April Retreat for the Earth

Next week is Earth Week, and I plan to post an agenda of activities for each day, including some reading and education, contemplation, earth care actions, and artwork, that grounds me in unity with the Earth. 

Today I just want to sit with the notion that I am of the earth, and settle into a contemplation of how I want to BE.

Maya Angelou said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” This is the kind of flexible optimism I aim for - not naivety, but realistic and adjustable. 

I am aware that the planet is suffering, that birds and insects are dying, that we will face riots and wars because of our actions. But I need to have hope that things can change, and I need to do what I can to make change. And then I need to cultivate an attitude of joy because of all the beauty we still have.

Agenda:

1. Read "It's a Meaningful Life" 

2. Creative visualization

3. Go to the Farmer's Market

4. Plant native flowers

1. Read "It's a Meaningful Life": 

Last winter I began to re-read "It's a Meaningful Life; It Just Takes Practice," by Bo Lozoff (2000), and I'm picking it up again now.

Chapter nine is But Enough About Me, about joy and living in community. He discusses self-esteem and how it arises naturally in a life well-lived, and how our national obsession with paying attention to ourselves has the opposite effect.

"It's a flawed strategy based on a false premise - the notion that we are so small, so fragile, that we need propping up or boosting in the first place."

He says that affirming the ego is not the solution to low self-esteem because they are two equal sides of excessive ego, and it takes a tremendous amount of energy to keep propping oneself up. He prefers the strategy of quieting down: dismantling the negative voices and forgoing the cheerleader voices, so that you are left with no voices inside your head at all,  just a calm human being.

"When we begin to care more about others than about ourselves - what early Christians called self-forgetfulness and what Buddhists call bodhichitta - the joy we feel is mainly a sense of relief ... Joy is our natural state when we live a soul-centered, altruistic lifestyle."

2. Creative visualization:

Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. I often use it to help bring my goals into fruition, but today I want to tap it to gain clarity on BEING in unity with the earth. 

I'm going to sit outside to practice these three steps:

• First, center and relax each part of my body; count from 10 to 1, then open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Second, create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of exactly how it looks and feels to be in unity with the earth - and put as much positive energy into the image as possible. 
• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense; for example, "I am aligned with the earth".

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (or it's just a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.

3. Go to the Farmer's Market:

This is my weekly field trip to buy organic veggies and plants! I'm also going to look for a birthday gift for my son.

4. Plant native flowers:

I recently went to a native plant sale with my friend Pattiebuff and brought home 13 new flowers to plant:

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) × 3: Full sun, don't over-water, 2-4 feet tall, an aggressive grower - space 1 to 2 feet apart.

Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum) × 1: Full sun to part shade, dry to moist soil, 6-24 inches tall, spreading to 2-feet wide.

Menzie's larkspur (Delphinium menziezii) × 3: Full sun to part shade, with an open exposure, and plenty of moisture. All parts of the plant are toxic and may be fatal if eaten. Will inhibit the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes. 8-30 inches tall, space 1-2 feet apart.

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) × 1: Full sun and plenty of moisture. Because it spreads both by root and by self-seeding it can be persistent and aggressive in the garden. 2 feet apart, Height 3' - 6'.

Western red columbine (Aquilegia formosa) × 3: Partial shade, low moisture, 1 foot apart, up to 3 feet tall.

Large-flowered collomia (Collomia grandiflora) × 2: Annual - spreads by reseeding itself. Full sun to part shade, dry to moist. Up to 2 feet tall and wide.

Lindley's clarkia (Clarkia amoena ssp. lindleyi) × 3: Annual - spreads by reseeding itself. Full sun to part shade, dry to moist. 2-3 feet tall and space 1 foot part.