground or are taken by the wind to faraway places. Or they hitch a ride on birds and furry animals. The seeds, strong and everlasting, can stay dormant in the ground for years on end. They sprout when the conditions are right; they emerge where their unique qualities are needed. Their purpose is to return the ecosystem into balance, so that all beings can thrive in abundance.
Last spring, we said no to our neighbor’s offer to bush-hog (country-speak for running a giant mower hooked up to a tractor) our fields, and as a result we were treated to a breathtaking show of color, which changed every few weeks. Blankets of purple, pockets of red and orange.. tender patches of lilac and streets of bright yellow. One week towards the fall, it was all white across the entire field! It was a pollinator’s wonderland! The flowers – oh how they tugged at my heart! They spoke to me, invited me to be with them, to see myself in them, and themselves in me.
I’ve long aspired to be like these native plants, to share in their qualities. However, I am discovering more and more each day that my true self is by nature, a wildflower. And I see that we are all that way in our core – underneath all our traumas, limiting beliefs, programming and societal conditioning, we are very much like the wildflowers. We are one with this grand dance of life, death and rebirth – not separate from it.
And so, after quite a long while of experiencing the illusion of separation, it is now time to bloom, to go “on tour” and grow with the others; to celebrate what makes us unique, and to remember how our diversity is key to balance – every blessed piece giving rise to the ever-expanding masterpiece. It is time, dear friends, to walk back towards our one-ness.
We are never alone. We have always belonged.
I love these words from my very wise sister:
“We are made to feel alone in the deep work, but our seeds are planted right next to one another.
We have to walk it with our own feet but we walk together.” – Colibri Moonbow