Wild - To connect with the divinely wild sense of who we are as humans and the untidy but profound mystery that we are honored to live amidst

Lotus - the recognition that the deepest beauty grows out of muddy waters

Living - true healing is an everyday practice...it is a way of being... a living art

About Me

Wild Lotus Living is me - Summer Starr. 

I grew up on a small farm in the beautiful northwest of the United States and though I loved living close to animals and nature, I found myself drawn to big city life for most of my (admittedly short) adult life. I went to school in Seattle and San Diego, obtaining a BA and masters degree in International Development - focusing on non-profit management, microfinance and research methods.

My career in the development sector took me to Vietnam, Kenya, Ghana and India where I mostly worked on small grassroots development projects. The bulk of my experience was in Mumbai, India where I lived for 4 years.

But this was my professional life - during this time of profound professional development unbeknownst to me I was also developing some pretty dysfunctional mindsets and ways of being that were actually preventing me from bringing the fullness of my being to the work I was passionate about.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I spent many years either running from or trying really really hard to figure out what this really is for me. And yet all of this running and "figuring" was actually taking me away from the deeper calling that was trying to come through. This calling is a desire to reconnect with nature, including my own true nature, and become more mindful about how I am living on all levels of my being. From how I am conducting my relationships, to how I treat my body, to how I relate to the earth and how I am in community. What has come up as I have started to enter into this mindfulness is that I have been operating all of these aspects of my life on some pretty outdated programs based on ideas of disconnection from earth and each other, of scarcity, insecurity and hopelessness.

But along with all of the muddiness, my life experience has given me the gift of being a compassionate witness for some of the ugliest parts of humanity. It has brought me a depth of understanding about the human experience that connects me on a heart level to the wisdom traditions and scientific philosophers. As you will see in my blog, my path to re-connection to my true self is found in my re-connection with the earth and a divine sense of creation. I experience this as a heart and soul level awe about the mystery of the natural world and the sense of what lies beyond.

My ultimate dream is that each one of us is able to heal the false aspects of our selves and wake up to the fullness of our being.  That we learn to live simply and authentically, to care for all peoples and the earth that birthed us. That we commit to doing the hard but necessary work to untie the knots that bind us from realizing the truth and beauty of a more balanced co-creation.