12/26/2025
When I published my first Substack earlier this week, the intention was to begin laying down the core tenets of Proof of Life® in one place. (And to also practice writing — my English degree is getting dusty!)
Proof of Life is rooted in the 5 Elements of Chinese medicine because those elements are structural. They govern how energy moves through bodies, communities, and systems. I’ve lived inside this framework for 15 years both clinically and personally. It’s undeniable.
In school, we learn the elements as diagnostic categories:
Liver qi stagnation is Wood under pressure
Spleen qi deficiency is Earth under strain
We learn to diagnose and treat.
But once I stepped fully into my anti-patriarchy era (precursor to my current pro-matriarchy era), something snapped into focus.
The “imbalanced” expressions of the elements weren’t random; they were predictable responses to hierarchy and extraction.
So then I started to see the elements through this lens:
🌍 Earth under duress accumulates.
We prioritize accumulation under patriarchy.
🔥 Fire under stress performs without depth.
We reward visibility without intimacy.
🌳 Wood under pressure either collapses inward or explodes outward.
We discourage growth unless it produces profit.
🤘🏼 Metal in collapse becomes perfection and rigidity.
Order replaces meaning. Worth becomes conditional.
🌊 Water, when poisoned by fear and isolation, turns inward on itself.
No circulation. No trust. No rest.
🔼 Patriarchy is a hierarchy
🌀Matriarchy is a circle
Which is why the question “wouldn’t matriarchy just be women in charge?” is laughable. It’s not about switching who sits on top; it’sabout dissolving the structure that requires a top at all.
Under matriarchy, Life is priority.
Meanwhile, patriarchy says: stay alive if you can.
This year-long Seeing Patriarchy/Seeding Matriarchy project is organized through the Five Elements because they are inherent to us.
We begin in winter ❄️ with the Water element, and Fear.
My goal is to encourage recognition to what your body has been responding to all along, and to remind you that another way of living is not only possible, it already exists in you.
