Long, long ago I got confirmed in the Catholic Church on Earth Day, and at the time I felt there was something significant about the coincidence, but it’s taken me decades to come to it. Last year, when I felt the call to build a garden—I mean a food forest sort of garden, not just the hosta garden I was already tending—I was kind of thrown for a loop. It was gonna be a lot of work. Yet I could feel the energy of the garden in my imagination, and I even visited it in my dreams. I knew it was something that was already alive somewhere, and that somehow I needed to find my way to it.
I asked my Akashic Records what this was all about, and the answer was simply, “You are building a sanctuary.” My mind immediately went to the thought of sanctuary for people, and that made me scratch my head even more because I didn’t really want to house guests. Nevertheless, I continued to hold that message in my heart because the garden continues to flow for me, and all I do is follow my flow to the best of my ability.
While I was tending to my seedlings this spring, thinking about “sanctuary,” I received the message: “Sweet child, you are building a sanctuary for all life, from the microbiome of the soil to the creepy crawlies to the plants and the pollinators and the larger garden critters. The humans are the very last link on the chain.” The knowing eased the pressure that had been building in me to “figure out” how the heck my garden was supposed to help others. I didn’t have to worry about people so much. I just needed to facilitate balance in the garden so life could flourish. The pieces would fall into place in right order and timing.
Earth’s been calling for quite awhile. As city-dwellers, my husband and I spent so much of our free time wandering botanical gardens and parks and admiring other people’s rooftop and community gardens. We drove up the river, towards the mountains, and dreamed of a time we could grow our own food. Almost two and a half years ago I underwent an initiatory experience with a tree in Manhattan and my life has never been the same since.
I used to think my sacred work was helping people come home to themselves, but now I see it is showing others a way to take their place at the table of creation. It happens via the Self, and a centering practice is still the most vital piece, but Earth plays a very major part in our ability to stay grounded and centered while we find our way back to the web of life.
Happy Earth Day to all who live and love on this planet! Pic is of some gifts I left my tree in NYC when I said goodbye and headed for life upstate.
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