Disclaimer & Content Warning: This interview explores grief, trauma, and healing through creativity and imagination, which may be emotionally triggering for some readers. If needed, please seek professional support. Views expressed are personal and not a substitute for medical or therapeutic advice.

Step into the imaginative and compassionate world of Bodhi Simpson, a visionary artist, art therapist, and author of The Girl Who Cried for the Earth. In this exclusive interview, Bodhi reflects on the transformative power of imagination, her passion for helping others reconnect with the Earth, and how her creative journey inspires hope and healing in a time of global uncertainty.

Bodhi, thank you so much for joining us! Could you start by introducing yourself to our readers and sharing your story in your own words—who you are, what you do, and what inspires your work?

I am an art therapist, artist, and author located in central Maine in the United States. My work in the world integrates imagination, compassion, creative expression, story, myth, and deep ecology. I am passionate about reconnecting people with the magic and mystery of the mythic, symbolic, imaginal realms, and supporting the exploration of our relationship with ourselves and with Earth. I assist others in learning to “see” through the eyes of their hearts so that they may have an embodied encounter with life. I care deeply about people, all life on earth, and about the well-being of our planet. I have had a vivid dream and vision within my heart and mind since I was a young girl of writing and illustrating a book for all ages that would help bring a sense of peace and healing to humanity and to earth. My own perspectives and life experiences as well as the experiences that I have had in my 20 years working as a therapist supporting others coping with grief, trauma, pain, and suffering have been the inspiration for my work. Publishing this book with the incredible team at 2nd Tier Publishing assisted in waking that dream into a reality. Bringing this story into the world has been a wonderful, fulfilling, magical journey!

Your book, The Girl Who Cried for the Earth: A Story of Hope, Healing & Possibilities, recently won the Book of the Earth Award. Congratulations! Could you share what this recognition means to you and how it reflects the core themes of your book?

It is an honor and sweet surprise to win the “Book of the Earth Award”! I believe that humanity is in need of a new story at this time that is filled with hope, healing, and possibilities that can help support and guide us as we navigate forward. Acknowledgment for this award has provided an incredible opportunity for a book review and an interview which will help to share information about this story with the world. The mission of “The Girl Who Cried for the Earth: A Story of Hope, Healing & Possibilities” is to invite the reader into a personal journey through the paintings; to allow the reader to reflect in relation to their own beliefs and current level of understanding, to encourage a sense of personal responsibility, to awaken and connect the imagination and the heart, to highlight our interconnection with all of life, to inspire hope, and to imagine and feel into possibilities for healing and positive change.

Could you take us behind the scenes of the creative process for The Girl Who Cried for the Earth? Where did the initial inspiration come from, and how did your experiences shape the story and its beautiful illustrations?

Writing and illustrating this story was a personal journey that took place over several years; it was an initiation into a deeper relationship with mystery, the imaginal realms, and to an embodied understanding of the interconnection and sacredness of all of life. Through this process I was able to see Earth as a living entity with intelligence, I understood that we have the capacity to expand to a larger awareness and realize that we ARE Earth. The beginning and end of the story were written years ago when I was caring for my step-father while he was in the process of dying. At this time, I was dealing with a lot at home, in my role as a mother of young children, supporting clients in my counseling practice, and feeling deeply aware of many past and present layers of suffering all over our planet. I was feeling overwhelmed with the realization of how much suffering existed, with the realization that I also added to the problems on this planet, and feeling helpless in how to make a difference when the challenges all around felt immense. I realized that I was a “helper” who was beginning to feel helpless.

As I wrote the start and end of the story, I imagined and felt into the hope that was possible, even though my thinking mind could not comprehend how to get from despair to hope. There were aspects of this story that were still a mystery and that were important for me to allow time and space to discover within myself. Although I did not know how to find my way, I did feel much more peaceful after simply writing about my grief and then imagining and feeling into possibilities. I put the story aside and shortly after, began a PhD program that encouraged us to not only research and write, but also to integrate what we were learning through creative expression. I was inspired by Dr. Will Taegel’s work, his focus was Earth-based wisdom.

During an Eco-Meditation course, my “inner vision” was awakened in a new way. I began to “see” inner imagery extremely clearly; both with my eyes closed and open. I also started having vivid dreams that caught my attention. I felt strongly that I needed to paint what I perceived, so that my thinking mind could understand. I sat in meditation and painted images that I would perceive through my inner vision and in my dreams. Additionally, I allowed myself the space to explore my own personal stories and traumas through my paintings. I honored experiences that I had forgotten about, but that in some ways defined me and kept my perspective limited. The painting of the little girl in the beginning of the book was painted at the same time as the painting of her parents who were turning away from her. These two paintings were a part of my own “art therapy” process. I was looking at my experience of the beginning of my life story with curiosity. I attempted to make sense of my experience of awe, wonder, and love as a young child and tried to understand when it was that I shifted from this awareness to feeling fear, disconnection, and overwhelm.

There was a point where I had painted so many paintings that I started to notice some themes. I lined the paintings up in my space and realized that they told a story – I recognized that the paintings were meant to be a part of the story that I had begun a few years before. What had been missing was the vision! I recognized that the girl in the story was “crying for a vision”, she had been on a “vision quest” in a sense. As she drifted off to sleep, she received dreams and visions that provided guidance, support, and lit the way forward. The imaginative realms of the dream world were the bridge from hopelessness and despair to hope, healing, and possibilities! Through the process of writing and illustrating this story I understood that once I acknowledged my own story and understood my limited perspective based on my experiences, I was able to rise above and open my own imagination to allow visions to come through me and to be expressed in the world. I realized that this story came through me, and also had a life of its own that wanted to be expressed in the world. My personal story became a doorway to a larger story. In my heart I knew that if only one person read this story and was moved or was inspired by the artwork, that it would be worth it and would make a difference in the world.

