ABOUT

Welcome to the playground of rachelawes.com ~ a place where you are invited to be yourself.
Where you are accepted and treasured for the rise and fall of your chest, the dreams in your heart and the distinct you who you miraculously offer the world every gloriously messy day.

I believe:

We are all treasure chests with hearts in the middle and we get to make room for what really belongs inside:

Water, mandalas, surprises, creating, intertwining with the good, compassion for suffering, planting, marinating, being our fullest selves, growing, being authentic, giving and receiving, dressing up as ourselves, being deliberate with what we keep in and what we keep out, engaging in what we love and with who we love, listening to what we want and to what brings us joy, trusting our thoughts and voice, waking up to wonderment, and pressing imperfectly on.

Gems will appear when we listen. Voices will be heard. Even sung. They have been there all along. Needing to be mined.

And they are all mine and they are all yours.

Some of the ways I get to meet the amazement of you are through my work as a:

psychologist

Out of a private practice in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I am passionate about traveling beside people and being on the look-out for your gold, encouraging sight of your beauty, and fully living it out.
I like words and art that bridge my heart to yours. That say hello. You matter. Thank you. Possibility.

As a psychologist of 28 years, I have had the great honor of listening to what human beings most deeply long for. We need to know: we aren’t alone, we hold worth beyond measure, we can trust and use our voice, we can cope well with vulnerability and imperfection, we can experience compassion for ourselves and others, we can dare to express our authenticity, we can be empowered and selective in our relationships, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt we belong.

These are all experiences I am passionate about, and it is my greatest honor to be invited into all of these conversations with you.

You can read more about my psychology practice here.

author

Who wrote and illustrated The Relationship Book: A Soulful, Transformational, and Artistic Inventory of Your Connective Life. This book is a soulful exploration of the many relationships in your life for leveled up intimacy, a deeper sense of belonging, and awakened confidence.

Who wrote and illustrated the book The Great Green Okayness: A Field Guide to Seeing Your Uncommon Magnificence, published April 18, 2016 with Wise Ink Creative Publishing. These pages are designed to remind you of your magnificence through pages of colorful and deep encouragement.

Who wrote and illustrated the book all i did was listen, inspired by the many times I gasped in hearing the beautiful things my therapy clients have said. I didn’t want to keep these lovely words to myself and sensed the gaspy moments were not only individual stories but all of our stories. I gathered them up, wrote prose-like reflections for each one and followed the wisdom of my younger son to begin creating art, and got busy drawing pictures to befriend them all.

Who wrote and illustrated the book diving in, inspired by my experience of swimming and recognizing the singular beauty that exists in feeling more fully alive. The pages are an invitation for you to come alongside.

You can listen to me read pages from my books here and find them available here.

art playgroundist

Where making art feels like recess to me. Wind in my face. Swing sets. A wide-open field and running it with all my friends.

I play shop and offer books, art, and speaking. My work has been featured on Twin Cities Live television, in YMCA venues, at Brave Girl’s Symposium for women in Idaho, to groups of artists through Art is You, in Artful Blogging and Somerset Life magazines, Sprout and Wild Sister online magazines, The Breaking Free online talk show, SARK’s WINS video and SARK’s Succulent Wild World, and on a bunch of blogs i just lovelovelove.

If you are also hoping to express yourself in some creative way, my encouragement is this. Write out pages of your ordinary thoughts. Spill you on to the page. Then read your life. Notice what moves you. Don’t judge. Pull out crayolas. Let cornflower tell your story or all one hundred and twenty colors. In words. In pictures. Send love to your whole story. Play with it all.

You can see some of my art here.

rachel awes in bugg tunic autumn extra 2

Thank you for being here. Please make yourself at home and check out all that’s here: my blog and freebies and more links sprinkled throughout!

If you have any questions or comments about my art, books, speaking, counseling services, and would like to connect, I’d love to hear from you at rachelawes@gmail.com

I am dearly grateful you are here. Both in your living and in your visiting me.

Straight from my heart to yours,

Rachel

P.S!

I am also a clothing ambassador for a Swedish designer named Gudrun Sjoden at GudrunSjoden.com and it’s mostly what you will see me wearing! I love her patterns and colors, how new designs release every season, how happy they make my heart, and most importantly how I feel like myself in them!