Category: Finding New Passions

The Making Of a Habit

As winter continues in Southern Alberta Canada, I have run out of excuses and time as to why I don’t exercise more.

woman rolling a yoga mat
Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

“ I will start when it gets warmer. I know I have more motivation when the sun comes out and I want to go hiking. Gardening starts to become an obsession and I naturally get more active.”

I have created a habit of procrastination that is now detrimental to my physical health and well being. I can feel myself getting weaker, foggy and often lethargic. My muscles and circulation are screaming for me to wake up and get active. As we age our body is more prone to feel the effects of less movement acutely. All my old injuries of broken bones, torn ligaments and poorly treated body parts from my adventures are racing to the frontline of my outer shell to make themselves heard and put me on notice.

My body has gone on strike until my habits improve. It no longer feels like being lazy and will not tolerate this nonsense any longer.

The biggest challenge to any habit is to get started. It’s easy to organize a boot camp for yourself full of beautifully planned charts, apps and rewards. The tricky part comes when at the end of the day no matter how much work has gone into the planning the realization that no action has taken place rears its ugly head.

So…I have put myself on notice. No matter what the weather decides to do, even if spring and summer never come to my neck of the woods, I am motivated to get moving.

I started last Monday (today is Thursday). 

The conversation in my head has been most entertaining. I swear I have a preteen living in my head with the biggest attitude of stubbornness and sabotage tendencies I know.

Day 1, my alarm goes off. Just a few more minutes of rest and I will get up. It’s the first day of my habit change, GET OUT OF BED NOW!

“Ok, I am up, you don’t have to shout!”

I get my yoga mat set up in my office then find a great Youtube video to follow.

“I need more room, there isn’t enough room in the office to do yoga, maybe we should stop exercising and rearrange the room or get rid of some things” “ We can start this gig tomorrow”.

My response to this inner voice is a big “No”, keep going.

I finish the workout and contemplate changing the office around to create more space. I decide to leave it be for now.

Day 2 and the alarm goes off. I open my eyes and feel too tired to get up. I will just watch a few videos on gardening then work out. I watch a few videos and then realize time has gone by.

Inner voice enters

“ It’s getting late in the morning, we can workout tomorrow. I have other commitments to focus on today”

I am not letting myself off the hook so easily. I drag myself into my office and once again commence a workout in my limited space.

Day 3 and the alarm goes off.

I am beginning to realize that the person in charge is not going to let me get away with avoiding the workout so I get up quickly. Make the bed, promise myself a reward of coffee and cranberry toast after the heavy lifting is done.

Day 4 and the alarm goes off.

Is it Groundhog Day? Remember the movie with Bill Murray?

It would be interesting to be able to replay and redo a day in your life over and over again until you got it right. My hope would be that I eventually figure it out and can move on.

We all know that good habits take discipline and repetition to establish a hold. 

Two key ingredients are to get started and then maintain a routine. 

I am giving myself 60 days to build this healthy choice. Some of my motivation is that my daughter is coming in the middle of June to join me on a little adventure. I want to be in good enough shape to keep up with her hiking. She is in great shape and I admire her dedication.

I know how my body feels when it’s strong. Coordination, core strength, balance and endurance are rewards for keeping up physical exercise habits.

Are you ready to break free from winter and this long period of hibernation?

I know I am!

PS the voice in my head is still there and though it still wants to drink coffee in bed in the morning instead of get up and exercise, it is now actively looking forward to stretching and getting the blood flowing to make the most of each day.

Slow and steady progress creates long lasting changes.

Putting A Label On It

In a community of labels which ones stick?

notes on board
Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com

You can’t be everything to everyone. 

Not everyone is going to like you. 

Find your passion and develop it.

Focus your energy on one thing to be more successful at more things.

It’s all great advice and I have taken it to heart during periods of my life that I felt it all applied.

I admire discipline. I have contemplated getting it tattooed on me somewhere I could see it often. I like to be organized and make numerous lists when I need to get things done. I always like periods of chaos and serendipity.

Where I struggle is trying to put myself in a box. I know the benefits of being clear in your communication with others. Even who you are and what you value should be obvious in your musings.

Where is this contemplation coming from?

I was chatting with my son the other day and he was giving me feedback on my blogs. He loves process and is driven by order. He suggested I narrow my scope of topics and use the website to express specific topics.” It’s unorganized” mom, he said. If I want to read about your dream yoga I have to search for it. Label and tag all of your topics to help with the navigation.

