That was fun!

Before my dear friend Robyn’s elder mother passed away, she had been unresponsive in her hospital bed for days while in the active dying stage. One afternoon, her adoring family was gathered around her when her young great niece came to sit on the bed next to her to say her goodbyes. In that process, she accidentally hit some kind of button that made the hospital bed go wonkers- it catapulted Robyn’s mom up and then quickly laid her flat down and the whole room was in shock- what just happened to our dying loved one?

Within moments, Robyn’s mom opened her eyes, lifted her head, smiled so big, and said “That was fun!” then peacefully died, with a grin on her face.

Robyn got those words tattooed on her, “That was fun!” to help her remember how we are meant to enjoy life, even when it ain’t all fun. Robyn’s mom had suffered illness and great loss in her life, including losing a child and two grandchildren among other hardships, but she always kept a positive outlook on life itself.

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This weekend I held my first ever Earth Devotion Gathering, a culmination of all the things I love to facilitate and teach- rolled into one potent, rich, textured event, and it was so fun! I had so much fun. At moments during the day, I would pause and think- this is so much fun to be playing like this! I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Robyn’s tattoo kept floating before my eyes.

It felt like- if we have the opportunity, the privilege, to safely come together and build community and honor the sacred and grow in relationship with our plant allies and give gratitude to earth- then we better take it! And have fun doing it while we are at it, even if at some moments it touches our grief or makes us uncomfortable or stirs up despair. All of that is real and valuable and necessary yet overall, our great mother wants us to have fun and enjoy what she has given to us. Children are the best teachers of that. If something is terrible, they grieve it then get on back to playing.

We offered our prayers, talked plants, smelled and ate plants, walked with plants and harvested them, sat beside and praised them; we feasted on nettle-potato soup; shared resources; shared our hearts with a tea ceremony; received a sound bath and sowed seeds. This is “in real life” kind of stuff that brings us home to ourselves by hands-on caring for our beautiful, precious, one and only Mother Earth. I loved it! And the participants did too. Thank you to all who came out and spent the day on our farm!!

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“Happy Earth Day to you, Mama. And thank you. You who are ever giving, far more exquisite than our human minds could ever wrap themselves around. You who gave of your one body to build every single body in this world. From the Great Mystery comes the spirit, and you, sweet Mama Earth, house it for us while we are here, giving us a taste of heaven. I am so sorry for what we humans do to make it hell. I bow to you in humble gratitude for your unwavering generosity. I promise to be a voice for you and your many forms of life. And from my little, teeny-weeny human perspective, I celebrate your billions of years of living, put my faith in your regenerative capacities and open myself to enjoying the gifts you so graciously bestow.”

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“Simple pleasures are the last healthy refuge in a complex world." - Oscar Wilde

I hope you will come have some fun with me along the way- the next gathering is Saturday, May 17, 10-4 where we will be making Earth Altars from the land’s bounty.

Happy Earth Day!
Mary Plantwalker