September Transitions

September is a transition month - the last weeks of the sun-baked summer, and the beginning of autumn. September's element is earth, which grounds and gives strength. And I need grounding, because Autumn is a wild and energizing time, when seeds ripen, and the everything is at its peak of unruliness. 

Even though I am feeling the urge to draw inward, now is not the time to completely retreat. September is a time to be open, and to respond to whatever life brings me; I am looking under rocks and turning things upside down. I am sorting out the ideas that come to me, holding each up to the light to see if it’s a keeper, looking and listening for crazy wisdom. I am maintaining an unruly kind of discipline. I am celebrating each new day and the Truth it brings.

This is the season to awaken the wild woman within and break some rules! I ask the important questions and misbehave (with integrity). But I am happily aware that I will never have an orderly shelf-full of the Truth. Truth is a mystery- it shifts and twists out of my grasp, and hides in the shadows. I am comforted to know this, because it releases me from the need to have all the answers. My real work is to ask all the questions.

Agenda:

1. Journal query

2. Read "Step into Nature"

3. Proaction
4. Reciprocity plans

5. Pockets

1. Journal query: 

Autumn's question is “What is the crazy wisdom?” Brainstorm ways to express the crazy wisdom I am finding: How can I express it visually? How can I integrate it with my teaching? How can I share it with friends and family? How can I celebrate it?

My journal: The crazy wisdom of this year is how energized we both are by having this big home project to work on. That has not always been the case; this time, we are finding our niches in the process and acting together (mostly) smoothly. My niche is to research and plan ahead, take time to communicate, list out the goals for each day (with visuals if possible), and gently remind about what we discussed or decided. 

2. Read "Step into Nature":

I'm reading this book by Patrice Vecchione (2015), subtitled Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life. My goal with this book is to soften the bluntness of my Nature-Culture ideas and add some wonder.

She advocates for walking in nature to deepen my love for the earth, inspire my art-making, and balance my emotions. "If we want to care about the earth, don't we need to know her?"

Chapter 2 is A Journey. This chapter is about nature, spirit, and imagination, and the intersection between them. It's a series of vignettes about the wonders of nature's resilience and resourcefulness; how nature adapts to whatever is thrown at it - and so do people. "The earth and imaginative, spirit-infused people alike possess determination and resilience, and both respond to a sense of the imperative." 

And nature is also generous and exuberant: "If the earth doesn't hold back, what should we? Nothing and no one is served when we are less than all of who we are."

3. Proaction:

Every Wednesday I try to journal a bit about the future, and my dreams and goals: What GREAT things do I want to accomplish? How will I serve people? How will I use my talents? How will I stretch myself? How can I become an “island of excellence”? What is essential?

Then I try to define achievable, meaningful goals and prioritize the goals and tasks with the greatest long-term impact.

My Journal: When I sit in discernment about my role and goals in earthcare, I see these as my fall goals: 

1. Gather a core group of active individuals who want to work on earthcare projects: Maybe in-the-field restoration or clean up work; maybe letter-writing and legislation work; maybe events and education.
2. Take a theme that the group is excited about and write and plan my own kind of education and craftivism.
3. Personal growth and study in clean water and air.

4. Reciprocity plans:

Reciprocity means to pay forward the benefits you receive from nature by educating others and advocating for nature, with all your creative self.

My reciprocity goals are:

1. First thing, I can practice the challenge of networking by calling the people on my thank-you list and chatting about the possibilities going forward. Plan an agenda for our coming meeting and send it out. 
2. Go back to writing a bi-weekly action newsletter.
3. Write more about reciprocity for my Nature-Culture book.
4. Take up the threads of legislation for one cause: Perhaps the Green Amendment or restricting neonic pesticides.

5. Pockets:

It's Back-to-School time, and our oldest grandson will begin a full-day kindergarten today. We will pick him up 4 days each week, at 3 p.m. It's really quite a big deal.

To celebrate the transition, we used our pocket calendar - a hanging with 7 large embroidered pockets that my mom made for us, when our children were young.