It was good advice. I even attempted to sort through the eclectic stories to file them in order of topics, relations and common themes. 

Sigh. Ok confession time. I am interested in anything and everything. My interview to volunteer took over an hour because I was curious about many opportunities and didn’t want to turn down any that might be mutually beneficial. I am a realist and know that it isn’t possible to do it all yet I enjoy the push to try and do more. Sometimes less is more. Being willing to narrow the scope and hone in on projects that enhance your skills sets is golden.

So what is the purpose of a label? I have learned that in order to nurture and attract like minds you have to be able to define your ideas in a common language. I bet you thought I was going to dis on labeling things? Not true. I understand the importance of helping others to steer through your body of work to the place that interests them. The exchange of ideas understood and consumed is heady and very desirable.

I am not everyone’s cup of tea nor do I try to be. I do my best though to think of labels many can understand and relate to.

My son’s feedback was good and I continue to take it to heart as I post my blogs. I won’t guarantee him that I will narrow my topics. He knows me better than that but I will ensure they are labeled in the most scientific way.

Beaches, Botanicals and Buddhas

All I have to do is close my eyes and dream away the snow…

I am getting the itch to travel as winter seems to be dragging on forever. I was dreaming of some of the epic beaches I have been to over the years as I scooped up the snow and piled it into mini mountains along my driveway and walks.

I am grateful for the trips I did take before COVID set it as now I only have to close my eyes and experience the warm humid air of Bali or the wisps of sands grazing my cheeks in the early hours of the morning in Morocco. 

Sigh, will I ever travel again? The saving grace, for me, over the last couple of years has been my stays at the ashram. This year is, of course, different. I chose to stay home this time and volunteer locally. It has been good for me to learn more about the state of my own community. How people are coping post pandemic. 

I am designing changes to my gardens and have already started many seeds to cut down the costs this year. Gardening, despite what you might think, is not a cheap hobby. At least the way I do it. I close my eyes and think of the Boboli Gardens in Italy. Even though we were there in a severe drought, the more tolerant varieties of shrubs and plants were beautiful. In Pompeii, we walked the grounds that were cultivated with species that were grown during ancient roman times. The formal gardens of Spain and Italy were a delight to wander through. These famous gardens are my muses as I think about the evolution of my own oasis.

In Seville Spain, my son, daughter in law and I spent the day basking in the formal royal gardens of Alcazar. The orange trees sported fruit the size of cantaloup but apparently are not edible which is a shame.

I can’t say that I am an expert on beaches. Some of the best beaches I have experienced have been in Mexico and Cuba. Epic beach award has to go to the islands of Gili in Indonesia. I loved the fact that you could ride a bicycle all the way around the island of Trawangan. I was a bit disappointed in the snorkelling there. Not much to see and I was told that dynamite had been used to fish in the area. This explains the reason that it seems to be bare in places. There have been numerous projects to promote new reefs and aquatic plant life but it’s sad that it happened in the first place. I was able to snorkel the Great Maya Reef by Puerto Morelos, Mexico. I have never seen so many types of coral, fish and crustaceans. The angel fish spanned a foot of more from fin to fin. There was lobster, sting rays, nurse sharks just to name a few varieties. It was the best show of marine life I have ever seen.

For my next adventure, I want to make sure to include jungle temples and ruins. The images of buddhas being swallowed up by tree roots and vines is on my bucket list to photograph and experience. Nature taking back its real estate has appealed to me.

Where is your next adventure taking you? Do you dream of beaches, botanicals and buddhas as well?

A Heartfelt Toast!

Here’s to life long friendships.

Here’s to our friendship!

It was Sharon’s birthday yesterday. Happy belated birthday my friend!

As I reflect on Sharon, I am drawn to her strength and bravado. She has had a lot to deal with over the years that I have known her. Instead of falling apart she stood her ground, defending her position and marched forward. Her head was held high and she moved with grace and determination like no one I have ever been friends with. We have both been through heartache, death, trying to raise balanced human beings and navigate all sorts of relationships with family, partners, work and friendships.

What has stayed firm is our friendship and I am grateful for that. I am a firm believer that people are placed in your life for a reason. You need only pay attention to reap the benefits of the interactions. I had no notion of Sharon when we first started working together. I knew nothing about her or her life. We seemed to be like Ying & Yang and yet through our differences we were curious about what made each who we are.

I am a couple of years older than Sharon but not by much! The more we explore our lives the abundance of nuggets meld into our pot of golden thoughts and threads.

