These past few days have seen me hardening my heart towards fellow Canadians who support this particular brand of tyranny. I have been so angry and worried for so many people who, like myself, have just had enough.
I am back to being ashamed to call myself a Canadian because our government represents everything I hate in this world. Where can I go from here? What choice do I have now?
I am so thankful to you Tara, for providing a space for the disenfranchised and unpersoned to come. You make us feel welcomed at a time where we are maligned and ridiculed... I really appreciate that. I've lost friends and family members over this and the growing pains have been a lot to bear at times. Your words are like a gift I can come back to when I need to be grounded in this world I do not recognize any longer.
Sending all of you my love, during this dark time.
Oh, Amanda. It's so hard. I have felt that same thing, but I am trying to resist the pull into that ugly world. I answer to my conscience, to my Creator. Who am I if I condemn the ugliness and add to it. But even saying that, knowing my higher self and who I want to be, I admit to also feeling such anger and horror at my fellow human. I see it and I climb out. I fall in and I climb out. I suppose that's just where I am right now. I don't want to pretend there aren't times when I feel hopeless and angst ridden. I also don't want to allow the illusion sold by the "authorities" to take hold of my heart. It's not true, despite their insistence. It is simply not true. It's big work, cultivating our inner selves, but I hope this essay was clear: we need you, the higher you. Don't let them have it. big hugs to you.
It is something I am trying to work on. I the weeks leading up to last weekend, I had never felt more love and pride. I felt like the Canada I once knew was coming back. To have it to violently quashed by such a corrupt and morally bankrupt man has been a lot to swallow. I had to remove myself from social media before last weekend because I knew what was coming and just was not able to process it. I've since seen every single ugly video. I've raged and wept and thought terrible thoughts. I try and remind myself that the people that agree with what has happened have been so deeply programmed that they know nothing else. I am trying, really trying, to live by the following quote by Eleanor Roosevelt in the coming weeks: "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." While I try to live by that, I still need to feel every feeling.
Big Brother wants me hardened toward my fellow human and I am trying to move past that... I just need to give myself grace to be in my feelings for a while first. ❤
Like I said before, thank you so very, very much for this raw, unfiltered, beautiful space, my dear Tara. You remind me of the goodness that is still out there.
I’m so sorry for what happened to Canada. I have always seen it as a sister country so close. Maybe it’s because I live in Wisconsin and we had vacations there in summer and school visits learning about nature and canoeing, lots of canoeing. I’m sorry for the fallibility of your politicians. I don’t know why politicians become so useless after a while. Is it really the cabal. But every single one of them becomes useless. Do they know something about us is there some agency that investigates us because we all have sinned and once you’re a politician they bring it to you and say vote or our way or else. Either way I am saddened by the loss of bravery. I do also wait in the fringes hoping that they don’t get close to my village but they are … they’re getting close to everyone’s village…
I know. I wouldn't pretend to have any answers, but to me I see the antidote to this globalist movement in the small, the local, the flesh and blood humans around me. That's my hope, my reality. I can barely stand to even peek at their plan right now. My resilience is low and I am keeping what I have for mustering what good I can do instead of them sipping out my life force like vampires. Maybe that's what hope is? Faith is? Maybe that's what strength is? Conviction to stay aligned with the beauty in this world and to add something to it. I don't know. That's what feels right to me.
Yes, a cabal that is world-wide this time, via interlocking financial arrangements decades in the making. I call it Late Capitalism. It has broken the western democracies; it has broken Canada and the US. Humpty Dumpty cannot be put back on the wall intact. But maybe something that is kinder to humans will be erected eventually—because the world that unfettered Capitalism has brought is an ugly, ugly place.
