The Garden Awakening – Mary Reynolds

Excerpts from Pg 22/23: In order to understand the method for re-establishing the health of your land, you may have to shift your perspective for a moment. I keep repeating that the land is alive. This may be obvious on a physical level, with the myriads of teeming creatures on and beneath its surface (when the land is healthy). But what I mean is alive in the same way that you and I are alive, that is conscious, capable of being damaged, of feeling pain, love, anger, excitement, sadness and grief, of falling sick and becoming well again. This  know to be true at the core of my being.

The first step in co-creating a garden with nature involves working to heal the land. W are mirrors for the land and it is a mirror for us, so healing the land leads towards our won restoration, back to our true selves.

This method of healing does not create changes overnight. There are no instant transformations – no miracles to be expected. It is a slow and steady process, but if we are determined, and our intentions is to keep reaching for the light, we will get there eventually. If we allow the light to shine on all the dark places in our lives; if we have the courage to face our fears, face adversity with courage and strength, then recovery and growth will take place.

It is the same with the land. It takes time, but you will see positive results if you work to acknowledge, release and repair the damage. The blockages will be dissolved and the land’s original vibrant abundant self will emerge.

Healing involves looking at the overall picture. You cannot solve a problem by resolving the physical level alone. You will also need to find and correct the underlying causes of the physical symptoms, whether conscious or unconscious. If you don’t do that, the problem will return as it was or take a different form.

Similarly, if the land you are working with has been damaged by years of misuse or neglect, you cannot just replace the topsoil and expect it to magically become whole again. You must first identify and then correct the underlying issues that caused the problem in the first place.

~~~~~~~

This: But what I mean is alive in the same way that you and I are alive, that is conscious, capable of being damaged, of feeling pain, love, anger, excitement, sadness and grief, of falling sick and becoming well again. 

I believe this completely. This is why I feel so emotionally ill when I see how people treat the Earth. The same emotions are evoked when I see anyone abusing another person or any living creature.

We are all connected. All living beings.
…. with Love <3

The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

“Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world,” he said wisely one day, “but people don’t know what it is like or how to make it. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen. I am going to try and experiment.”

“Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place.”

“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us”

“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts—just mere thoughts—are as powerful as electric batteries—as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live… surprising things can happen to any one who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place.”

“Sometimes since I’ve been in the garden I’ve looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden – in all the places.”

“I shall live forever and ever and ever ‘ he cried grandly. ‘I shall find out thousands and thousands of things. I shall find out about people and creatures and everything that grows – like Dickon – and I shall never stop making Magic. I’m well I’m well”

“Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world, but people don’t know what it is like or how to make it.”

“And they both began to laugh over nothing as children will when they are happy together. And they laughed so that in the end they were making as much noise as if they had been two ordinary healthy natural ten-year-old creatures—instead of a hard, little, unloving girl and a sickly boy who believed that he was going to die.”

“Everything is made out of Magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us.”

“He had made himself believe that he was going to get well, which was really more than half the battle.”

“How does thee like thyself?”

“That is the Magic. Being alive is the Magic—being strong is the Magic. The Magic is in me—the Magic is in me.”

“But the calm had brought a sort of courage and hope with it. Instead of giving way to thoughts of the worst, he actually found he was trying to believe in better things.”

 

Wire Wrapping

A new interest … making Fey arm bands ^_^

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Making the bands is interesting, though challenging. The 14 gauge wire is a little tough to manipulate. I tested out making ear cuffs, too. Definitely doable and pretty, but not as … interesting. I am not sure why this is so.

More arm bands are definitely coming, especially since I have an order for one already!

<3

Social Anxiety Disorder

Over the years, I have been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder, OCD.  Add Fibromyalgia, IBS, unstable joints, and at the moment, a damaged SI joint that has been getting re-injured for the last eight months.

What a mess!! And what a daunting looking list.

I have been off all pharmaceuticals for years.

I think it is the OCD that serves me the best. It keeps me fighting!   Being vigilant, setting boundaries, and relentless self-talk. Medicinal plants and herbs and food.  Keeping my home ‘sacred’ with practical and green-living products (most I make), and creating a sanctuary that feels safe. Yoga, Poi Spinning, Belly Dancing. Breathing. More self-talk. And trying to help others. This is an under-rated activity. When I step outside my internal chaos and share pieces of myself, my intentions, my compassion, my love …. this rates high on creating moments of contentment.

There is no single answer to coping with such issues. It is a constant journey of exploration and adjustment. It is a life-long commitment to adapting and changing and getting back up after feeling battered.

It is not easy. But it does get …. easier. In increments. And sometimes more. Minutes. Hours. Days. Quicker recovery times from a crash.

My biggest challenge: “The Triggers”.  I know my triggers, so I carefully avoid situations that I know will set them off. But situations can arise that I just don’t see coming, and I’m hurled into a defensive response.  Anxiety overrides reason. Even in the safest, most loving situation, an unexpected pattern change of behavior can set off alarms.

Afterwards, it is hard not to berate myself for my responses.  This is where my ‘safe activities’ become invaluable. I put myself in a soothing mode, and remember that I am doing the best that I can, and I will do better next time!

Everyone has challenges. I believe those challenges can be faced a lot more easily IF (this is a big one!) … IF we didn’t criticize ourselves so cruelly.

You are worthy!
You are powerful!
You are strong!
You are beautiful! (yes, men too!)
Just remember to use your power to do good 😉

Love~Compassion~Kindness <3

Metatron, Life, Healing…

I am learning how to make the Metatron symbol by constructing it using dot-painting. It is a long process. I am only part of the way along, and suddenly I’m impacted that my ‘simplified’ color coding is only one possible variation for the line colors. While in the middle of one line, my perspective shifted, and suddenly I realized I could have chosen an entirely different color for each of the lines to create completely different patterns.

The complexity of this symbol is staggering. Drawing it isn’t hard, but seeing it … that requires many shifts of perception. One pattern is part of another, which creates yet another, and another. Independently, patterns can be extracted for viewing, but then it becomes … incomplete. Each is a building block for the other.

The Sacred Geometry. The building blocks of Life.

The mystic Kabbalah that is forbidden to be taught (which bears striking resemblance to the more accessible but equally dangerous Kundalini practice).  The Tree of Life, with branches, trunk and roots. DNA. Gravity. Time. All the possible shapes that make up the patterns of creation.

Perceptions. Shallow verses deep. Narrow versus broad. Closed versus open.

Humans are exceptionally good at deliberate blindness. Especially if it involves convenience, or lack thereof.

Consumerism and convenience. A throw-away society. Giant companies masking under many smaller names. Greed. An unwillingness to believe our actions have consequences. Or worse, indifference.

Once all the lies begin to fall away and you see, then you have to make a choice. Return to deliberate blindness, or … step forward and take responsibility for your actions.

More and more, I am realizing a significant part of my Depression is the seeing. When I see, then I feel.  I cannot turn this off. I see the waste, and the indifference and it hurts me. 

The Earth IS alive, and without the Earth … we die. To hurt the Earth is to hurt ourselves. To kill pieces of the Earth is to kill pieces of ourselves. Murder and suicide wrapped in the disposable conveniences of consumerism.

To see the patterns within the geometry of Life …. it is stunningly beautiful. To see the dazzling thread of gold laced through the wings of a Dragonfly … is stunningly beautiful. To feel the whispers of the Trees, to hear their songs, and the conversations between birds and squirrels and to watch a Harvestman march across my leg on a mission …. this is all beautiful. This is LIFE.  Life that the Human race is systematically destroying.

To heal ourselves, to heal this collective sickness that is sweeping the world, we must heal our environment. This is not radical or extreme.  This is logic. Cause and effect.

We can walk more gently. We can listen more intently. We can breath in the sounds and songs of water running over stones and waves tickling the sands, and bees sipping from flowers. We can take actions to reduce our wastage and our impact. We can create a symbiotic and connected relationship with our environment instead of engaging in a war against it.

We can find the sacredness of Life, and invoke more sacredness in our own lives.

Everyone has this power. Everyone.

Be the Change.
Be Love <3

Save the Earth From Us

“This Planet is dying. The Human race is killing it.”
“So you’ve come here to help us?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“You said you came to save us .. ?”
“I said I came to save the Earth.”
“You came to save the Earth … from us. You .. came to save the Earth from us!”
“We can’t risk the survival of this planet for one species.”
“What are you saying??”
“If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives. There is only a handful of planets in the cosmos capable of supporting complex life .. ”
“You can’t do this!”
“… this one can’t be allowed to perish.”
“We can change! We can still turn things around!”
“We’ve hoped and waited you would change.”
“Please …..”
“It’s reached the tipping point. We have to act.”
“Please … please … ”
“We’ll undo the damage you’ve done and give the Earth a chance to begin again.”
“Please .. please don’t do this …please .. we can change … we can change …”
“The decision is made. The process has begun.”