As readers I recommend going back on some of the older blogs to get to know Sharon more if you haven’t already. She is candid and unfiltered in the story of her life so far. We have both decided that transparency is the best way to operate within this blog world.

Women supporting each other and listening with open hearts and minds.j

So here’s to you Sharon! Happy belated birthday and a heartfelt toast to your future and our continuing friendship.

Sincerely

Frozen

Frozen raindrop on an apple tree

There is something about a winter storm brewing outside that makes you want to snuggle up with a good read, a hot beverage and a warm blanket. It’s volunteer day for me at the food bank and I am contemplating how to get out of it. There is over a foot of fresh snow on the ground and the sidewalk has not been shovelled out yet. My car is buried in the white stuff and I haven’t been feeling very well.

Then it hits me. I think about the “NFA’s” (the food bank personnel call those with Not Fixed Address this acronym). It was a long weekend and it might be busy and part of me is curious as to who will show up today. My FOMO rears its head and I get my but outside to dig out my car.

It’s interesting to observe the NFA clientele. A guy came in with shorts and crocs today. On his way out he took off his shoes and walked out into the snow barefoot. You can tell that many are suffering from frostbite with their fingers all taped up or parts of their extremities purple or deep red. I help some of them open the plastic bags as they are impossible to get the two sides to separate. I am surprised at how many have reusable bags they carry with them.

Their modes of transportation vary and some of them are very inventive as to how they carry their things around with them. The hampers are presented in boxes but many take the food staples out of the boxes and stuff their backpacks, wagons, and collapsible containers to overflowing. 

One of the men was greeted with big smiles as it was mentioned that they hadn’t seen him for over 3 months and was concerned that he wasn’t ok. 

There was a dismal selection of extra staple items this week. The choices vary from day to day and you never know what shows up mid shift.  You have to think all your selections through carefully when you don’t have access to things like a stove or even a can opener.

You would have to have a very strong desire to survive in my opinion if you lived on the streets in a place where it can drop to minus 35 in a single day.

The more hours I spend helping these souls pick what’s for dinner tonight the more curious I become about their stories.

What keeps them frozen?

Sitting In The Big Blue Chair

Dream Yoga #2 in series

This week I have some dream work to do. Pick a symbol from my dream and incorporate it into a daily meditation or opportunity to use other yoga practices. I am still working with the little girl in the stadium stairwell. I have chosen to explore the adult who follows and then tries to lead the little girl away from the steps.

Here is a reminder of the scenes of the dream I am working with…

“I ask the girl if she is lost?” She replies that I don’t know the dangers here. I quickly retort that I am an adult and she can trust me as well as my ability to make judgment calls. I feel like I have to prove to her that “I know best”. She turns away from me and starts walking up the stairs.

Further on in the dream, after we have been walking for quite some time I see a red waterslide tube. I suggest we take it as I assume it will lead us out of the stadium faster. She reluctantly agrees to try the slide. I go first and she follows. The tube goes up and bends then slants downward. I get stuck trying to navigate the curve. I hear a sigh behind me and then the little girl starts to back up out of the tube. She doesn’t seem upset. In fact I feel she is resigned to the knowledge that I was unable to navigate beyond the tube. That I was bound to get stuck.Once back on the stairs I fall into line with the child and she starts to descend this time.

We don’t talk and with our heads bowed with trudge downward.

A landing appears and it gives us a view of the stage. There are big blue seats that are positioned to face the platform. Rows and rows of them are visible on the horizon. I get the impression that some of them have beings in them even though I can’t see any. The vantage point of sitting in the seats seems to appeal to the little girl. We don’t sit down though. I feel like I am not in a mind space to understand how to “take a seat”.

To give the dream context, I consider my conscious concerns. Why am I thinking about this dream now ( I had the dream three years ago)?

What is coming in my life right now that my inner guru believes I could benefit from revisiting this message?

I have been struggling with how to add value. I felt part of a community the last few years going to the ashram. I promised my husband I would stay home this year and help support him in his challenges. Be careful when you ask someone how they need you to show up for them. It seemed easy enough to say that I would stay home. Yet, here I am, getting very antsy to wander.

I have started winter hiking, even bought a pair of snowshoes. The van is back and I still have some repairs to do on it to get it ready for summer.  I am almost set up to volunteer locally and still connect through Zoom classes with the ashram. Garden season is coming soon and I have started some of my seeds already. 

