July Day for Commitment

The month of July is a golden time of passion and activity. Nature celebrates the peak of its power, the sun reaches her highest point, and I do the same; every day I get to share my light with the world. I put my best and brightest energy into my projects, my garden, and my art. I seek out chances to be courageous, and extend myself beyond what’s comfortable.

The question for July is How do I shine through the clouds?

“Hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea.”

~ Chogyam Trungpa

Agenda:

1. Read "The Serviceberry"

2. Vow practice

3. Visualization

1. Read "The Serviceberry"

Today I'm reading from "The Serviceberry", by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024). I got this sweet little book for Christmas.

I'm reading again about Honorable Harvest. “If we think of the Earth as a big warehouse of commodities, as mere objects, we claim a kind of privilege to exploit what we believe that we own. In that property mindset, how we consume doesn’t really matter because it’s just stuff and stuff belongs to us. There is no moral constraint on consumption. And so, we find ourselves in a time of ecological and spiritual depletion.”

She goes on to describe a worldview where Nature is a giver who is a “someone”, not a “something”.

“What would it be like to consume with the full awareness that we are the recipients of earthly gifts, which we have not earned? To consume with humility? We are called to harvest honorably, with restraint, respect, reverence, and reciprocity.”

In our own gardens, where we have started the plants from seed, planted, watered and cared for them for weeks or months - even then we need to remember that these plants are living beings, and a gift from Nature. We need to harvest with honor. 

Kimmerer outlines the habits of an Honorable Harvest, and stresses that they are supported with small acts of daily life. The four habits I carry with me into the garden and my kitchen are:

1. Take only what you need.

2. Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.

3. Share.

4. Give thanks for what you have been given.  

2. Vow practice:

One part of my Passion Project is Commitment: I intend to let go of caution and involve myself wholeheartedly (brain, body, and soul) to the service of this project that I love; take a vacation from my usual way of being, stretch (my whole self) beyond the way I’ve always done things.

Bo Lozoff suggests that the best way to make change happen is to take a vow in the presence of others. He outlines three steps;

1. Prepare with prayer, reflection, and discussion, considering how this change will affect your life; and work on the exact wording of your vow.
2. Declare it in a ceremony, with witnesses.
3. Implement the vow; recite it every day, and abide by it day by day.

Well, here is my vow:

I Intend to work at Nature-Culture whole-heartedly and with passion - writing, studying, practicing, teaching, and living my life as part of nature - because this is one way to use my creativity and courage to help us to shift the paradigm our culture is so mired in, and save the planet.

I'm committed to experimenting with passion through this whole month. Today my focus is on my own garden's nature-culture: 

• Take time for a vision.
• Set tasks for the garden and nature study for the next week
• Write about the Honorable Harvest.
• Draw a butterfly motif.

3. Visualization:

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Every month, at the waxing gibbous moon (my last push for action), I call on the practice of visualization to help me to see the next steps towards bringing my goals to fruition. Today I shine a light on my Nature-Culture project.

Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. (Because of my visual and auditory sensitivity, this is the best process for knowing what I'm feeling.) It has these steps:

• First, set an intention: Say, "Today I call on the Spirit of Love to bring me clarity and open my eyes to my Nature-Culture book project in it's entirety, and my vision of a new paradigm". 
• Center and relax each part of my body: With each breath, allow my awareness to deepen and become softer. No stress. No rush. I walk or float in an imaginary void. Open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of a beautiful (electronic and or hardback) book with butterflies on the cover and filled with art and photos and wonderful quotes, 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: "Today I will take the next steps towards manifesting my Nature-Culture book."
• Give thanks and return: Saying thanks out loud is how I acknowledge the reality of the gift of my vision.

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (and it's 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.