And so knowing all that, we do what? I am just as susceptible at getting stuck in that place as the next person, but the word in the winds is that the "something" that is coming is already here and, coincidentally (not), so are we. We, we, we. We are the builders and erectors of alternate ways of being. Now. It has to be because it is. xo
Old structures are indeed breaking and broken. We came here, to beautiful Earth to be a part of and witness the implosion of unworkable and unsustainable structures. One of the greatest gifts one Soul can give to another is walking with them till their death. Being with them as a witness for their life. There's no stopping the completion of a life journey, we simply witness. We are witnessing the passing of these structures ... greed, corruption, deception and on... the foundation of so many of these structures. We are also here, I believe, to witness and contribute to the co-creation of something new within ourselves and as an expression of that, co-creating....what??? Well, that's where the fun begins. Wouldn't miss this gig for anything!!
Just what I needed this morning as I sit in front of my woodstove contemplating this little homestead I have been nurturing that is now threatened by the possible construction of a cell tower in the woods behind my home. The town leaders have bent to the will of greed. It is simultaneously unfathomable and yet infinitely inevitable. No matter how far we try to get away from the greed, they somehow find our stack of firewood to steal, water to pollute, animals to poison, land to steal. It has been happening for ever. Thanks for this medicine, Tara. I am going to just sit and appreciate the sound of the birds and the patter of the rain, and move ahead one step at a time. With love from here.
Oh, Kate. Thank you for your beautiful words, for sharing a part of your world with us. I live knowing, too, that everything is up for grabs and nothing is certain. That has been my greatest lesson over the last year. Everything is up for grabs, nothing is certain. That lesson has woven itself into my bones. So, if that's true, and it is, how do I find peace and joy and love and a life that meant something, that it mattered that I was ever here at all? I think that's where the answers are. But, I'm just a schmuck like the rest of us, trying to figure it all out.
Indeed. It is all temporary! The gifts and challenges... and sometimes the challenges are the biggest gifts of all. Grateful to be able to simultaneously hold grief and joy right now.
Thank you, Tara, for living how you do and sharing your experience. I loved your interview with your husband the other day, so your description of his presence has more meaning to me while reading this. This wisdom is comfort and brings me to tears. I'm in Arlington, MA and have been buoyed and then crestfallen with the past weeks keeping close track of all that is going on through Heather Heying and you and Viva Frei and Jordan Peterson and Rebel News. May we pay attention to the beauty of our existence and create and establish that, each moment. This prayer comes up right now. "And may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands." Ps. 90:17. The Power of Now has been my almost daily reading for two months. And now Wendell Berry. I am thankful I've been able to see more often through such lens as you remind your readers to do so here. How precious we all are.
I'm so thankful for your more gentle and convicted voice that helps me reaffirm the essential goodness that I know is in all of us. And that we must have meaningful interaction with the earth and growing things and animals. Bless you all!
Saying hello, Sarah - fellow New Englander here (So NH) - 3 of my 4 kids live and work in MA. We follow a lot of the same people and sources. I’m blown away at how much my mind and awareness has expanded during these challenging times, and I can’t help but be grateful for the new connections I’ve made and how important they will become going forward.
Hi Deb, Hello to you! Long shot here, but if you are interested in meeting some more like minded folks, 10 of us. This afternoon, Saturday, 2/26 in Arlington at my house, we are having a potluck/fellowship til about 9. We’ve been getting together since August monthly. We know each other through Kelly Brogan’s Vital Life Project. sbroomell@gmail.com If not today, maybe another time we’ll connect!!
Sarah, thank you so much for the invitation - your gathering sounds wonderful! Today doesn’t work for me, but perhaps another time. Let’s stay connected: debdonovan60@yahoo.com.
