Braiding Sweetgrass.
Written by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
A book that comes up over and over again in my life, as a testament to the impact it’s making not just for me, but also for Matthew and Inma, for instance. Perhaps because we are all a part of the same Creative Community where that was the bookclub-choice for January of 2022.
Andy asks who it’s for and however eager I am to burst out EVERYBODY. But that’s a bit lazy, honestly. Nothing or no one is for everybody, something I know to be true. I especially know I am not for everyone. Braiding Sweetgrass I point to those who are interested in, concerned or even anxious about the state of the natural world today.
”[…] there’s fire you must tend to every day. The hardest one to take care of is the one right here,” he says, tapping his finger against his chest. “Your own fire, your spirit. We all carry a piece of that sacred fire within us. We have to honor it and care for it. You are the firekeeper.” – from Braiding Sweetgrass, the chapter ‘Shkitagen: People of the seventh fire’, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
When our creations are rooted in that place, when they come from our innermost sacred fire, there’s a timeless quality to them. Honor yourself, your creations and the world by taking the time to go deep when you create, and your creations are seeded with that timeless quality. (As oppossed to ‘doing what’s popular right now’, which quickly becomes dated material/creations!)
And yes!
This is one of our meanders; inspired by an update on Andy’s songs, the thirteen songs that were born a week before our first conversation. They have now stepped into adolescence, truly coming into their own identities, and the kids-metaphor we started back then still feels valid and relevant.
I, on the other hand, share how therapy has brought me to shaky ground, coming up against a few layers (of habits, beliefs, traits) that have served me these past 15 years… but now? Do they still? Or not? And what’s underneath them? I don’t know, it feels very uncertain, and thus… on shaky ground!
“Starting to listen more to intuition, really finding an openness to it so I don’t automatically fall into rational intellect saying ’This is what to do’. Because rational intellect can tell me that ‘You live a great life just now. Keep at it, the way it is. Don’t rock the boat!’.
But there’s something telling me ’Rock the boat. Now!’” ~Helena Roth
If nothing else, perhaps there’s enough tankespjärn for you by simply asking yourself if there’s a boat of two in your life that is ready to be rocked?
Links:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
44. Connections – already there and always will be | with Reddy