Andrea Lithgow
This adventure of mine is the one I know I chose and every event, whether perceivably “good” or “bad” is what shaped me into the quirky spitfire human that I am today.
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After an unconventional upbringing in Utah, I escaped at the first opportunity and soon realized that my early crafty years could be mined to create a non-boss career for myself. I eventually unearthed that nugget and developed Dandy Jewelry, a very unique, handcrafted ceramic jewelry line that could travel with me as I wandered from California to Austin to New Orleans, then finally to Asheville. For nearly a dozen years, I comfortably coasted on what I’d built, complete with employees and trade shows all over the country. When the 2020 pandemic hit, it occurred to me that I’d been gifted an opportunity I never would’ve taken on my own – to downshift my business and lay off my employees. This created the perfect pocket of time and bandwidth to earn a master’s degree in creative writing – a very secret, but lifelong dream of mine.
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As my luck would have it, at the same time, I experienced a magical trauma healing with psychedelics that paired perfectly with developing my voice through my graduate writing program. I’ve emerged from these past few years a more expanded version of the many phoenixes that have risen throughout my life. Although I’m deeply grateful for my childhood creativity paying off in a big way, it’s abundantly clear that this section of my life has been reserved for my exuberant voice that has been patiently waiting in the queue. Sitting as a psychedelic facilitator for friends came so naturally, that I followed the invitation and quickly learned to help clients with their many traumas.
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Becoming more whole and at peace with myself was something I never thought would happen, so I feel eager to spend the next couple of decades on a mountaintop with my loudspeaker talking about the healing powers of psychedelics and how we can truly heal from our many traumas. A memoir about my childhood of being kidnapped by the Zion Society cult in Ogden, Utah is on the road to being published, so stay tuned!
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