What a year. And it’s only February.
The gifts have been swift, immense, powerful and so beautiful. So much love. I am filled with gratitude and awe.
Upon reflection, I now understand that much of my clearing out at the end of last year has been to empty myself to receive these kinds of experiences (at the time I knew I needed to clear, but not exactly why). This is such a reminder to follow your intuition if you are moved or called to do something in your life. Your soul might be preparing for something that would be impossible for your mind to grasp. The pieces are always moving to fit together, to show you something, but you have to allow that to happen. You have to trust Life.
And you have to be empty. Empty of your mind, of all preconceived ideas, of the need to understand, and especially of the need to grasp or hold on. I spent much of my life grasping. If I found or received something, I held on for dear life. Now I understand that with the willingness to release something the moment you’ve received it, it is never not with you. It’s counter intuitive. Again, something the mind can never comprehend.
The garden gifts alone have been so sweet. The kids at garden club. The funny things they say, the way they look for me during the week to find me watering and weeding (we ‘officially’ just meet on Fridays), the stories they tell.
I’ve received some lovely garden gifts from my neighbors as well. One lady a few streets over has one of my favorite gardens in the neighborhood. It sort of looks like a little farm, which is how I’d do my front yard if it wasn’t such a steep hill. She’s lucky to have a nice flat piece of land to work with and she’s got all kinds of fruit trees, flowers and shrubs. I was admiring her huge white sage and she walked over to it, took her shears out of her pocket and cut me a huge stalk. “You know what to do with this,” is all she said.
I also recently found myself walking a different way home only to come upon a big pile of aeoniums just stacked up by the street. There were about four two-foot cuttings just sitting there, waiting for the right person to find them and know what to do with them. I grabbed three (left one for someone else) and somehow managed to get home with two crazy dogs, a chatty kid and an armful of these magical plants (which, by the way, one alone of this size would cost $50 at a plant nursery here in LA). But it’s not about the money. It’s the magic of the hunt.
The people I’ve found, or who have found me, have also been gifts beyond measure. The love, the knowing. Sometimes just one encounter can leave you with enough wonder and delight to last a very long time. There is an exchange made, and it’s never not with you. But you have to be willing to release, so that it can reach its natural fullness, showing you where it needs to go. Growing and expanding in your heart, like those fresh new plants in my garden.
These massive Aeoniums are a beautiful reminder to always be open to the gifts that want to find you (and of course to share with others!).
Burning dried white sage is an ancient and sacred way to purify oneself and one’s surroundings. When you are gifted the leaves it has even more meaning.
