Utah Phillips shares how time is an enormous long river, and we are all standing in the flow of it. I like that visual, it reminds me how truly connected we all are.
“Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey.” ― John O’Donohue
“Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind.” ― Madeleine L’Engle
Seventeen years ago I set out on an adventure for my version of the Philosopher’s Stone. I didn’t want money or a bijou, and I wasn’t particularly looking for inner wisdom…I just wanted to rest. Not the kind of rest you get on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but to find quiet in my soul.
A few photography and poetry awards were okay. Teaching all the things I love to others was nice. Helping those in the community who were homeless or had nothing was rewarding, but the red tape and other nonsense made it difficult to actually help others. See clients in my herbalism and wellness practice was nice, as was the spiritual work I was doing. Truly all of it is where my inner Phoenix got the tinder to rise from the ashes to walk back to these places again. What tired me out so deeply was the cultural push to fit into a niche. Humans contain multitudes, and we are not one sided entities that only put the round peg in the round hole.
“But what is it that you do exactly.”
The same thing I’ve done all my life, make things and help people. One day it might be helping someone figure out the healthcare system, another day it’s sitting on the front porch making meditation videos. What I do is what any granny or folk woman did all those years ago before everything had to be part of a system.
She was there when babies were born, and there when the elders passed away. If there was a cold in the community, her nights were full of applying poultices while saying prayers. Sometimes she’d have a younger woman with her to learn the trade/craft, as well as having a gentleman to help with the farm work and such. Most often they had their own family to tend to alongside folks in the community. At their core the description of their work is the same as mine – they made things and helped people. My goal as a young person was to be very similar to this kind of human, and while my little dreams may not have gone true, the big one did.
You see, I’ve done everything from setting gemstones to using a microgravity meter and everything in between. Well, not deep sea diving, because my heart wouldn’t stand for it (same for climbing mountains). I guess what I’m trying to say is that all my dreams have come true, so I have no doubt that the next ones will be much the same. It isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
Until next time,
~ Kimbo
p.s. Just a few more days of getting the house all settled and cleared up from a recent remodel. Thanks to all y’all for riding along with me during this time of writing interruptions.