Greetings Sunny Optimists,
How are you today? I hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying the lightness and freshness of this time of year. I am just back from a walk in the spring sunshine. The light and warmth are returning, and I feel that glorious sense of relief and anticipation for summer's coming.
I decided to look out lighter clothes this morning—this move is always a clear signal of this 'time of turning' for me. There comes the point, usually in April, when I have a ritual of changing over my winter and summer wardrobes. Being with my summer clothes is like welcoming back old friends, as memories of when I last wore them pop up. There is also a welcome relief that the clothes still fit. Big smile!
Do you do this each year?
What other rituals do you have that signal the changing of the season?
As always, I love hearing from you.
Tending the Garden of our Consciousness
In 1996 David and I embarked on an Earth Wisdom training journey with our beloved teachers RainbowHawk and WindEagle. So many amazing experiences with them over the years and so many insights that still resonate and guide my life to this day. RainbowHawk passed in 2012. His legacy lives on in me and in so many of us who stepped into training with him and WindEagle. As you can see below, there was always a sparkle of mischief in his bright blue eyes. Happy memories.
I recall having a conversation with Rainbowhawk about how sometimes I felt guilty that my parenting was not all I would have wished it to be. I was a working mum, and I found that the tension between work and home life could sometimes take me out of balance. I think most parents have this worry every so often. RainbowHawk's response brought a new understanding of my role as a parent. It also evoked a new way of being with my girls that was truly transformational for me. He said;
'Imagine that, just like us, our children have a garden of consciousness. To the best of our ability, we help them plant as many healthy attitudes, images, beliefs, and opinions as possible. Sometimes, inadvertently, we might also help them plant weeds that are not so life-affirming. That is the nature of what it is to be human. As a parent, our truest responsibility to our children is, as they mature, to teach them skills to tend their own garden of consciousness.'
Rewilding our Consciousness Garden.
This remembering of RainbowHawk's words came to me this week when one of my dear friends sent me a link to a rewilding project in Scotland. My quirky brain went off on a tangent as I considered what it would mean to rewild our 'garden of consciousness'.
I have a big smile on my face as I think of us all playing with this. See my questions below.
For example, I know that my husband, David, loves fields of wildflowers. We have planted many of them over the years. What would it be like to plant some wildflowers in his garden of consciousness? I see that there will be a degree of unpredictability and messiness that might open up new insights and understanding. For me, rewilding would include planting indigenous species in my garden that connect me back to my Celtic roots. Mmmmmm.
Question for this week
And so, dear friends, my questions for this week are:
What could you plant in your garden that might rewild your consciousness?
How might this open you to new insights and understandings?
Thank you for being on this adventure with me.
As always, I would love to hear from you.
Ann.
Dearest Ann—your writing is so refreshing today! Yes—what a marvelous thought: rewilding our gardens of consciousness. For me, I think instantly of Buddhist thought—of ways of opening to accept what comes into my consciousness, letting it float through, rather that being reactionary and irritated and suffering with things...ahhhh, feels so much better to be self-compassionate. Love you and deeply appreciate both your sparkling joie de vivre and deep wisdom.
🙏🏼♥️Dirje
Im late popping in. But, still appreciate your message to us last Friday. Yes, isn't the spring air and all the nature sounds of this year so very lovely. Im especially appreciative of the water spirits this spring as I visit the bodies of water near to our home. No oceans, but lakes, ponds and rivers.
The message I have been getting this spring is to let go of plans and listen to inner voice to guide me. So my rewilding garden of consciousness has no plan. Im waiting for the directions to appear. Until then, I clear out the old plants (that were not cleared in the fall to give the solid protection over the winter) and prepare the soil to be planted. Im looking forward to temps warm enough to walk the earth with barefeet while I plant.
Thank you, Ann, for the prompting us to this contemplation.
As always, with love and gratitude to you!! xxx Robyn