Hello, my name is Jenny Alyson Wonderling…
For most of my life I have gathered and shared stories, and helped to enrich other people’s— through journaling, blogging, ghostwriting, freelance journalism, interviews, and copywriting. Meanwhile, I have also had a multifarious career path which included working in the world of documentary film, co-owning a successful Tribeca restaurant, and between 2005 and 2019 owning Nectar (a Hudson Valley community watering hole disguised as multiple retail shops with an online component focusing on Fair Trade, handmade, organic and recycled items.) From early 2019 to November 2022, I continued to co-create nourishing community in the world in different forms by visioning, writing, and growing with circlecreativecollective.org as well as BLOOM and LUMINOUS two sold-out site specific, interactive ritual theater events which I co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed. Through everything, stories shared and gathered, along with healthy community building have been the common thread that have given me inspiration and purpose. Now my love for healing, writing, and connection are being woven through Crescent Farm with Breathwork and writing workshops, retreats, drum and song circles, and other full body-and-spirit experiences like EarthSong and One Flame, Many. I also stay busy as a contributing writer and Content Director of INSIDE + OUT Upstate NY, weaving connection and celebrating our generous Hudson Valley through stories that honor the work and creativity of individuals who live here.
A child of multi-cultural roots and a globally minded family, my wanderlust has carried me to many places…
deepening my caring for our planet and world community. I have always felt that within each object and experience is a trail of potent human interactions, and that we each have a responsibility to consider our impact every step of the way.
Making connections…
From sourcing to how an item will impact the earth long after the impulse-buy has occurred, Nectar focused on sourcing and selling sustainable products, supporting women's cooperatives, environmental and water initiatives, and more. A deeper dream has been blossoming though, quietly holding the seeds of my shops within the soil and blooms... There is a widespread longing to share authentically, something I felt I was only touching on by showcasing and selling goods. What if people could connect through making, creating, growing, and healing together?
Co-founding Circle Creative Collective helped answer some of that for me, connecting and inspiring uncountable folks as “a nonprofit organization rooted in the Hudson Valley with a mission of preserving and sharing the wisdom and healing of traditional crafts and creativity.” Together, we wove “the fabric of community, inspiring people of diverse cultures and backgrounds to remember the lessons and skills of our ancestors, and embrace the wisdom of each of our unique traditions.” Circle reinforced how creative expression can shift and empower individuals and communities while connecting us to our ancestors and each other.
That notion really revved up when I co-created BLOOM + LUMINOUS (mentioned above) in 2022. These interactive site-specific performances galvanized the Hudson Valley creative community and involved more than 80 creatives for each event including musicians, dancers, and performers of all kinds. (Plus 100’s of masks and costume makers.) Both experiences invited guests to be both witness and players within potent dreamscapes along candlelit paths at night. Both events were sold out, BLOOM at the Stone Ridge Orchard drew more than 1000 guests, LUMINOUS at the Widow Jane Mine, more than 500. It was my great honor to co-write, co-produce, and co-direct these magical offerings that evoked hope and true connection.
Meanwhile, my ever-evolving and meandering spiritual journey has been guided and informed by Breathwork, meditation, yoga, song, nature, movement, writing, creativity, sharing meaningful, sacred spaces, attending and experiencing many births, as well as deaths and loss. And deeply significant, to know first-hand the alchemical power of creative ritual events like BLOOM and LUMINOUS to transform and support the individual and collective. An impulse has been long taking root within me to dream and support other creative offerings, as well as a space where guests could feel safe enough to be their most authentic selves, find and honor the sacred within the quotidian, and connect with like-minded/hearted people helping to dream a beautiful new Earth and way.
While I continue to grow my community healing work and my various personal writing projects, (including a memoir and a collection of fairy tales) I am excited to continue to help manifest other people’s writing projects and production dreams. Please reach out if you need support, or have ideas you would like to bring to life through the magic of words, events, and more at Crescent or beyond!
What is Crescent?
Crescent Farm is a fertile place for creativity and healing through community, traditional wisdom, a reconnection with our Earth Mama, a deepened awareness of self-responsibility and sacred reciprocity. Located in the beautiful Hudson Valley NY, nestled under a glorious sky, you can book our farmhouse, cottages, studio, and/or land for your offerings or join us for an ever-changing schedule of inspiring retreats, events and classes.
At Crescent you can expect an ever-changing lineup of yummy classes, retreats, and interactive and site-specific events, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with kind-hearted creatives, musicians, healers, and others with rich earth-connected wisdom and wild, audacious dreams. Come and join us in Gardiner on 26+ beautiful acres, between the Shawangunk Ridge and a gentle river, or in our studio…to be nourished, find your voice and purpose, and recognize the essential importance of creativity—as well as share your own experiences, tools, and teachings to help re/ignite hope, inspiration and balance.
Crescent is a canvas, a well, a healing space, a clan gathering, an interwoven tapestry, a red tent, a table to feast at, a church, a classroom, a lush garden, a playground, a joyous microcosm.
Lastly, (but not at all least)
…my experience as a mother of three incredible sons has helped me understand the longing and importance to live and create in a thriving community—for the balance and health of the whole family… and world.
Love,
- Jenny
(That’s me with Aidan (to my right, now 29) and Emmanuel growling like a lion cub (left, now 27). They are currently both towering over me. Liam, now 13 and as tall as I am, will soon follow suit. All my boys are kind, wise, and hilarious and it is my greatest honor to be their mama and grow with and because of them. They make me swoon…and swoon some more.
Photo of LUMINOUS, Oct 2023, by Matt Petricone courtesy of Circle Creative Collective