Meet Rickelle Hicks, the first honored guest in our “Women in the Trenches” series.
I wanted to do this series as a way to introduce you to some women I admire, women who are in the trenches of faith and love, women who are really showing up to life.
Rickelle and I were friends in San Diego before life took her back to her beloved Colorado. Rickelle is one of the rare, true beauties. She’s creative, transparent, free-spirited, and she has a depth that I have always been drawn to.
Rickelle has survived an unspeakable grief, and I wanted her to share some of her story with you in the event that just one of you out there needs to hear how she has made it through to the other side.
First, here are a few questions Rickelle has kindly answered for you to get to know her a bit better. Please come back on Tuesday to read Rickelle’s story of loss and grief and waking up.
Here’s Rickelle . . .
Age: 32
How long you’ve been married: 5 years
Names of children and ages: Gunnison, 10 months
Where do you live? What’s great about where you live? Grand Junction, Colorado. The rivers – we are surrounded. The climate makes the growing season longer on either end so it’s a great place to plant and garden. Its very hometown, not crowded, warm and kind of nerdy in an up-and-coming way.
What is your job and why were you drawn to that particular field? I am a marriage and family therapist, working mostly with kids. To me, relationships are what make the world go round, so this is the thing I can get up every morning and do because it just makes sense to me. It matters deeply to me.
I love your creative spirit. How do you nurture that in yourself? Gosh, this is a great question. I don’t know that I’ve ever specifically thought through this before. I guess for me it comes down to this: “If you are made to create, you won’t feel whole and healthy and alive until you do” {Shauna Niequist}. So, I do know that it’s totally crucial for my sense of wholeness and feeling alive and truly me. But a lot of the time, I don’t make space for it, especially in adjusting to being a new mom. So its the choice to do it and to show up for it even when I don’t feel like it. I try to just do what intuitively inspires me at the time, which is kind of an ADHD creative approach. For example, I have a quilt, a knitted blanket, a dress, a charcoal painting and a hypothetical book all in process. But when I show up at the screen, at my sewing machine, with my knitting needles just seeking beauty and inspiration, I always walk away fuller and feeling more awake.
You have talked to me about your love for writing. Tell me more about how writing plays into your life. How do you find time to write consistently? Writing is a companion for me. It helps me unravel what is tangled. I am always able to make sense of things when I process it on the page in a way that I can’t otherwise.
What fills you up or inspires you? Relationships are probably the number one thing. It’s my very favorite thing to sit with a steamy cup of coffee and just talk and talk about life with my friends. Also, anything beautiful….
Where do you find God? On the river, in beauty, in relationships, in times where I’m creating, in the quiet.
What is one product or item you use all the time that you love and think everyone should know about? I love Benefit’s dandelion brightening face powder. It’s described as “ballerina pink,” and that’s exactly the color; it’s a little shimmery too.
What is your favorite book and why? I will have to name a few or I would take ages on this question, changing my mind back and forth…. The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran; Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott; Walking on Water, Madeleine L’engle; The River Why, David James Duncan; East of Eden, John Steinbeck
What is your one wardrobe staple? Right now, it would have to be my new Matilda Jane pants. They are oh so soft and have a huge whimsy ruffle on the bottom; she comes out with different colors with new lines. The beauty is I can wear them out to dinner with enough accessorizing but can also lounge around in them.
What is one thing that has helped you stay married? I think for us, playing together and being involved in what’s important to the other one has been the most important thing.
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Please come back on Tuesday for the second part of Rickelle’s interview. She’s written a personal letter about the tragedy she went through just two years ago. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and will whisper some of life’s secrets to you . . .