We had to say goodbye to one of our very first cows two nights ago. It was painful. We had the privilege of witnessing her grow from calf to an incredible, strong, clever mother and surrogate mother. She was vocal and demanding, but tender and so incredibly in tune with her babies. Something happened. We don't know what happened. But she stopped wanting to stand or get up. We tried Tara. Man we tried. We sat, my husband and I, near her. "Penny for your thoughts?" My husband checked in with me. This is truly what my respo se was: "All this at once. Canada and Daisy. I feel the pain throughout my body like a layer under my skin. It hurts. But I must remember what Tara in Canada once told me: face the realities on the farm, the good and the rough. Because what happens right here on this farm is true reality, not what the media and politicians try to shove down our throats and make us fear. Keep perspective and be present here." I am sorry if I mis-remember what you once said. But that is what I remember. And that got me through some really rough days in our paradise recently. I am isolated in a sense on our farm from society, but feel so connected here in this space with you. Thank you for bringing us all back to present with your writing. Tears and no-word prayers have been like incense going up to my God this past week. And I connect with Him in the moments where I surrender to listening and watching what He created for us to enjoy and experience. The sundog in the sky the other day, the walk deeper into the farm where the road noise disappeared and leaves clapped their hands, the screaming cry of my donkey that turned into self-pity huffs and puffs the closer I got to him so he can lean into me as I massage his body. The hen lifting her skirt feathers and run-waddling with those wide, egg-bearing hips to catch up to the rest of the hens and rooster as they hike through the forest and paddocks on their roaming adventure for the day, the timing of calling a friend who is moving country the next day and it is the exact and only moment she has some private time available and I can be there with her in her transition as she unthreads from one life to weave into another. Trusting and hoping and surrendering and through the harsh stuff remembering to live life with a lighter touch. My husband held my hand in his sleep last night. The weight of his hand goes beyond conversation ever could. These things make my life rich. I must remember that beauty and love is still all around, and it is well worth being present for. ❤
I'm so sorry about your cow, Yvette. That is a heartbreaker. I know it. I still miss some of our cows, still think of them, wish I could see that familiar face in the herd. It is hard. I'm glad it's hard for you, too. It tells me much about your heart. Thank you for sharing some of the beauty around you. It was a gift to read this evening after an especially tough day. A little balm on the bruised. ❤️
May I say this to my American family...all of you. A great swath of love, courage and hope was gouged, a hot knife through butter gouge across Canada and the world. Whether driving under one or many of the overpasses crowded or singular with their smiling, flag waving, cheering faces, one thing is an absoulute certain, that extraordinary, miraculous energy doesn't just 'go away'. It is and will continue to shape what we may not see ... just yet. Mother Earth is energy; she felt it too! Just imagine if you will, flocking birds, all going in one direction and WHOOSH! They all turn on a dime and are going in another direction. They didn't text each other to change direction. Silent communication is energy too. They 'informed' each other and they changed direction. I think we humans are beginning to learn a new 'energy' language. Millions of people drove under those overpasses with the trucks and I know they too felt the tidal wave of energy flowing down upon them...that's energy too. Love. None will be the same. I know. I felt it and the tears flowed. I am not the same. Remember the motion of the waves. This last wave was enormous. Our smiles are the collective next wave coming. Hold the line and hold on to our collective hats!!! AND keep smiling!
We've been cracked open. There's no going back. Growing is tough but you're so right, Inez, that WHOOSH was felt by all. We are witnessing a dawn and a call to connection. It's so tough and it's so darn beautiful.❤️
I wonder if we don't understand because the requirements for these times have not been used for the relative calm in our lives thus far. New working of new muscles. You have despair and you have will. You can and do still muster. What else is there to do? To still see the beauty, feel it, let it all in. The alignment of our physical existence with all of creation. What nonsense could even hold a candle to such wonder?
I needed you this morning! I have been so bereft after what Trudeau has done in Canada. The images of what fell beneath the horses hoofs, of people on the ground being beaten mercilessly, of the taking of peoples’ money because they protested a failed policy that is hurting them. It can so easily happen here in the US. Biden’s emergency powers are perhaps even stronger than Canada’s. I needed to hear all of what you wrote—“ Birth follows death. Growth follows destruction. It is painful and it is stretching us all, but as any good farmer knows, the most wondrous things grow from the decay.” And that last paragraph…. I’m trying hard and wishing with all my might as I try to relax my own fist to release all the good that I wish could happen.
