Taking Heart in Tough Times

With the moon visible over the farm even in the daylight hours, we can hardly believe that the end of January is upon us. This past weekend, Bill and I attended a workshop with Joanna and Fran Macy. The title, "Taking Heart in Tough Times," alludes to the workshop's usefulness for those of us involved in the creation of a sustainable world as an alternative to today's mainstream western culture. Focusing on the time of The Great Turning, Joanna and Fran challenged us to reconnect to our humanity and our interrelation with all life forms, something that is sadly often overlooked. By filling the heart/mind/soul with gratitude, Joanna proposes, we leave little room for frustration, for anger, for fear. Coming into 2008, the year of Gardening for Health, Cultivating Wellness, it seems appropriate to re-evaluate our perspectives and priorities and decide how we can best move forward to promote wellbeing for ourselves, our communities, and all our relations. We are indeed in a time of political chaos and global instability, a time of corporate domination and natural resource exploitation. But, there is hope in each of us who hold a vision for a brighter future- local food, healthcare for everyone in our communities, global peace. It is possible, and it starts right here at home: on our farm in Dorchester, on the coastlines, the mountains, the cities...where we create peace in our world, we are creating the sustainable future.

That being said, Mercury is retrograde (appearing from earth to move backwards through it's solar orbit- envision how it feels to be on a slowly moving train- when a faster moving train passes yours, it looks like you are going backwards) as of January 28. Mercury will remain retrograde until February 18th; until then, be aware that communication may be difficult (let's have patience with each other!) and technological glitches are common (think computers, automobiles, etc. on the fritz). It is not a good time to make substantial decisions about future commitments nor to undertake new projects- it's a good time to re-assess the old, unfinished business we have waiting around for us.

in peace~

lauren