We were hanging out in the garden last weekend and talking as I did some weeding and cleaning up for the winter.  I looked up at my daughter and she said, 

“You look younger, Mom. You look different out here.  You don’t look tired”

I tried at first to reason it away – it’s the weekend, I had a good night’s sleep, etc. – but the real reason is the connection to the earth, working the soil and growing plants, veggies, and flowers. It changes me.

Is it ancestral? Childhood memories? Maybe, in part. But the truth is that all of us spend so much time running around with work, kids, family, social events, and we are connected to one device or another 24/7. We have lost our instinctive connection to planet Earth. We are a huge part of the cycle of life on Earth and are so disconnected from our role in the cycle.

When I stand on the ground with my hands in the dirt, listening to the birds, and smelling flowers and wood fires burning, feeling the coolness of Autumn in the air – I am changed from the stressed out, overtired, running person I become during the week – and I am changed so much that my face physically changes. What more could I ask for? And yet I get distracted from this truth repeatedly during my week.

So I strive to surround myself with simple beauty, minimal possessions, and live as sustainable as I possibly can. I just need a reminder to take care of myself, eat quality food, get enough rest and make sure that my heart and spirit is fed in equal proportion to my body.

Here’s to the new season – cooking quality local food (ours or local farmers), refreshing air, renewed inspiration, a slower pace of cooler weather to daydream, long walks in the woods, looking up at the stars and remembering my place on planet Earth. With a little effort, I hope to add something of beauty and value to this world every day.

What do you do to find inspiration? to relax? to reconnect with what makes your heart happy?

~ Michele