L I S T E N    B E L O W

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When the weight of the world causes you to constrict, the radical choice is to dilate and look closer—to feel more not less. Feeling moves us to action, and it is action which will bring about the changes we are longing to see in the world.

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If we have an illness in our body, we do not heal by pretending it doesn’t exist. We heal by paying attention; by carefully observing the disease process so that we will understand how to respond most effectively.

What we are facing in the outer world right now is no different. The devastation of ancient forests, the crimes against humanity our government is committing in broad daylight, the escalating gun violence we are experiencing in public spaces, and the repeal of vital protections for sacred sites and endangered species—these are all symptoms of the same illness; symptoms of our disconnection from one another and from the land. This illness is one we must all respond to, with whatever medicine we carry in this life.

You are here because you have a vital
role to play in the healing of the world.

Even with all of your hurts and heartache, your fears and imperfections, you are needed urgently. These things exist within each of us without exception, and they exist alongside the most precious gifts and powerful resources that the world has ever seen. It is time to get out of our own way and to share our medicine with the world—regardless of if we are ready, regardless of if we believe we are worthy. As my friend Mariee Sioux reminds us in her song Morning Birds:

“We’re all fucking nuts, but
the future still depends on us.”

Our ancestors knew this time would come, and now it is here. Their wisdom lives within us. We can access it at any time through entering the silence, listening to our dreams, and offering our love and tears and prayers and presence to the land where we are standing.

The old ways are not lost,
they are being reborn.

This is a critical moment in the history of our planet. We are being asked to decide what the next era of life on earth will look like. The outcome will depend on each of us and the actions we choose to take right now.

We are bound together by a
sacred responsibility to the Earth.

Our fate is inextricably interwoven with the waters, the salmon, the old growth forests, and with one another. Each of us is a thread in the tapestry of this world, seemingly separate, but unbroken upon closer inspection. Our reality feels as though it is coming apart at the seams, but perhaps this is not such a bad thing. We are finding that the fiber it is made of remains strong, intact—salvageable. When one thread comes loose, the unraveling of the whole happens more quickly than you might think. And suddenly in your hands, you find the strands of infinite possibility—ready to be woven anew.

Whatever you feel called to do right now—don’t wait, and don’t worry that it will not be enough, or that you will not be enough. Just start where you are and the next step will reveal itself.  For sometimes we must unravel the world a bit before we know what we will be asked to weave anew.

W i t h    L o v e ,

S o p h i a    R o s e

P . S .

Thank you so much for inviting me into your inbox. It is an immense privilege to be able to share with you in this way. As always, I’d love to hear from you.  Feel free to write to me at GardenPartyLove@Gmail.com and let me know how these words landed with you or simply share what’s on your mind.