Family, Nature, and Spirituality
Maja's family immigrated to Alaska from Scandinavia in the early 1900’s. Her grandfather, Leonard Seppala, and his Huskies became legendary for their 1925 diphtheria serum run in Nome. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held annually, commemorates this extraordinary adventure, as did the recent Disney film, Togo.
In the family tradition, Maja exhibits a similar kinship with nature. She purchased and developed RockRose Ranch, weaving eco-friendly land management practices with natural horsemanship. At the same time, she deepened her connection to nature and spirituality through programs and vision quests led by Angeles Arrien, a cultural anthropologist and Basque elder.
Braiding this with her background in law, mediation and conflict resolution, Maja designed and facilitated Steadfast, a communications course engaging horses and humans to move through fear, address conflict, and increase their capacity to practice collaborative leadership. See her article “Coming through Conflict to Collaboration,” [Natural Horse Magazine, The Quarterly Journal of Holistic Equine Care, April/May/June 2015, Volume 17, Issue 2, www.naturalhorsetalk.com]
Maja has recently donated RockRose Ranch to Halleck Creek Ranch, a horse-centered non-profit designed to benefit disabled youth. (www.halleckcreekranch.org).
These decades of learnings and reflection culminated in Maja’s completion and publication of a three-generational memoir entitled "Instructions Not Included."