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willowonearth

@willowonearth

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🌎 @atmos co-founder & editor-in-chief
✍🏼 “The Overview” book & newsletter
🎙️ “The Nature Of” podcast host

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Made it to Scorpio season: give me passion, scrutiny, come get this work, vengeance, cackling! But also— what. the. fuck. 🖤❤️‍🩹

1) image of mountain range with coast, & field if orange flowers. A rainbow cascades. In the middle is white cream in cursive: what the fuck @postwook

2) gradient, rainbow background, black text: first lunatic in my bloodline to be self-aware

3) asian woman sings Boyz II Men while typing at keyboard. Subconsciously is going in on Down on bended knee

4) a black background with a teal fuzzy butterfly silhouette. White text in the lower left corner: you pity the moth / confusing a lamp for the / Moon. Yet here you are / confusing a screen for / the world. - Jay Alto, @atmos @willowonearth

4) image of Elmo with arms out. Sesame Street style text - U is for Ughh! I like it like that, she work in that back I don’t know how to act

5) @biggiethebigjowls A sweet lab hound with a powdered sugar face looks up in front of a small pumpkin.

6) reel of a chunky orange cat with a witches hat, banging on a keyboard: typing ‘no worries at all!’ knowing there are actually many worries

7) a pink ornate flower in the afternoon sun

8) a light brown round Queer with acid washed denim coat, Stüssy gray pattern cap, text Amir selfie with @biggiethebigjowls

9) red background white text: I would describe myself as whimsical AF whilst also carrying the rage of 1000 ancestors

10) beautiful mountain range in pink red, lilac, purple. A crescent moon above in a fuchsia sky. Text - what doesn’t kill you introduce you to astrology, spirituality, and neuroplasticity.

11) a white man continues to eat copious apple cider donuts to Brian McKnight song at a farm in autumn.

12) meme of illustrated frustrated man with hands in his head. Text - “ I am not anywhere near where I thought I would be in my life at this age….” To the right: an Asian Buddhist monk - “But do you hear the birds?”

13) zoom room for an event with @blackpoiesis. Several queer people ranging in skin tone, Gender, spirituality, size at an online showcase

14) Filipino man with mustache with gray fleece, lip syncs rigorously dances to remi wolf’s “I won’t cry”

* Cont’d in comments

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To lose weight or not: why it’s often the wrong question

For 11+ years, physical health and nourishment have felt like too much, too confusing, too overwhelming. I poured my energy into my spiritual, emotional, and mental health. Between the endless scroll of wellness trends and the pressure of “thin is in,” I told myself I’d get to it another day.

Then at the start of 2026, I felt called back to my body. Somatic work helped me build the capacity and sense of safety I needed to finally turn toward my physical health. From there came remineralization, tracking my food and finally eating enough, strength training, and so much more.

At the start of the year, I came into this wanting to lose weight. What I discovered is that weight is not always the most important marker of physical health.

In the age of fatphobia, GLP-1s, and rapid weight loss, I want to offer a reminder that there are other paths, too. There is wisdom in taking the slower approach. It’s more work, but far more rewarding and longer-lasting.

Like a forest “walking” one season at a time, sending its seeds forward into the generations who follow.

So when I ask myself whether to lose weight or not, I’ve come to see that it’s often the wrong question.

The better question is: How am I nourishing my body, and how do I feel in it?

With so much gratitude to the women who have held and are holding me along the way: @radiantsomatics for helping me build the capacity to turn toward my body, @liminal.medicine for introducing me to remineralization, and @clarabelizewisner for guiding me to redefine what health means. I’m so thankful for each of you.

Thank you also to @mythicmedicine and the Medicine Stories podcast for introducing me to so much of this world, and to @willowonearth @atmos and The Nature Of podcast for introducing me to @robinwallkimmerer‘s work with forest migration.

You can read the full story on my Substack.
Link in my bio.

Note: this is my story, not medical advice.

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New York we ❤️ you 🌇

Thank you for treating us so well. From the public transportation that navigated us to every inch of this city, to every thoughtful dialogue around sustainability and responsible materials, to the microforests and glowing waterfronts that allowed us to catch our breath, to the friends that hosted us, fed us, and cheered us on.

This year’s Climate Week was the most potent one yet. We can’t wait to see what comes of the new connections & friendships forged ⚡️

Much love!
Julia & Alyssa

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Staying vigilant without being afraid to live.

Wild deer embody what we imagine grace to look like: elegant movements, effortless aplomb, and a flawless sense of ease. But these hoofed mammals offer a deeper reading of grace, as something we can choose to practice in every encounter.

In this revisited edition of The Overview, @willowonearth finds inspiration in the elegance of wild deer, reminding us that grace is not the absence of struggle, but how we move through it.

Read more and subscribe at the link in our bio.

Photograph by @soleatto

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moodboard for the garden
@gardenofhealingideas
gardenofideas.net

(known sources are tagged on each slide {the little person icon in bottom left corner when you swipe}, feel free to crowdsource below. also i never intentionally post ai, but do get duped, help us all learn in comments)

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Forests are in a constant process of becoming.