The adult in me says that all of this should be enough to make my life rich and satiate my hunger for more.

The little girl keeps moving. She keeps searching for more.

I chose to work with the symbolism of the adult me that interacts with the little girl throughout her journey in the stairwell. 

Sitting in blue seat

Today, through actively creating a “waking dream” I sit in one of the blue chairs. A waking dream involves creating visual images in your mind that can be run like a movie. In my visualization, the little girl is beside me in another chair. We are relaxed with our eyes loosely gazing around. I feel a sense of calmness. There is no hurry here. No need to make a quick judgment. I can be patient and let whatever comes reveal itself. I feel that the child is happy and content to bask in the comfort of the soft cushioned seat. We both seem to be very small and can curl up easily to lay down in the cushions. I feel like I am in a cocoon or hammock. The back of the seat is formed from flower petals. Giant lily shaped arms embrace us. I breathe in a citrusy wisp of bliss. I breathe out and absorb the light and wisdom freely given by the chairs’ enchantment. The chairs hold us in a gentle lullaby and whisper encouragement.

The child knows that the chairs are a place she can come and be held in divine light. She was created in the light. It sustains her. Protects her when she feels threatened. It surrounds her with soft warmness and unconditional love. She is growing into the light just those who occupy the seats that are connected by the community.

I am an adult here and yet I feel like an infant. A moment of revelation is upon me. My ego is still very strong and fighting for control. It is in pursuit of selfish service instead of selfless service. The need to be recognized and acknowledged feeds its sense of self worth and value. Why does it matter so much how I go about contributing to my community or the world as long as I act on it. As long as I contribute in some way that helps others it matters not what that ends up being. 

You get ahead most times in the corporate world by being the aggressor. Appearing confident that you have all the answers and can lead others to success. It becomes vital to your very survival to continually show your worth to anyone who will pay attention to you.

You measure your self worth by the feedback you receive from others as to how worthy you are of positive affirmations.

Living a life full of distractions that involve how others think you should act, react and contribute can be tempting.

What if you sat in the “blue” chair with your sweet, innocent and pure childlike self beside you and contemplated life on your terms?

What does she want to experience?

How does she look at the world and her place in it? 

If you let her lead, where would you go and what would you do differently?

I always get so much out of these classes from Yasodhara. If you are curious I recommend taking a look at their offerings or going to visit them. 

It has changed me.

Night Walk At Yasodhara Ashram

Walking the paths of Yasodhara Ashram at night.

The ashram is magical on a snowy winters night. I loved to roam all over the property at dusk and into the evening. Trying to capture just an ounce of the peace that embodies the entire grounds.

There is a song that is in the ashram songbook called Caravan Song by Alanda Greene. The song lyrics start out with “Wanderer”, “Worshipper” “lover of leaving” “Come join the caravan”. It suits the place and it suits me also.

Come and join the caravan….

Finding a little piece of heaven by Kootenai Lake BC

The Power Of A Dream

Dream Yoga is understanding the symbols used by your subconscious.

Dream Yoga #1 in series

Before I visited the ashram for the first time, I was afraid of my dreams. Most of them made no sense to me and often involved me losing something. I would then spend the entire dream trying to find it again. I wasn’t successful in my search for the illusive item.I was under the impression that my mind was confirming that which I already knew. I would never be good enough in any way to achieve that which I searched for. I was a fake and had spent most of my life just trying to cover up that stark reality that I thought must be so obvious to everyone around me.

What if none of that was true? What I thought that my subconscious was trying to tell me was beneficial insights about myself, for me, within me and even in spite of me.

What if my mind was with me instead of against me? How would that change my feelings towards my dreams?

Dream yoga is a process of unpacking messages freely given by our hidden guru. The process is an incredible tool that guides us through a new understanding of ourselves and the path we are on. It gives us instructions, once understood, that can literally change our lives.

Most therapists will tell their clients that the answers they seek to their obstacles and challenges in life are within them to discover. The counsellor is there to help bring it out of you or at least make some sense of it.

I am not saying that dream yoga is a replacement for therapy. What I am saying is that it has helped me to understand myself better. Sometimes I even stand in awe of what my inner self can help me see and change within me.

Keeping a dream journal is a crucial step to the process. Documenting the date, time and as much details as you can about what occurred will help you as you discover what is the meaning of the dream and the sequences that manifest. I was reminded that even day dreams and journeys my mind takes during waking hours can be part of the recordings. 