Thank you, Louisa. And I needed to read these comments, like yours. It's unifying and so deeply connecting for us all to be able to share our pain and "see each other". It seems there are people that are all plastic flowers and glitter bombs saying this is the most beautiful time to be alive and then others that say the gestapo is coming and we're all doomed. Can it be both? Can we be and feel despair and hold beauty at the same time? The answer is an unequivocal yes. My daughter has taught me that, is teaching me that. It's both and we are here to rise to our higher selves, the ones in alignment, the courageous and loving ones. Resist their claws, good woman. xo
Right here, right now, is our greatest test. In all the darkness and abuse of power set against nation peoples to further enslave us in this system there is hope. Yes, it is painful and ugly and it hurts. But once we have allowed those emotions to flow through us, we have to grab ourselves by the shirt collar and get up. We learn these lessons from the natural world. I look out at distant hills that a few years ago were covered in fire. The bones of the trees still stand as a reminder. Under those standing reminders is new, lush growth and saplings rising to take their place. Renewal and health returning to the charred land.
We are that hope. As the old guard overplays it's hand and crumbles, we must continue to partner with the coming new growth. A groundswell of those who know there is a better way. We may not be able to see the whole picture but we can take one step and then the next toward it.
The only good I have been able to take from the past two years is that there are many of us who feel the same way, that are determined to build something better, that have love and creativity in their hearts. And all of like mind want to leave something better behind for the generations to come to build on. May it be so.
Just beautiful, Bonnie! Yes, we are not alone and the facade has been cracked open. Let the light shine in and touch those seeds in the underbrush ❤️❤️❤️
I would really appreciate more of the "how to" of how living like this looks in action. On one hand, soaking in all the beauty, while at the same time prepping realistically for what the future could hold and trying to be prepared. I had a friend call last week and wanted to know any "prepper" resources I could refer her to. I felt like that was so 2008... :) I had to just say, "well, I think we should garden because it's so beautiful, and raise animals because it helps keep you very grounded, but I just don't have any energy for doomsday right now." She wasn't too impressed with me - but I can only focus on love and beauty right now to keep my sanity. The worst thing is, I feel so frightened. I don't want to go to prison. I don't want people beating me. I'm not brave. I'm just a very freedom loving mom. Do I have to be willing to die for it? How did we move from theoretical to real so quickly? I am so furious at corruption that harms people. So furious, and then I'm sad, and then I get up and take another run at it. But thank you for writing. It means a great deal to me. I always read your essays to my husband. One thing that has been a true lifesaver for us in this crazy time is to read old Folktales. I know it sounds strange, but I read my love a story most every night (right now Sea Spells and Moor Magic by Sorche Nic Leodhas) and the old tales of oppressed people who are guided in their quests by helpful strangers and the Universe is somehow truly healing. Recommended :)
I don't think it sounds strange, I think it is wise and beautiful. Even old fairytales hold lost wisdom and encouragement on morality and courage. "So 2008" ha ha. What do you mean by how this living looks like in action? It seems to me you know?
I feel your writing will be read on a lectern one day, to a crowd of people. It’s majestic, powerful and has so much depth and touchable feeling to it. Thank you Tara.
It is disheartening watching the events unfold in your country, this is not about a virus, it's not about slowing the spread, it is not about building back better. If it can happen to Canada it can happen anywhere.
An essay I will revisit often. With the world's leaders hell bent on destroying all that is good and replacing it with all that is greed, I appreciate the reminder to look at our world and love on what's important in it right now. Thank you, Tara - for bringing my mind back to the precious reality that's right in front of me.
These past few days have seen me hardening my heart towards fellow Canadians who support this particular brand of tyranny. I have been so angry and worried for so many people who, like myself, have just had enough.
I am back to being ashamed to call myself a Canadian because our government represents everything I hate in this world. Where can I go from here? What choice do I have now?
I am so thankful to you Tara, for providing a space for the disenfranchised and unpersoned to come. You make us feel welcomed at a time where we are maligned and ridiculed... I really appreciate that. I've lost friends and family members over this and the growing pains have been a lot to bear at times. Your words are like a gift I can come back to when I need to be grounded in this world I do not recognize any longer.
