Greetings, Lovely Souls!
This weekend has been one of great insight. I just came off the two-day “Love Your
Earthly Being” weekend extravaganza for Earth Day with my hosting partner Origins
at South Coast Plaza.
This event was more than a chance for others to “Get Rooted
in Self-Care,” but one that ‘sprouted’ great health and wellness conversation
with promotional partners Sprouts Farmers Market; seasonal produce awareness
with Seasons 52, and tasting the sweet nectar of life with Nekter Juice Bar.
When spearheading the creation of this event together, the
main goal was to promote community awareness and to provide a healthy
understanding of how we are connected with Mother Earth from the inside out,
not just on Earth Day… but every day by way of plants.
Origins’ Christine Wisener and I were delighted to see those
who came out for this (Thank You) as well as the support we received from media
on this venture. It has been an arduous
labor of love to create. Those who ‘got
it’ … understood the multi-tiered message that was greater than self-care and
self-awareness, but self-preservation by preserving one’s planet residence, our
part in it by our own choices, small or large – though for the bigger picture,
it must take that first initial step to see our part.
Our brainchild was born initially from the mutual desire to
reach people and try to make a difference by providing something unique even if
it was a stretch to bring people indoors for Earth Day weekend on one of our
most beautiful springtime weekends at 80 degrees.
We were glad to see that this weekend was filled with gasps
of enlightenment, as others learned about their own health (inside and out) for
the first time. Some people were excited
to learn about how they can feel a difference in what they put on their skin.
As corny as this may sound, this was lovely from the surface level… and yes, it
went much deeper than that. Gaining a
deeper understanding that as your habits change, you can transform the health
of your human’s largest organ. This took
things to another level learning why it is important to choose products from nature.
Continuing the momentum ride going even further is
responsibility, with trees, growth, planting, and the bigger picture of plant
life.
A preteen accompanying their parents in the store picked up
the potted lamb’s ear perennial plant, having never seen one before. She was not
aware it drought tolerant or what that meant.
It was eye opening to see someone become intrigued by this concept, actually
become interested in wanting to learn more, and proving we have so much information
to share going forward to create awareness and change, understanding and
hopefully some impact.
Others gathered information from and about our partners,
receiving education on what goes into their body and how to improve their
health with whole ingredients, how to manage health and nutrition and the
seasonal shift of how it all connects.
I was able to have the great privilege to help many get
firmer footing with their grounding within, trying to improve internal communication
changes to reduce anxiety, stress, fatigue, balance, and regrouping in how
people see the world, their place in it, as well as how they see themselves.
It is rewarding and I take great joy in being the
communicative LINK for this ‘beyond the conventional’ concept however I am able
to convey a looking glass for others to see a tweak in the perception that is
suddenly possible. I want to say thank
you to those who felt comfortable and vulnerable enough to share and reveal a
piece of their truth, their heart, and a corner of their world with me. I value your trust and know how daunting it
can be to walk in, meet a stranger, and suddenly spill your guts and your life
to me. Your hugs, your tears, your
smiles, your relief are all a gift. Thank
you.
With that said, I want to write this as a reminder to
everyone – YOUR INNER LINK TO LEARNING IS ALIVE WITHIN YOU. It never dies. We have the potential to learn something new
every day. Your openness to learning can
change your world and your life going forward for what you choose to honor
within your own being. The quality of
life can improve with knowledge, which can empower you to keep growing,
expanding your choices and your own growth to being peaceful, joyful and have
the kind of life you want to live.
The event this weekend provided many things. What happened collectively is I realized that
whatever lives we could touch, we do just that. That is what matters for it has the
power to take on its own ripple through osmosis. While we all can feel proud of
the work we all did to create this event, the truth is that it is the people we
were able to help, which ultimately transformed all of us as well.
Everyone walks away with insight, shared knowledge, a
feeling of understanding something bigger than the energy we all share and that
my friends is called CONNECTION.