The unending cycle of life in the forest is a reminder that the pursuit of justice for future generations is an essential part of living in right relationship with one another and the living world.

In a special episode of The Nature Of, @willowonearth revisits our Climate Week event Enchanted Forest, including an illuminating conversation with @robinwallkimmerer on the reciprocity of the forest.

Listen now at the link in our bio and wherever you got your podcasts.

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The living world is sustained through reciprocity.

In the forest, every organism has a role to play in the flourishing of the entire ecosystem. From the hidden wisdom of fungi to the intricate networks of reciprocity that sustain life, the forest offers profound lessons in interdependence, belonging, and love.

In this special episode of The Nature Of, @willowonearth revisits our Climate Week event, Enchanted Forest—including her conversation with @robinwallkimmerer on the fictional line that separates humans from "the great green we."

Listen now at the link in our bio and wherever you got your podcasts.

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People always ask me for resources, and I tell them just to keep their eyes and ears open. In BE HERE NOW Ram Das points out that “if you’re listening, everybody is the guru.”

So, it’s no surprise that I send people to his books, and also to The Nature Of podcast, with Willow Defebaugh. EVERY EPISODE is amazing.

The other thing is this: it is easier to return to a place of wonder when you have actually been there, than to create it out of nothing in your mind. Take the time to get quiet, to go outside, to touch and taste and listen and watch and smell. Even if it’s just walking down your block, or sticking your head out of an open window.

#thenatureof #beherenow #recovery #griefislove

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The Jury of Brave New Visions: Creativity as Rebellion

Who gets to shape the images we see? Who challenges the way we look at the world? And who dares to imagine it differently?

For this year’s Global Open Call, we’ve brought together an extraordinary jury from across fashion, photography, art, and visual culture. Voices that challenge conventions, question established narratives, and open up new ways of seeing.

Today, we’re introducing Willow Defebaugh (@willowonearth).

As co-founder and editor-in-chief of Atmos, the magazine exploring the intersections of climate and culture, Willow Defebaugh uses writing and storytelling to rethink our relationship with the natural world. Her editorial work brings environmental questions into conversation with culture, inviting us to rethink our place within the natural world and imagine more meaningful ways of living together.
This ability to connect urgent questions with new ways of seeing makes her a compelling voice for Brave New Visions: Creativity as Rebellion.

We’re delighted to have her on this year’s jury.

Stay with us as we introduce the voices helping to shape this year’s selection.

📸 @camilafalquez

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Navigating the unknown.

A moth orients itself under the moon, a beetle finds its bearings by the Milky Way, a bat conjures a soundscape from echoes in the dark, and a scorpion senses subtle drumbeats in the sand.

In this week’s edition of The Overview, @willowonearth explores how evolution has equipped life to navigate the maze of existence, looking to nature’s many maps and compasses as a reminder that there is no single way to chart our journeys.

Read more and subscribe at the link in our bio.

Photograph by @alimonisnaqvi

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Sometimes when I’m driving alone in my car, I just scream at the top of my lungs: “WHAT IF THESE WERE YOUR KIDS?!” because the grief needs a palpable outlet.

Today a 2-year-old child in Gaza named Maryam has my heart in her tiny grasp. And this morning, when my 3-year-old woke up, I held her so tight in the hopes it could be felt across seas.

Lately I’ve turned to art as a form of resistance and feeling. Here is my painting of the Palestinian Sunbird. If you know me, you know I’ve always loved birds.

DONATE to @thepcrf and I will mail you a FREE print of this painting with beautiful quotes on the back from @willowonearth & @oelakkad - just DM me where you’d like the artwork sent. 🇵🇸🌅🕊️I will honor your word that you made a donation.

S/O to the best community print shop owner around, Bruce, who donated his time and printer to this cause - find him here: US Printing 6501 W Marginal Wy S, Seattle, WA 98108
 “It is not so hard to believe, even during the worst of things, that courage is the more potent contagion. That there are more invested in solidarity than annihilation. That just as it has always been possible to look away, it is always possible to stop looking away.”
—Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

“There is a bird that flies across Palestine, through gardens and scrublands, groves of olive trees. The metallic blue and green plumage of the males shimmers in the light of the sun as they pass over fields of blooming poppies—black, green, and red hues like flags—pollinating wild thyme and other plants that sprout with resilience throughout the occupied territories. This bird, the Palestine sunbird, knows no borders. It is free.” —willow defebaugh, Atmos co-founder & editor-in-chief

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NYC Climate Week was a VIBE!

I spent 7 days reviewing resumes, sharing job search strategies, attending events, meeting incredible people, and believe it or not…DJing!

Participating in a climate week always renews my hope that we can in fact build a more equitable and sustainable world, and that we can do that centering collaboration and JOY!

Here’s a recap of everything I did this past climate week. If you want access to my slides from my climate career workshops, shoot me a DM and I’ll send them to you!

If you attended climate week, what was your favorite part?

📸 Green Jobs Pavilion photos captured by the amazing @lessasworld

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