Sending all of you my love, during this dark time.
Oh, Amanda. It's so hard. I have felt that same thing, but I am trying to resist the pull into that ugly world. I answer to my conscience, to my Creator. Who am I if I condemn the ugliness and add to it. But even saying that, knowing my higher self and who I want to be, I admit to also feeling such anger and horror at my fellow human. I see it and I climb out. I fall in and I climb out. I suppose that's just where I am right now. I don't want to pretend there aren't times when I feel hopeless and angst ridden. I also don't want to allow the illusion sold by the "authorities" to take hold of my heart. It's not true, despite their insistence. It is simply not true. It's big work, cultivating our inner selves, but I hope this essay was clear: we need you, the higher you. Don't let them have it. big hugs to you.
It is something I am trying to work on. I the weeks leading up to last weekend, I had never felt more love and pride. I felt like the Canada I once knew was coming back. To have it to violently quashed by such a corrupt and morally bankrupt man has been a lot to swallow. I had to remove myself from social media before last weekend because I knew what was coming and just was not able to process it. I've since seen every single ugly video. I've raged and wept and thought terrible thoughts. I try and remind myself that the people that agree with what has happened have been so deeply programmed that they know nothing else. I am trying, really trying, to live by the following quote by Eleanor Roosevelt in the coming weeks: "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." While I try to live by that, I still need to feel every feeling.
Big Brother wants me hardened toward my fellow human and I am trying to move past that... I just need to give myself grace to be in my feelings for a while first. ❤
Like I said before, thank you so very, very much for this raw, unfiltered, beautiful space, my dear Tara. You remind me of the goodness that is still out there.
I’m so sorry for what happened to Canada. I have always seen it as a sister country so close. Maybe it’s because I live in Wisconsin and we had vacations there in summer and school visits learning about nature and canoeing, lots of canoeing. I’m sorry for the fallibility of your politicians. I don’t know why politicians become so useless after a while. Is it really the cabal. But every single one of them becomes useless. Do they know something about us is there some agency that investigates us because we all have sinned and once you’re a politician they bring it to you and say vote or our way or else. Either way I am saddened by the loss of bravery. I do also wait in the fringes hoping that they don’t get close to my village but they are … they’re getting close to everyone’s village…
I know. I wouldn't pretend to have any answers, but to me I see the antidote to this globalist movement in the small, the local, the flesh and blood humans around me. That's my hope, my reality. I can barely stand to even peek at their plan right now. My resilience is low and I am keeping what I have for mustering what good I can do instead of them sipping out my life force like vampires. Maybe that's what hope is? Faith is? Maybe that's what strength is? Conviction to stay aligned with the beauty in this world and to add something to it. I don't know. That's what feels right to me.
Yes, a cabal that is world-wide this time, via interlocking financial arrangements decades in the making. I call it Late Capitalism. It has broken the western democracies; it has broken Canada and the US. Humpty Dumpty cannot be put back on the wall intact. But maybe something that is kinder to humans will be erected eventually—because the world that unfettered Capitalism has brought is an ugly, ugly place.
And so knowing all that, we do what? I am just as susceptible at getting stuck in that place as the next person, but the word in the winds is that the "something" that is coming is already here and, coincidentally (not), so are we. We, we, we. We are the builders and erectors of alternate ways of being. Now. It has to be because it is. xo
Old structures are indeed breaking and broken. We came here, to beautiful Earth to be a part of and witness the implosion of unworkable and unsustainable structures. One of the greatest gifts one Soul can give to another is walking with them till their death. Being with them as a witness for their life. There's no stopping the completion of a life journey, we simply witness. We are witnessing the passing of these structures ... greed, corruption, deception and on... the foundation of so many of these structures. We are also here, I believe, to witness and contribute to the co-creation of something new within ourselves and as an expression of that, co-creating....what??? Well, that's where the fun begins. Wouldn't miss this gig for anything!!
