The visual and poetic form of a haibunga combines haiku, prose, and image in an integrated expression of a theme, resulting in a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
This was the beginning of an approach that I now call wheel-keeping that eventually grew into the Wheels of Time and Place a toolkit and set of instructions for making your own circular journal or mandala, using whatever spatial and temporal scales you choose – such as a year, lunar
Here I am noticing temporal scale – the varying amounts of time for each living being to complete a life cycle from birth to death or for a landscape to change from one kind of ecosystem to another.
I am relating here to spatial scale – the geographic area of a community or ecosystem and therefore, the boundaries we might use to think about home place. I
Anne Forbes grew up on the deep prairie soil of central Illinois with her hands in the dirt, bugs in a jar, and tadpoles in a tub. Over the years, her affinity for all living things led to a career in environmental science and community collaboration as an ecologist, facilitator, teacher, and spiritual seeker. She brought innovations in the design of participatory programs to academic, government, nonprofit, and community groups at the Center for Limnology, UW-Madison; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; and her own business, Partners in Place, LLC. The services provided by Partners in Place served to support individuals, groups, and communities to live and learn with renewed connection to the natural world while grounded in the principles and practices of respectful collaboration.
As the author of the out-of-print Wheels of Time and Place, a unique toolkit for tracking all sorts of cycles and seasons, Anne has made the toolkit contents available on this website at no cost.
In her path to retirement, Anne took down her formal consulting shingle to enjoy her roles as a volunteer teacher, writer, and mentor. Partners in Place still exists informally as a container for these activities.
As a long-time meditator, Anne has led practice groups for many years. She is a graduate of the first North American 3 Doors Academy and among the first to be authorized as a Presenter and now a Teacher of the 3 Doors practices. She served in a variety of volunteer staff roles for the 3 Doors, and in 2023 she retired as administrative coordinator for the Presenters Path program that trains and supports practice guides around the world. She remains active as a Teacher for the 3 Doors.
After decades of exploration into indigenous traditions, Anne is steadfast in her commitment to caretake ancestral traditions as offered to the modern world through the generosity of their elders.
Anne is known for her experiential approach and her belief that creative expression, broadly defined, is a longing of every human heart. One of her favorite creative pastimes is collage. She is a certified SoulCollage® facilitator and is passionate about integrating the inner reflection sparked by nature awareness, collage, and other forms of creative expression with meditation.
Now retired, Anne enjoys the exploration of what’s next as an elder, grandmother, writer, mentor, teacher, and advocate.
Anne Forbes