Much of your work emphasizes imagination as a tool for healing and transformation. How do you guide others to unlock their imagination and use it to address challenges, both personal and global?

I have come to understand that our imaginations have been dulled and that many of us have a limited vision of who we are and of what is possible. I believe that we are often taught to see life only through the lens of our individual identities and perspectives, and that before we are able to open to an awareness of our larger identity, that first we need to become aware of our own personal stories, beliefs, and individual perspectives. In my role as an art therapist, I work with people to use their imaginations and embodied experience in combination with creative expression to become self-aware. Once we are aware of our own processes and patterns, we are able to imagine and feel into possibilities. The imaginative realms are full of potential and possibilities, it is where we receive inspiration and vision, and where we conceive of what does not yet physically exist. I believe that connecting the felt sense of our bodies with our imaginations and allowing creative expression to flow through us can be a way to support us in being able hear the voice of the Earth, and to build a relationship to what is emerging. As we share our dreams, visions, and creative expressions with each other, something is also often awakened and inspired within each of us. What begins within us as something personal is able to be expressed, communicated, and shared with the world. Our imaginations can help us to heal personally and we can connect to visions that are needed to find a way forward that is heart-centered and sustainable.

Your book introduces the idea of “seeing through the eyes of the heart.” How would you explain this concept to someone unfamiliar with it, and how can it transform the way we view and interact with the world?

A shift in perspective is needed to see and understand that we are all interconnected so that we can bring compassion to our actions and choices. We can learn to communicate with Earth and ask for guidance from Earth as we co-create a path forward and a life that sustains. Earth communicates with us through dreams, visions, and the language of nature. We can learn to “see through the eyes of our hearts” to connect to visions that benefit all of life through a lens of compassion. A vision from the heart offers us a new story that is in coherence with Earth and considers the highest good for all.

Awards and milestones aside, what has been the most fulfilling moment in your creative or professional journey so far, and why?

Each and every step of this creative journey has held many gifts. Without the challenges and the struggles, I would not have been inspired to use my imagination and creative expression to find a way through and forward. I understand now that each aspect of the journey is a wise teacher if we allow the time and space to honor and find meaning and guidance in all of it.

You are a teacher, art therapist, and advocate for reconnecting with nature. Could you share an example or story where you witnessed someone experience a life-changing connection with the Earth through art or imagination?

In addition to writing and illustrating this story, I am co-creating a conscious community with two dear colleagues who also worked closely with Dr. Will Taegel. In this feminine, earth-based, heart-centered community that we have named the “New England Goddess Temple’s Triple Spiral Mystery School”, we come together monthly virtually for 9 months to explore the sacred feminine and how the “Goddess” moves and expresses herself through us, as us. In the fall in Maine, we host an in-person “Goddess Quest” where students sit in nature to open to receiving a vision to benefit the student and in a larger perspective, life on Earth. Throughout this 9-month journey, students engage in meditative, writing, and creative practices and come together to share their dreams and visions. In a sense, this community and journey reflects the journey that the girl experiences in the story. Students have shared powerful and transformative experiences and are inspired to bring the wisdom of their visions out into the world on behalf of all of life.

If you could recommend just one simple step that individuals can take today to reconnect with the Earth and contribute to healing it, what would it be?

Take time to go outside and connect with your body, expand your awareness to the landscape around you. Give yourself permission to become curious about how Earth is communicating with you in each moment moving forward…

Storytelling plays a huge role in spreading hope and raising awareness. What advice would you give aspiring authors, especially those passionate about addressing environmental and societal issues through their work?

Stories have come through humans to provide guidance to the community and to share wisdom teachings for thousands of years. Today we are in-between stories, we no longer have a story to connect to mystery, to each other, to our own healing, and to Earth. We have become disconnected from our ability to imagine and envision a way forward. Share your personal stories, share the stories that are moving through you that want to be born into the world. We need each other and have so much to offer and to learn from each other! We can bring the wisdom that we have gained from our personal experiences to humanity.

As we wrap up, what vision or dream do you hold for the future—for yourself, your readers, and for our relationship with this planet? How do you hope your work will continue to make an impact?

One dream that I hold for our future is that this story could help others who may also be feeling grief, fear, and overwhelm to be able to acknowledge the personal and collective suffering and trauma, step out of fear, and weave it all into a new story where we engage our imaginations in new ways and consider the highest good for all. I dream that this story and the images might support a deeper awareness that we are all connected; an understanding that what we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. Perhaps my journey and exploration could serve as a guide for others – a kind of a roadmap or an inspiration for how they could also find their way forward.

Interviewee’s Bio

Bodhi Simpson, PhD, LCPC, ATR holds a doctorate in philosophy, is a licensed clinical professional counselor in Maine, and a registered art therapist with the Art Therapy Credentialing Board. She has 20 years of experience working with clients of all ages and educating clinicians across the state of Maine about the field of art therapy, as well as teaching tools and techniques for incorporating creative expression into clinical practice.

The book’s Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222325813-the-girl-who-cried-for-the-earth.

We’d Love to Hear Your Thoughts!

Thank you for reading this inspiring conversation. Join the discussion by sharing your thoughts in the comments!

• What part of this interview resonated with you the most?
• How do you use creativity or imagination in your own healing journey?
• What’s one simple way you reconnect with nature in your daily life?

Let’s keep the conversation going! 💬✨

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