listening

Hi Maggie,

Doing something fun this holiday weekend?  Or just preparing for the arrival of your new son?

I have been spending a lot of time in the garden.  I have been a sweaty, muddy mess for the past two days.  I love siting in the dirt.

I have been weeding, to prepare the bed, I have to remove last year's growth and the new perennials taking over this year. This year I seem to be pulling a LOT of curled dock and a lot of burdock. I love both as medicinals, but I need room for vegetables. As I was pulling, I was overcome by the sense that we have strayed so far from what it is to be human. What are we supposed to eat?  How are we supposed to get it?  I don't think we know any more. I'm not sure my rows of spinach seeds are the way.  But until I understand, spinach it is.

As I was cleaning my house this morning, I listened to two TED talks. Actually I listened to the first one twice. And I got weepy both times.  It was entitled The beauty of being a misfit. It was presented by Lidia Yuknavitch. 

She talked about being raised in an abusive home, then listed the effects in her life.  But she said we are a new species...maybe that was the word,but it was definitely the intent.  She said that abused kids are legion.  I think she is right.  Being raised in abuse is the new norm.

She talked about being faced with the big thing that you know you want, but being frozen in shame.  But she said that even in those moments of making the worst decisions possible, we are beautiful. We glow.

Are we something new?  Does this mean we are walking away from humanity, into something new?  Is this the revolution? Something we don't recognize yet, but that we are walking towards?

The other talk was How our microbes make us who we are, by Rob Knight. He talked about the differences in our biomes. I was left wondering if abuse and trauma influence our inner microbial balance.

Lots to play with while sitting in the dirt, waiting for rain...

Love and hugs from Clare