Just what I needed this morning as I sit in front of my woodstove contemplating this little homestead I have been nurturing that is now threatened by the possible construction of a cell tower in the woods behind my home. The town leaders have bent to the will of greed. It is simultaneously unfathomable and yet infinitely inevitable. No matter how far we try to get away from the greed, they somehow find our stack of firewood to steal, water to pollute, animals to poison, land to steal. It has been happening for ever. Thanks for this medicine, Tara. I am going to just sit and appreciate the sound of the birds and the patter of the rain, and move ahead one step at a time. With love from here.
Oh, Kate. Thank you for your beautiful words, for sharing a part of your world with us. I live knowing, too, that everything is up for grabs and nothing is certain. That has been my greatest lesson over the last year. Everything is up for grabs, nothing is certain. That lesson has woven itself into my bones. So, if that's true, and it is, how do I find peace and joy and love and a life that meant something, that it mattered that I was ever here at all? I think that's where the answers are. But, I'm just a schmuck like the rest of us, trying to figure it all out.
Indeed. It is all temporary! The gifts and challenges... and sometimes the challenges are the biggest gifts of all. Grateful to be able to simultaneously hold grief and joy right now.
"We are but pilgrims passing through" comes to mind
I feel this same way
Thank you, Tara, for living how you do and sharing your experience. I loved your interview with your husband the other day, so your description of his presence has more meaning to me while reading this. This wisdom is comfort and brings me to tears. I'm in Arlington, MA and have been buoyed and then crestfallen with the past weeks keeping close track of all that is going on through Heather Heying and you and Viva Frei and Jordan Peterson and Rebel News. May we pay attention to the beauty of our existence and create and establish that, each moment. This prayer comes up right now. "And may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands." Ps. 90:17. The Power of Now has been my almost daily reading for two months. And now Wendell Berry. I am thankful I've been able to see more often through such lens as you remind your readers to do so here. How precious we all are.
Just beautiful, Sarah. Thank you for sharing that bible verse. It is lovely and just so very powerful for this time. big hugs to you, Tara
I'm so thankful for your more gentle and convicted voice that helps me reaffirm the essential goodness that I know is in all of us. And that we must have meaningful interaction with the earth and growing things and animals. Bless you all!
Saying hello, Sarah - fellow New Englander here (So NH) - 3 of my 4 kids live and work in MA. We follow a lot of the same people and sources. I’m blown away at how much my mind and awareness has expanded during these challenging times, and I can’t help but be grateful for the new connections I’ve made and how important they will become going forward.
Hi Deb, Hello to you! Long shot here, but if you are interested in meeting some more like minded folks, 10 of us. This afternoon, Saturday, 2/26 in Arlington at my house, we are having a potluck/fellowship til about 9. We’ve been getting together since August monthly. We know each other through Kelly Brogan’s Vital Life Project. sbroomell@gmail.com If not today, maybe another time we’ll connect!!
Sarah, thank you so much for the invitation - your gathering sounds wonderful! Today doesn’t work for me, but perhaps another time. Let’s stay connected: debdonovan60@yahoo.com.
