as WildRoots enters the next season, i'm wanting to share some of what is unfolding--not so much the what; more, the how. it matters because WildRoots belongs to all of us. WildRoots is us.
the vision of WildRoots came from the earth in a deeply intimate experience with land i had fallen in love with. Michael and I had signed a contract for purchase of this land and this whole process had much to teach me about being in right relationship. when i received this vision, it was Mother Earth's way of letting me know that no contract could ever determine our relationship. we belonged to each other already. we were each other. we were together--as one--in and through our wild roots.
in december 2020, i communicated this vision to the world by launching WildRoots Inc, it was a way of "coming out", outwardly expressing my heart's deepest desire, my soul's longing--to live and learn this reality of our inherent interdependence, interconnection.
mostly, it was an act of obedience. i say obedience because it was an act of responding to a larger knowing, a larger call. our hearts' desires, our souls' longings are never just ours. this was a call from Mother Earth, from Mother Nature to wake up and to take our rightful place as fully divine, human human beings. the universe, the planet is waiting on us. there was an urgency, a pulsating movement who I knew to be guiding...it was time (it is time!) for me to follow and participate.
because change happens from the inside out, much of WildRoots' becoming has been in the form of my own becoming, rearranging and alchemizing old conditioning so that i can know this truth deep, deep down in my bones. only then, can this knowing be reflected outwardly in my practice, my relationships, the world.
the learning will continue...and, it is a new season. there has been growth.
so much has fallen away and is falling away. i know this to be true in a deeply personal way. and it is true on every level of our organizational, institutional, communal, collective lives together.
as nature shows us, with the falling away, there is room for new life. in reality, new life is always, already on her way. this is the good news!
it is time for another "coming out" of/for/with WildRoots. and i feel a responsibility to share...
right now, it feels like WildRoots is a container, a womb/tomb which holds space for growing up as spiritually mature human beings. at this time, this container holds partnerships that are co-creating offerings for others, with much energy on nourishing our own relationships with one another. in the words of Meg Wheatley, "the health of the self determines the health of the self-organizing."
this past week, on February 6 (the birthday too of my eldest), the WildRoots' Wisdom Council gathered for the first time. i invited five wisdom keepers to join together to provide guidance, support, and accountability to me as I midwife this life of WildRoots. these five wisdom keepers have already been serving in this way as we have each been journeying together in answering a shared call for Love, Liberation, Life. coming together felt sacramental and significant, an outward expression of what already was wanting to be. Quanita Roberson, Forrest Cuch, Dr. Jimi James (Grannie J), Bishop Phyllis Spiegel, and John Harris are the Wisdom Council and i'm deeply grateful for their willingness to serve this vision and me. there's much learning here and i'm excited to share more...
another form of partnership that is growing within this container of WildRoots is with Grannie J. this is the name she gave herself after i began calling her Grandmother Jimi. Dr Jimi James showed up on this path and it was clear to me that she was a teacher, an elder. I began calling her Grandmother Jimi out of respect for this knowing and over time, she relented and settled into her "grannie j" self. it is always a miracle to find such soul and spiritual connections,
out of this partnership there has come beautiful creations. one of these is an upcoming offering that i want to share--not just as a way of inviting you to join but as a way of illuminating the how of WildRoots' becoming.
grannie j and i connected on our shared call to become more fully alive, divine and human human beings. she, a 93 year old biologist and natural scientist and me, a social scientist and ecological counselor have been following this thread for lifetimes, each from different perspectives with richly different life experience. it's been clear that together, there is work for us to do.
working with the chakra system (the energy centers in our spiritual bodies) has been the playground for us and we began exploring this medicine further together. for me, this was deeply personal in the healing of recent family trauma. in other words, we were being given the perfect material in our lives to work with. while i was in ceremony in Mexico, Abuelo Oscar shared a teaching about Jesus' healing of Mary Magdalene and her seven demons. because of my relationship with Mary Magdalene, i knew these "demons" were somehow related to the seven chakras. grannie j and i began working with this insight and from this work, are creating and offering this Awakening to Spiritual Gifts journey beginning next Thursday and throughout Lent. we will exploring fears and "demons" as both blockages and invitations for deepened connection with Divine Consciousness.
we do hope you'll join us. as grannie j said in this short video introduction, "at 93, it's the biggest gift i can give anyone. the biggest gift i can give. i want to do that...please join us. the planet needs you. and we'd loveee to hear the gifts you have to give to us."
at our most recent Soul Circle, a friend Liz reminded me of a German proverb: “The path becomes by walking it.” it's big wisdom and reflects so beautifully the process of WildRoots' becoming--of my own.
step by faithful step, together.
it is so good--it is everything--to know we are never alone.
Author and civil rights activist Grace Lee Boggs (1915–2015) wrote about the power of collective commitment:
When people come together voluntarily to create their own vision, they begin wishing it to come into being with such passion that they begin creating an active path leading to it from the present. The spirit and the way to make the spirit live coalesce. Instead of seeing ourselves only as victims, we begin to see ourselves as part of the continuing struggle of human beings, not only to survive but to evolve into more human human beings. [2]