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Welcome!

My name is Katy Morikawa. I am a web developer, graphic designer, artist, author, astrologer, lifelong mystic, philosopher, aspiring naturalist, apprentice native plant grower, podcaster, unskilled woodworker, interior designer, eco-activist, cat mom, life partner to a local Floyd man, graduate of Blacksburg High School, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the California Institute of Integral Studies.

I live on a gravel road in a small magical cabin I built with my partner, Michael. We are surrounded by trees through which we can just see distant mountains, sounds of crickets and cicadas in the summer, and family nearby.

Our cain in the woods

THe Current Project

I have ended my blog and podcast, and am working on some hands-on projects, and a new website called floydnativeplants.org, a project hosted by Sustain Floyd. Hopefully the website won’t take forever, but if it takes me a while, I’ll be over on Facebook as Floyd Native Plants. Thanks for listening!

2021-22 Blog and Podcast

I started a blog and podcast in December 2021 around an interest in the magical dimensions of an ensouled universe, and creating better psychological and cultural maps for fulfillment. In the spring, a new clarity emerged around seeking a deeper unity with nature. During the spring, that urge remained a primarily mystical adventure (see Talking to the Bees or The Least of These, Our Insect Teachers). This summer, a more pragmatic focus has emerged: I want to dedicate myself to hope for Appalachia, the place where I live, as an ecoregion teeming with life, flush with biodiversity, a landscape of deep resilience and beauty, where people participate in creative and generative ways. Or at least to save some of the wild, as a hope to our future Earth.

Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Anchor

Work History

Freelance Web Developer, Graphic Designer, Virtual Assistant (2015-2021)

See more about this aspect of my professional life at katydidwebsites.com.

Co-Founder, Sales, Marketing, She-of-Many-Hats (2015-present)

The Workshop, Floyd VA. The business we launched in 2015 when I left Crenshaw Lighting is pretty quiet these days, but it accentuates our lifestyle, and we continue to draw inspiration from our mission: “Live simply. Leave a light footprint on the earth. Cherish beauty. Make by hand what we can. Protect nature, and especially protect the trees. Love our neighbors. Laugh a lot. Keep learning. Live long and prosper.”

Inside Sales, Project Manager, Marketing, Website (2010-2015)

Crenshaw Lighting, Floyd, VA.

Volunteer Work

Community Advisor (New in 2022)

Sustain Floyd is a local non-profit organization working to build ecological and economic resiliency in the Floyd County area of Southwest Virginia since 2008. I have known many of its founding members for decades, and my father is one of these. But only in 2021 did I get involved as the organization seeks to engage a younger generation. I have been particularly galvanized around the issue of recycling, which led to my part in Sustain Floyd’s presentation to the Industrial Design class at Virginia Tech: Household Recycling Problems for Industrial Designers. On January 19, 2022, I was formally nominated and accepted as a Community Advisor. It’s a wonderful honor and I look forward to years of engagement on sustainability issues in Floyd.

EDUCATION

M.A. Counseling Psychology, Somatics (2009)

California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA

B.A. Religion (1993)

University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI

H.S. Graduate (1986)

Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg, VA – I’m dating myself by showing the year of my graduating class!

PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCES

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