Let me site an example…
I watched seven children twist the dial of the “Peace of
Mind” gumball machine for the peppermint sensory gumballs, I was amused because
the action represented a magnetic GPS ‘knowing’ of what a human needs even at a
young age. I was mildly disturbed (and
yet relieved) in the same breath that children would be recognizing the fact
they ‘needed’ peace of mind, which tells you the state of the human
condition and an ‘awareness’ simultaneously.
I was joyful in the idea that there is hope if there is awareness….that
there is open mindedness for change. It exists.
Oh
and yes, I was able to gain deeper connection on another level when a child
watched the ball drop through the downward spiral, get stuck (the way a pinball
gets stuck) and just sit there waiting to be reclaimed.
In that moment as I watched the little boy with his brother
mentally try to problem solve how to get the ball out of the ‘stuck place’ – I was
immediately drawn to help, but asked them first if they needed the help in
order to give them the authority to state what they needed. The little boy looked
up at me with huge acknowledging eyes and said “Thank you.”
Gads, my heart…. I
grabbed it in that moment, because I saw that he wasn’t just acknowledging my
willingness to help, but he was first acknowledging my giving him the authority
to state he needed it without assuming he needed it even if it was obvious to
other human eyes he had a dilemma.
This was magical, folks.
Magical. After I tilted the
machine to try to dislodge the stuck gumball, and it finally made its way down
the rest of the spiral chute, before he even claimed it he looked up one more
time to say ‘Thank you’ a second time, but this time for the victory of the
retrieval and it was different.
Thus, it is vital to begin a stream of consciousness internally,
bridging awareness, both for what we do as humans and as souls like this
moment, just as much as it is vital for what we do as a consumer and what we do
for ourselves as humans residing here.
The one advantage kids have is that they are in touch with what they need for self-care, whereas we adults often forget or put self-care on the back-burner. Still, I was glad to see the consciousness in the adults who let their guard down enough to say 'I deserve this, and I need this' in the wave of realizing that self-care is not selfish, it is necessary to refuel one's soul in order for this cycle of giving to continue growing.
The one advantage kids have is that they are in touch with what they need for self-care, whereas we adults often forget or put self-care on the back-burner. Still, I was glad to see the consciousness in the adults who let their guard down enough to say 'I deserve this, and I need this' in the wave of realizing that self-care is not selfish, it is necessary to refuel one's soul in order for this cycle of giving to continue growing.
With this weekend being Earth Day weekend, a few people were
talking about improving the environment.
My own consciousness began in first grade, when my elementary school
enforced grades K-6 each student to “save” every newspaper all-year-long and
bring it to the school recycling drive.
This was to raise funds for the school, as well as educate students on
why this is good for our planet. We were
given assignments to fill glass bottles with sand to put in our home toilet
tanks to raise the water level so less water would be used. This was public school.
I shared this story today, and a couple people were shocked
to learn that a child’s mind could grasp this concept and bring it forward into
adulthood. After meeting several adults
who have ‘lost touch’ with Earth…I see how vital it is to the mainstream to
know we’re all connected as energy and that for this consciousness to continue,
we need to continue to embrace what it is we can do, rather than what we
cannot.
Our root of our being is always there right within us, and
it is always waiting to be reclaimed, rediscovered, and reignited. It does not matter whether you are an adult, a
preteen, or a child, each person has the ability to ground themselves in their
own LINK of reconnection to learning.
We are all lucky to get the opportunity to learn every day. Stay open to what you can learn and that learning can in turn provide an opportunity to expand awareness for others, not just from the returning to the root level of natural human instinct to protect and preserve, but also to continue to be loving human beings because there is much more of all of us to give when we take care of ourselves first. This provides a greater capacity to take care of each other even better!
As I witnessed humans taking a breath rediscovering the
piece of their lives that is missing, the connection to the planet and the
connection within, I see there is much work to be done. In order for us all to find that peace of mind,
my only hope is to continue to do this with my like-minded collaborators to
continue the wave of awareness.
I have always said that Earth Day is Every Day… and my hope
is that this becomes a reality and that our own connection to our own daily
world is one that is healthy from the inside out with the kind of consciousness
to create complete health and wellness for all.
Namaste.
