Breath of Spring

The morning started with my usual walk down and back up the mountain. After breakfast, I was opening the door to the deck to add some orange peels to the ‘compost.’ I saw two turkey hens. Then four…no six….no eight! I ran and got the turkey call box my brother made. Just two tries and a resounding GOBBLE!!! came from another direction. WHAT?!!?! I tiptoed across the deck and beheld two beautiful, puffed-out tom turkeys strutting after the hens. All of this was happening within ten feet of my deck. I felt lifted by the beauty of the morning.

After bursts of energetic laughter, I came upstairs to work. But my thoughts turned to a beautiful connection I have made recently, another soul on the path of service to the Earth… and then to Joanna Macy’s words that I heard last night on the radio. It felt as if doors were flying open in my heart and mind with the fresh, warm, spring breezes.

I reflected back to last Sunday. I sat at my computer working on prints for an upcoming exhibit. I received a notice on FaceBook that Malidoma Patrice Some was speaking in five minutes at a local bookstore. After two minutes of arguing with myself about whether to go, it felt like hands pushing me out of my chair, away from my desk. I ran downstairs, leaving the printer working.

I arrived 15 minutes late but just in time to see him stand and begin his teaching. Many things he said spoke to me, especially about ancestors and remembering the help we have from the realm of Spirit. He said by virtue of becoming aware of Spirit, we are qualified to do the work we came here to do. We have to ask for help and be specific.

During the past year of documenting the oil spill and recovery, I knew that I was doing the work, was on task and fulfilling my purpose. But how far did the Work reach out into the world? Was anybody listening? So I decided to put into practice what Malidoma suggested and ask for help. I was specific about needing doors opened so the Work could move out into the world. That was a week ago.

Yesterday, in Atlanta, I met with two of the guys that are participating in the Spirit of the Gulf Coast project. I thought I heard echos of universal laughter as we shared ideas about creating Work that moves out into the world to help people recognize the beauty of Earth and love our planet more. The two meetings we had caused me to return to Asheville later than usual. Because of this ‘divine timing,’ I heard an interview on NPR, while driving, with Joanna Macy that grabbed my attention. She said some of the EXACT words that Brandon and I had shared at our meetings. And to bring this story full circle, this morning I dove into Joanna’s website with an appetite like a starved soul. She shows the way to put into action what I have dreamed of and prayed for over the past year.

I feel as if I can breathe again. Spring has entered into my consciousness. I asked the ancestors to open doors and they were ripped from their hinges with joy and light! Joanna Macy says that we are experiencing The Great Turning, a point where people are awakening and turning toward caring and loving the Earth and each other. We are alive during this wondrous shift of consciousness. We are aware of the horrors being done to the planet now, and in the past, and we are coming together to make a difference. We are collectively beginning to realize, in the web of life, everything is interdependent.

For the doors that are opening, I am grateful. For new connections with kindred spirits, I am grateful. People are hearing the call to help the planet and we are finding each other. We are becoming catalysts for each other. Joanna said that this is a time to join with others of like-mind, to do what we cannot do by ourselves, to understand with others what we cannot understand by ourselves. I find peace in knowing just how true those words are as they echo through my mind, my heart, the depths of my being.