Thank you Sally. What a helpful and enlightening post this is. Living in the planet, not on it. When we first moved to this 16 acre plot of land in glorious West Somerset, UK, it was close to uninhabitable as everywhere the brambles and nettles had taken over. To begin with it felt like a fight, me against nature, cutting and slashing, opening the environment up, so the house ( a wholly timber house) could breathe again, and seeds and bulbs of wildflowers, which had lost the fight against the aggressiveness of nettles and brambles, could feel the sun on them, and respond. After three years everything is finding its place, and this year we have started a large vegetable patch. On reading your words I can become aware of another way of thinking of this place where I now stand. The earth here gives grass to my horses, she feeds the carrots, parsnips, brassicas, onions, potatoes, lettuces, broad beans, beetroot, spring onions, which in turn feed us. This morning I was strimming some massive docks and nettles and thistles, that were leaning menacingly over the vegetable plot fence - a fence that says quite firmly to the deer and rabbits, not these plants, go and eat somewhere else. I found myself talking to the earth, saying thank you for the abundance and rapid growth of these plants, but as we can’t eat them, and there are plenty of other places in the 16 acres where they can grow to their hearts content, I was going to chop them down and let them decompose back into her. It no longer feels like a fight with nature, but a conversation, a discussion, held with gratitude and humility, which I have only recently come to, but which I think Mother Earth has had for ever. And it feels enriching to me.
I love to think of us all having these little epiphanies, as we try to move towards a kinder way of being.
I love your stories of tending to where you are Jane and the ways you are coming to hear and care for Mother Earth. She teaches us so much like nothing ever stays the same and nothing gets wasted. Learning to chop and drop has been a wonderful permaculture lesson for me, learning that what we call weeds or overgrowth can become nutrient rich mulch and compost for where they are when we do trim them back. Your veggie garden sounds magnificent! Food you grow is the best food ever!
Thank you Johanna, when I read your latest post I thought how connected our visions are, it’s a joy finding so many nature loving kindred spirits on Substack
I really agree Sally, that through relating directly with the earth that our sense perceptions return. And I feel these fields of human experiencing are currently growing steadily, like rhizomorphs. Someone suggested that intuition is like gravity - I love that. In these ways, conscious connections don't die, they just go dormant, unconscious perhaps, until they are reinvigorated in relationship.
Here's to gardens, trees, leaves, clouds and insects, to finding ourselves in wild places, to loving the place we were born and the place where we live. Here's to attentiveness, to getting out of our heads and into the fresh moment, the fresh air and the soil. I especially enjoyed your photos, and your continuing encouragement to ask deep questions. May we enjoy our gardens, our natural spaces, and find resilience and nourishment there. x
Thank you Sally. What a helpful and enlightening post this is. Living in the planet, not on it. When we first moved to this 16 acre plot of land in glorious West Somerset, UK, it was close to uninhabitable as everywhere the brambles and nettles had taken over. To begin with it felt like a fight, me against nature, cutting and slashing, opening the environment up, so the house ( a wholly timber house) could breathe again, and seeds and bulbs of wildflowers, which had lost the fight against the aggressiveness of nettles and brambles, could feel the sun on them, and respond. After three years everything is finding its place, and this year we have started a large vegetable patch. On reading your words I can become aware of another way of thinking of this place where I now stand. The earth here gives grass to my horses, she feeds the carrots, parsnips, brassicas, onions, potatoes, lettuces, broad beans, beetroot, spring onions, which in turn feed us. This morning I was strimming some massive docks and nettles and thistles, that were leaning menacingly over the vegetable plot fence - a fence that says quite firmly to the deer and rabbits, not these plants, go and eat somewhere else. I found myself talking to the earth, saying thank you for the abundance and rapid growth of these plants, but as we can’t eat them, and there are plenty of other places in the 16 acres where they can grow to their hearts content, I was going to chop them down and let them decompose back into her. It no longer feels like a fight with nature, but a conversation, a discussion, held with gratitude and humility, which I have only recently come to, but which I think Mother Earth has had for ever. And it feels enriching to me.
I love to think of us all having these little epiphanies, as we try to move towards a kinder way of being.
I love your stories of tending to where you are Jane and the ways you are coming to hear and care for Mother Earth. She teaches us so much like nothing ever stays the same and nothing gets wasted. Learning to chop and drop has been a wonderful permaculture lesson for me, learning that what we call weeds or overgrowth can become nutrient rich mulch and compost for where they are when we do trim them back. Your veggie garden sounds magnificent! Food you grow is the best food ever!
It brings be joy that others are also doing the work of spreading the word of our living world and Earth connections. Blessed be. https://open.substack.com/pub/johannadebiase/p/we-were-born-animists?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=dax8a
Thank you Johanna, when I read your latest post I thought how connected our visions are, it’s a joy finding so many nature loving kindred spirits on Substack
It’s lovely and honest Sally :)
I know that special garden place well too, it’s magic!
It is a magical valley, I agree! Lovely to reconnect with you here on Substack Sophie, hope your work and play going well where you are
What a lovely and lively space you invite us into with this post.
Thank you Susannah ! Hopefully you can come visit the physical space here before too long 💚
I really agree Sally, that through relating directly with the earth that our sense perceptions return. And I feel these fields of human experiencing are currently growing steadily, like rhizomorphs. Someone suggested that intuition is like gravity - I love that. In these ways, conscious connections don't die, they just go dormant, unconscious perhaps, until they are reinvigorated in relationship.
That’s so beautifully expressed, I love that too, intuition is like gravity. May we all awake to our pull into the earth, the source of our knowing 💚
I loved the specific way you named the liberation that realizing our interconnectedness brings. It has been a source of energy for me in these times.
Enjoyed finding your substack and looking forward to future posts!
Here's to gardens, trees, leaves, clouds and insects, to finding ourselves in wild places, to loving the place we were born and the place where we live. Here's to attentiveness, to getting out of our heads and into the fresh moment, the fresh air and the soil. I especially enjoyed your photos, and your continuing encouragement to ask deep questions. May we enjoy our gardens, our natural spaces, and find resilience and nourishment there. x
Thank you Lydia, loving that we are now interconnected 💚
🙏Brigid, I love the thought of us all attending together