According to Wikipedia, a sabbatical is a “rest from work” or hiatus, typically lasting between 2 months to a year.

So many milestones in life have happened this year for me!

• I turned 40!
• I lived and volunteered in an intentional community assisting homeless and marginalized people for a year
• I grew my other web design business THREEFOLD
• I helped in the building and development of Rooted Folks Community Wellness
• I hosted some wonderful, nearly FULL Reiki classes
• I started a Druidry Podcast, and was even a finalist for an award with the Reformed Druids of North America
• I performed in a theatre production for the first time in 18 years at The Duluth Playhouse

I’m giddy with joy over the last year, but I’m choosing to take a step back to learn more things, envision the future, and set intentions in motion for the next phase of life and bodywork services. Therefore, at this time, I am no longer taking clients, and have subleased my space above the Electric Fetus to another practitioner.

I’m still not sure how long I’ll be away, or what things will look like, but I’m approaching this sabbatical with a very open and loving heart!

If you are in Duluth and looking for massage, bodywork, and holistic services, I recommend that you contact Rooted Folks Community Wellness at 218-727-8883.

Thank you all so much!

-Scott Schumacher

Paper Cranes

Originally uploaded by holisticgeek

This evening I attended a remembrance event for the 62nd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While at the Lyndale Park Peace Garden in Minneapolis, we were led on a procession by the Women in Black, learned the story of Sadako and folded paper cranes, then witnessed a commemorative Tea Ceremony.

Hiroshima Day is very special to me, as it is the time to remember the over 210,000 people who died in the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the past, I have participated in chalk drawings of body outlines to remember those who became only “shadows on pavement” as they were vaporized in the blasts.

Nuclear weapons have been declared illegal by international law, yet the United States maintains the largest, and ever increasing, arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. Today, the smallest nuclear bomb in any US arsenal is over five times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The largest nuclear device ever tested, a 50 megaton bomb, would have a blast area of 30 miles, sending out further fires from the blast, over 140 miles further from the blast area.

As we work for peace in the world, we should remember these 210,000 lives that were lost in a moment, and say “Never Again!”

This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world!