We had to say goodbye to one of our very first cows two nights ago. It was painful. We had the privilege of witnessing her grow from calf to an incredible, strong, clever mother and surrogate mother. She was vocal and demanding, but tender and so incredibly in tune with her babies. Something happened. We don't know what happened. But she stopped wanting to stand or get up. We tried Tara. Man we tried. We sat, my husband and I, near her. "Penny for your thoughts?" My husband checked in with me. This is truly what my respo se was: "All this at once. Canada and Daisy. I feel the pain throughout my body like a layer under my skin. It hurts. But I must remember what Tara in Canada once told me: face the realities on the farm, the good and the rough. Because what happens right here on this farm is true reality, not what the media and politicians try to shove down our throats and make us fear. Keep perspective and be present here." I am sorry if I mis-remember what you once said. But that is what I remember. And that got me through some really rough days in our paradise recently. I am isolated in a sense on our farm from society, but feel so connected here in this space with you. Thank you for bringing us all back to present with your writing. Tears and no-word prayers have been like incense going up to my God this past week. And I connect with Him in the moments where I surrender to listening and watching what He created for us to enjoy and experience. The sundog in the sky the other day, the walk deeper into the farm where the road noise disappeared and leaves clapped their hands, the screaming cry of my donkey that turned into self-pity huffs and puffs the closer I got to him so he can lean into me as I massage his body. The hen lifting her skirt feathers and run-waddling with those wide, egg-bearing hips to catch up to the rest of the hens and rooster as they hike through the forest and paddocks on their roaming adventure for the day, the timing of calling a friend who is moving country the next day and it is the exact and only moment she has some private time available and I can be there with her in her transition as she unthreads from one life to weave into another. Trusting and hoping and surrendering and through the harsh stuff remembering to live life with a lighter touch. My husband held my hand in his sleep last night. The weight of his hand goes beyond conversation ever could. These things make my life rich. I must remember that beauty and love is still all around, and it is well worth being present for. ❤
I'm so sorry about your cow, Yvette. That is a heartbreaker. I know it. I still miss some of our cows, still think of them, wish I could see that familiar face in the herd. It is hard. I'm glad it's hard for you, too. It tells me much about your heart. Thank you for sharing some of the beauty around you. It was a gift to read this evening after an especially tough day. A little balm on the bruised. ❤️
❤
May I say this to my American family...all of you. A great swath of love, courage and hope was gouged, a hot knife through butter gouge across Canada and the world. Whether driving under one or many of the overpasses crowded or singular with their smiling, flag waving, cheering faces, one thing is an absoulute certain, that extraordinary, miraculous energy doesn't just 'go away'. It is and will continue to shape what we may not see ... just yet. Mother Earth is energy; she felt it too! Just imagine if you will, flocking birds, all going in one direction and WHOOSH! They all turn on a dime and are going in another direction. They didn't text each other to change direction. Silent communication is energy too. They 'informed' each other and they changed direction. I think we humans are beginning to learn a new 'energy' language. Millions of people drove under those overpasses with the trucks and I know they too felt the tidal wave of energy flowing down upon them...that's energy too. Love. None will be the same. I know. I felt it and the tears flowed. I am not the same. Remember the motion of the waves. This last wave was enormous. Our smiles are the collective next wave coming. Hold the line and hold on to our collective hats!!! AND keep smiling!
We've been cracked open. There's no going back. Growing is tough but you're so right, Inez, that WHOOSH was felt by all. We are witnessing a dawn and a call to connection. It's so tough and it's so darn beautiful.❤️
It takes a lot of fortitude. A mountain of conviction.
I am there.
I am unsure how long a person can continue to muster courage and strength, though the alternative seems worse than death.
I am becoming a weary woman living in silent despair portraying strength and calm to the world.
I battle these feelings with gratitude, hope and prayer.
Revelations calls us to patiently endure, I try to take solace in Gods plan.
I don’t understand this will inside of me
I wonder if we don't understand because the requirements for these times have not been used for the relative calm in our lives thus far. New working of new muscles. You have despair and you have will. You can and do still muster. What else is there to do? To still see the beauty, feel it, let it all in. The alignment of our physical existence with all of creation. What nonsense could even hold a candle to such wonder?
I needed you this morning! I have been so bereft after what Trudeau has done in Canada. The images of what fell beneath the horses hoofs, of people on the ground being beaten mercilessly, of the taking of peoples’ money because they protested a failed policy that is hurting them. It can so easily happen here in the US. Biden’s emergency powers are perhaps even stronger than Canada’s. I needed to hear all of what you wrote—“ Birth follows death. Growth follows destruction. It is painful and it is stretching us all, but as any good farmer knows, the most wondrous things grow from the decay.” And that last paragraph…. I’m trying hard and wishing with all my might as I try to relax my own fist to release all the good that I wish could happen.
