Today’s life lesson has been in transition itself. Copper has been sending me whispers here and there as we have been navigating various ups and downs. I honestly wasn’t sure how this life lesson was going to come together and I still don’t as I sit down to finally write Copper Rule #16. Copper has shown up a few times over these past few weeks since his last transmission of Rule #15: Cuddle With Your Closest. I kept seeing in my mind’s eye and through his whisper: Transitions. That is what life is truly about and he reminds me of that while also giving me grounding to keep going on those days where it is hard to see through the foggy forest. Copper has also been playing “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac in my head either through the melody or random lyrics in the song that seem to ‘land’ in the situation I’m currently facing in that moment. Obviously, this song has importance for him so as I write this, I have it on repeat. I chose the live version to listen to because of the rawness of Stevie’s vocals with Lindsey accompanying her acoustically. It just says so much in the emotional rawness of what it conveys. Copper asks that you read the lyrics and I am posting the video with it because for some reason, he really wants you to feel this with us. Grab your tissues:

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
‘Til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changin’ ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Mm

Well, I’ve been ‘fraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m gettin’ older, too

Well, I’ve been ‘fraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m gettin’ older, too
Oh, I’m gettin’ older, too

Ah, take my love, take it down
Oh, climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down
Oh, the landslide will bring it down

Now on my fifth repeat as I’m writing this, I realize that this is from Copper’s voice himself. Currently, we are coming out of a tough winter and heading into springtime, which is when my son was born. Copper loved the snow and he would have been running up that hill and playing in the snow, but he also would have loved jumping into the kiddie pool with Jacob (and later my daughter). But, he had to go through life transitions as we did. He was our first ‘born’ so to speak, until Jacob was born and he made that adjustment. He adjusted to being the big protective brother while also figuring out a new member of the pack. We moved to a new house right before my daughter was born, and he transitioned gracefully into that as well as our family grew. This part is the one that I’m focused on because I can feel his energy as I hear it:

Well, I’ve been ‘fraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m gettin’ older, too

Copper built his entire life around us. He hated being away from his tribe when we left for the day or the rare times we traveled without him. He was just that emotional dog that needed his pack around him. In fact, he wouldn’t even eat until we got home and he felt at ease knowing we were with him. In his later years and he started to not be at his best, but he still pushed through to protect us and be by our side. So the above lyrics, truly capture his heart when he faced his final weeks with courage but also sadness knowing that he would be ‘transitioning’ soon. I’m truly grateful for the last few weeks he gave us to prepare for that final transition to spend as much time with him as we could.

These past few months, we have personally gone through some transitions. Collectively as a soul planet, we are also having to figure out what a new normal looks like. My mom had a very tough surgery and she is on the road to recovery but it is slow-going. Jacob turns 8 and has been working through a very challenging year, but thankfully we are on the upswing of that and Sophia is turning into a dancing queen as she grows daily. I have been reflecting on all of the souls I lost in 2025 (which includes Copper) and last night, I went to a tribute show honoring a good friend that I knew for 30 years, Mr. Clem Burke from Blondie. I think about all of the incredible shows I was so lucky to witness from the sidelines. I miss his brilliance behind the kit, and I miss his friendship. I am so grateful that my soul journey intersected with his and I was able to live in the ether of his drumming brilliance. I am also so grateful that through that friendship, I also gained a family friend, Glen Matlock. When I first started my company, Drive Entertainment Group (20 years ago!!), I managed their supergroup, Slinky Vagabond: Clem, Glen, Earl Slick and Keanan Duffty. I had left MTV a year earlier, and had just started my own company, which was a big transition for me. Leaving a company that I loved and had worked at in my formative years, was an adjustment. Moving into management and starting my own company was another. With their support and other incredible clients, I was able to begin Drive’s journey, and now 20 years later, I look back with life lessons of my own on how to run a business, adjust to trends, grow through challenges and create projects from a seed of an idea. Through life transitions, I may have acquired some bruises along the way, but also the growing pains that were necessary for my soul’s growth. These are the transitions that Copper speaks of.

The photo at the top of this life lesson is not an easy one. Copper wasn’t in his best shape, but he showed up and did so for his final month- allowing us to spend quality time with him, shower him with love and to slowly say goodbye. NOT an easy transition but one we all deal with when we have to say, ‘I’ll see you again one day soon’. I post it because life isn’t always golden or shiny. I work in an industry where it can sometimes look like the roads are paved with glitter, but it took a lot of toil to lay that pavement down, and many transitions that went along with it.

Copper has shown his signs (feathers) in a few places so I know that he is sending his love. One, was to a friend who said she was actually reading a Copper Rules, when a feather was at her feet as she read it! Another was during Chris’ final bow for his show. I sat there with my mouth completely open as a feather jumped right in front of him as he took his bow. I wasn’t able to capture that picture but you can see the feather below:

I made a promise to Copper that I would write more because I really want these life lessons he imparts on me, to support you emotionally and know that you aren’t alone when the big feelings come to pass. Our collective souls need some healing. I’m now understanding that I haven’t written as many of these as I like, because I have to be vested in my vulnerability and that usually means a good cry as I write. With every soul connection I have with my gorgeous Copper, a tear is not spared. But, that beautiful soul is where, as Mr. Mister sings in Kyrie, exists:

My heart is old, it holds my memories
My body burns a gem-like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again

So, it is here, in Copper Rules: #16 Life Transitions, ‘where I find myself again’. I hope you continue to find yourself during your life transitions but know that you are supported. They may not be easy, but they are the key to our life’s soul journey. Copper loves you and so do I.