I thought it might be interesting for you readers to come along with me as I explore some of my more technicolor dreams I have had in the past. I am hoping that I can encourage more dreams to visit me in the present and future as I am eager to gain valuable insights that can help me navigate my present.

My last blog post was a recount of a dream I had two years ago while living at the ashram for a few winter months. I encourage you to go back and read that one as I am going to continue on instead of going back and rewriting the scenes here.

More Details about the dream….

After the initial recording of the dream I reflected on whether I could recall anymore details.

Details-

The girl- She looked like me when I was about that age. White/blonde hair, I think I had a dress like that in photos I have seen of me when I was young with the white socks also. I have an overwhelming feeling that she doesn’t trust me to navigate her out of the stairwell into safety. She keeps her head down so I don’t know what her face looks like.

The stadium- It’s a huge place that reminds me of ones we have seen rock concerts and sporting events in. The stairwell is grey concrete and wide. There doesn’t seem to be any handrails. I don’t recall seeing any signs with directions on them either.

The tube- It’s red and goes down for a bit then raises up. That’s where we get stuck. 

Trying to go up. I can see the stairwell at that point as there is a window in the tube which shows that we are by the stairwell. I am in front of the girl in the tube and it’s me that gets stuck and decides to turn back. She has to scrunch backward for us to get out of the tube.

The empty seating area by the stage. The seats are padded and blue. I can see rows and rows of them from this vantage point. The stage is empty.

The Absent Parents- Why are they not looking for the child? I have no sense of them or who they are.

I have done the dream yoga before on this particular dream and yet I had the feeling I need to look and reflect on it again. That, perhaps, my thought process and perspective had changed enough to warrant another look.

So, what do I think this dream means?

Initial reaction is for me to go through childhood trauma. The little girl, who is a version of me, feels like she has had to rely on herself. She doesn’t trust others to keep her safe nor does she feel that adults are worthy of her time or effort to acknowledge. She is a tough little kid who is independent and self-sufficient. I feel pride for her and a level of camaraderie. I worry that she doesn’t let people in. She can be lonely and I hope she doesn’t miss out on potential relationships that can be healthy for her to have.

After recording some of the initial impressions of the dream the next step is to write down key words or symbols that stand out. They are very important to overall understanding of what the dream is trying to tell you. In the detailed reading of the book “Realities of the Dreaming Mind” by Swami Sivananda Radha, it is suggested you start to keep a record of the symbols you see in your dreams. You should jot down notes on what you think they mean and add to those impressions each time they appear in other dreams. It’s a way of starting to decode the hidden language within. The language that your inner guru understands and wishes you to learn.

You can Google all sorts of symbols and get others feedback on what things mean. The danger of that is that those interpretations don’t have your insight, experiences and history. Therefore they might “get it wrong” for you.

Symbols and Keywords

In the class I am taking on Dream Yoga, we meditated for a while on the symbolism that existed within our chosen dream. 

I saw the colours and was compelled to sit with those colours to see how they made me feel.

White- Pure white

The little girl’s dress was blinding white. Her socks were sparkling white. Her hair was white with streaks of wispy blonde.

She was angelic, innocent. 

I felt the white represented:

Purity, young, innocence, unspoiled, uncluttered, full of potential, start of life, unconditional love, pure passion, optimism and positivity.

Grey Concrete

Concrete, blurry, muddied-soiled, unyielding, rigid and set in ways, cold, conditional love, influence of others, reluctance to be flexible.

Blue Chairs

Seat of knowledge, wisdom, cool, calm, experience based insights, reflective, confident movement, community, potential

Red Tube Slide

Impulsive, take chances, downward spiral, uphill climb, leap then look, self reliance, alone, spatial limits, friction

Transparent or clear

I struggled with defining this colour- it was unclear…lol

To me, transparency means you can see through it. I could see through it but didn’t always understand what I was seeing or not quite seeing. I had the impression there were always many others present. They were never clear or clearly manifesting their true selves to me.

I hope that gives you a taste of the process of Dream Yoga. I have just completed week one. I have taken the course before in its entirety and attended parts of it while at the ashram with outside attendees to help offer examples of what to look for.

To me, it’s a fascinating way to uncover your wisps of wisdom that are circulating in that marvellous mind.

I would love to hear from our readers what you think of this process. Are you interested in learning about your dream symbols and uncovering the pure potential those insights can offer?

PS. I was encouraged by one of the facilitators to paint or draw my dream. The image that you see here and attached to the previous blog is my attempt at using mixed media to draw a scene from the “Concrete Dream”.