Thank you, Louisa. And I needed to read these comments, like yours. It's unifying and so deeply connecting for us all to be able to share our pain and "see each other". It seems there are people that are all plastic flowers and glitter bombs saying this is the most beautiful time to be alive and then others that say the gestapo is coming and we're all doomed. Can it be both? Can we be and feel despair and hold beauty at the same time? The answer is an unequivocal yes. My daughter has taught me that, is teaching me that. It's both and we are here to rise to our higher selves, the ones in alignment, the courageous and loving ones. Resist their claws, good woman. xo
Right here, right now, is our greatest test. In all the darkness and abuse of power set against nation peoples to further enslave us in this system there is hope. Yes, it is painful and ugly and it hurts. But once we have allowed those emotions to flow through us, we have to grab ourselves by the shirt collar and get up. We learn these lessons from the natural world. I look out at distant hills that a few years ago were covered in fire. The bones of the trees still stand as a reminder. Under those standing reminders is new, lush growth and saplings rising to take their place. Renewal and health returning to the charred land.
We are that hope. As the old guard overplays it's hand and crumbles, we must continue to partner with the coming new growth. A groundswell of those who know there is a better way. We may not be able to see the whole picture but we can take one step and then the next toward it.
The only good I have been able to take from the past two years is that there are many of us who feel the same way, that are determined to build something better, that have love and creativity in their hearts. And all of like mind want to leave something better behind for the generations to come to build on. May it be so.
Just beautiful, Bonnie! Yes, we are not alone and the facade has been cracked open. Let the light shine in and touch those seeds in the underbrush ❤️❤️❤️
Holy, holy, wholly xxxx
My love to you, Monique.
I would really appreciate more of the "how to" of how living like this looks in action. On one hand, soaking in all the beauty, while at the same time prepping realistically for what the future could hold and trying to be prepared. I had a friend call last week and wanted to know any "prepper" resources I could refer her to. I felt like that was so 2008... :) I had to just say, "well, I think we should garden because it's so beautiful, and raise animals because it helps keep you very grounded, but I just don't have any energy for doomsday right now." She wasn't too impressed with me - but I can only focus on love and beauty right now to keep my sanity. The worst thing is, I feel so frightened. I don't want to go to prison. I don't want people beating me. I'm not brave. I'm just a very freedom loving mom. Do I have to be willing to die for it? How did we move from theoretical to real so quickly? I am so furious at corruption that harms people. So furious, and then I'm sad, and then I get up and take another run at it. But thank you for writing. It means a great deal to me. I always read your essays to my husband. One thing that has been a true lifesaver for us in this crazy time is to read old Folktales. I know it sounds strange, but I read my love a story most every night (right now Sea Spells and Moor Magic by Sorche Nic Leodhas) and the old tales of oppressed people who are guided in their quests by helpful strangers and the Universe is somehow truly healing. Recommended :)
I don't think it sounds strange, I think it is wise and beautiful. Even old fairytales hold lost wisdom and encouragement on morality and courage. "So 2008" ha ha. What do you mean by how this living looks like in action? It seems to me you know?
I feel your writing will be read on a lectern one day, to a crowd of people. It’s majestic, powerful and has so much depth and touchable feeling to it. Thank you Tara.
That is such a generous thing to say, Alex. Thank you. ❤️
It is disheartening watching the events unfold in your country, this is not about a virus, it's not about slowing the spread, it is not about building back better. If it can happen to Canada it can happen anywhere.
An essay I will revisit often. With the world's leaders hell bent on destroying all that is good and replacing it with all that is greed, I appreciate the reminder to look at our world and love on what's important in it right now. Thank you, Tara - for bringing my mind back to the precious reality that's right in front of me.
thank you, Maria❤️
Perfect title. My heart feels heavy for Canadians. Thanks for the reminder that growth comes from decay. Our hope is the useful key.
beautiful last paragraph. thanks again Tara