Mama Mia

    I live on a lovely piece of land that I feel would appreciate far more nurturing from me than I give it.  So, as much as I love where I live (and I really do love it), I often feel like a bad parent when I drive down my driveway.  Sitting here today, I wonder if I sometimes avoid spending more time in my yard because of the ever present should do list I have for her in mind. 
    Yes, my yard is a She.
    Don’t start.
    Anyway, this weekend, one of my Circlesisters and I got together to mark the Autumnal Equinox.  Our circles usually involve a fair amount of yakking, noshing, tee drinking, and then some practice together in keeping with the season.  So yesterday during the pre-practice noshing and yakking, my Sister and I both acknowledged that we were coming to our Circle feeling somewhat depleted.  Both of us have a great deal on our minds and our agendas and feel busy with the day to day of our lives.  We, neither of us, felt we had a lot of energy to bring to our practice together.  So, we decided to go outside and sit together at the edge of the woods to meditate and pray.
    We picked a lovely corner in a northern point in my yard.  A lovely white Rose of Sharon blooms there in August.  I have always thought that place seemed like a gate to the woods beyond.  Rose of Sharon bloomed late this year, just in the last week or so.  The gray of the sky and the cool humidity of the day felt restful and hushed.  The still green leaves on the trees soothed the eyes and the mind. 
    We said a few words, lit a candle and some incense, sat and listened.  Eyes wise open, I looked into all of that green and felt enormous comfort and welcome.  I drank in the quiet and the gentle sounds of life proceeding quiet nicely all around me and remembered my place.
    I am a part of the web of life, and it does not revolve around me.  In that moment, nothing was required of me and yet I received so much – receive so much- from the life all around me.  I felt like a child happily playing in Mama’s back yard, and I remembered the contentment I feel when my child is happily playing in my yard.  Mother and daughter nurturing each other, in reciprocal relationship.  My co-dependent belief that I must always take care of distracts me from the rich experiencing of this moment on this land, together with all that is.  The equinox is about balancing – night and day, light and dark, nurturing and being nurtured. 
    Yesterday, I offered thanks for being nurtured, hanging out with Mama Mia.
    Blessed be.