~~~~~

It has begun. From Nature herself.  We are killing her, and she is slowly, methodically, relentlessly fighting back, on all levels.

Diseases become more resistant and super diseases emerge. Temperatures change, altering the lands. The poisoned waters and land become part of our bodies. We are sickening from self-abuse of poisoned food and the catastrophic effects of the abuse to Nature.

In a time when our technology should bring us into harmony with the Earth, too many people continue to wage their callous and indifferent war, strewing garbage and devastation behind us.

Every single person can make a difference. There are a million little things that would add up. While many companies ARE exploring and developing better technologies for the Earth, it is the people and communities that must take the fundamental actions.

Start in your home. Look around. The chemical junk in your cabinets.  Aerosols (canned spray for non-stick food, hair spray) can be easily replaced by home-made hair spray (many recipes online, usually involved sugar and water, which is great for the hair) and using a spatula to spread softened coconut oil or any oil in the pan.

Cleaners can easily be replaced with vinegar & water, baking soda (not to be used with vinegar), and liquid castile soaps. EASY!

Grocery shopping: buy bulk, and consider the packaging. Can it be reused? Can you bring your own container to buy from the bulk containers. The junk food is garbage into your body and to the Earth.  Walking into a store is not just about purchasing items …. it is about what you are going to put in the landfills.

Fast foods: Massive amounts of garbage going straight into the land. Massive.  Damaging the human body as well as the Earth.

Food to go: Bring your own containers. Note: Subway has a plastic container for salads … this is soooooo re-usable for so many things, yet it gets thrown away!!!  Why??

Bring your own shopping bags everywhere.

Every time you buy something …. consider this:

What if all your garbage could not leave your property?

And then there is the sheer volume of cruelty to animals involved with just about every aspect of purchasing anything cosmetic or cleaners. Even perfume.

Every single person makes choices.
Start small. Look around. Consider.
Make one change.  Then another.
Our choices DO have outcomes, whether you can see them or not.

Be the Change.
Be Love <3

 

Nikita Gill – Forest

One day when you wake up, you will find that you have become a forest.
You have grown roots and found strength in them that no one thought you had.
You have become stronger and more beautiful, full of life-giving qualities.
You have learned to take all the negativity around you and turn it into oxygen for easy breathing.
A host of wild creatures live inside you and you call them stories.
A variety of different birds rest inside your mind and you call them memories.
You have become an incredible self-sustaining thing of epic proportions.
And you should be so proud of yourself, of how far you have come from the seeds of who you used to be.

~~~~~~~~

Be the Forest.
Be the Change.
Be Love <3