Concrete Dream Illustrated by Vanessa Knecht- mixed media

“The Campbells are coming”Ne obliviscaris” (Forget Not) 

My grandpa was a Grand Master Mason

There comes a time in your life when you get curious about who you are. Where your ancestors came from and what part of the human gene pool you belong too.

You hope if you are a bit of rebel like me, for intrigue. Colourful characters that you can, perhaps, relate to and blame for your less than stellar traits.

My son has been asking about our family tree. He recalls a project from grade school where he made a tree and listed his lineage. It was pretty easy to do on the maternal side as my dad was a genealogy buff and did tons of research for the LDS church. The paternal side is a bit more challenging as not much has been done to record and share those bits of the puzzle.

On occasion, after my mother in law had a few liquid bouts of courage, she would recall her experiences in Austria during World War II. She had been sent to a farm with her twin sister to work for food and boarding. It was not a time she remembered fondly. Listening to what happened to her mother and father was heartbreaking. It didn’t come to the surface often for her. I was always willing to listen though and comfort as best I could. My father-in-law’s family is from Germany. I don’t know anything about them but hope that my son can chat with his grandfather to get some bits of the story.

My dad has an interesting heritage. His father was born in England and was one of seven children. Their parents were a butler and maid for a wealthy family. The research tells a tale of betrayal. The butler ran away with another maid and left my great grandmother to fend for herself and the children. She did what most women in that circumstance did in those days and dumped the kids on the steps of the famous Barnardo’s orphanage. 

This is where the trail gets murky. The family was scattered across the world. My dad was able to track down all but one of the siblings. My grandfather and his brother landed in Eastern Canada. My grandpa was a character I never met unfortunately. I learned that he had been a Grand Master Free Mason. 

My mom’s side of the family was a bit easier to keep track of. She was a Campbell. My grandpa’s family helped bring the pioneers to Western Canada from the Southern States. Further back there are some skeletons in the closet that depending on whose side you take are memories of victory or complete betrayal in the Scottish highlands. 

The famous cry of the McDonalds “The Campbells are coming” is even a folk song that depicts the betrayal of the opposing Campbell clan. My history connects to the House of Argyll and Robert the Bruce. The layers of betrayal and greed are interspaced with lessons on survival and family preservation at all cost. It would take years and books to untangle those webs.

It’s a big family, according to Google there are hundreds of thousands of Campbells roaming the earth today.

At my grandmother’s funeral, 350 direct descendants spilled out of the church. We used to have an annual family reunion in the mountains. Camp was like a small city full of relatives of every kind. It is a pleasure to be part of such a prolific clan even if there are some sins of the father to atone.

It’s worth knowing how you got here and the recipe within you that helps to enable who you are.

I know I am made up of warriors, gardeners, artists, leaders, followers, thinkers, enemies and friends. It defines my DNA but it doesn’t define how I manage that gene pool within me.

I admit it has some effect on your natural curiosities. I wondered why I loved to immerse my hands in dirt and develop my gardens. In the past my people were stewards of the land. Designing and lovingly taking care of large public and private gardens. Carving out a living in the forests, eating and preserving the wilderness here in Canada and the Highlands of Scotland.

My grandpa Campbell was an artist who made some of his living from selling his paintings while supporting his own thirteen strong clan. I share his love of art and of collecting things. I inherited some of his coin collections and a few of his paintings which I cherish. I spent my childhood roaming the mountains and forests with my grandparents and extended family. It was a childhood of dreams.

Like the clan of the Campbells, I feel most free and spirited in the mountains and most at home living a nomadic existence. 

My son is a data scientist. He has a passion for research and validation of information and data. He took his family tree and is now dissecting it to understand its roots and also try to prove it’s validity. He has suggested some discrepancies in the Argyll threads and has brought forth some interesting theories on a different Campbell line. I am encouraging him to follow his instincts and report back to me.

Perhaps we will learn that our story was different from the present existing version or help to squash any doubt of who we came from.

Either way, I am intrigued to find out. Somethings we don’t need to prove as their are pictures to document the way.

Grandpa Lee

Three Is A Crowd?

I am reading a second book by Robin Wall Kimmerer titled “Braiding Sweetgrass”.

The first book I read of hers was “The Gathering Moss” and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thriving through mutual growth

A few pages into “Braiding Sweetgrass” Robin dedicates a chapter to what she calls the “epiphany of beans” and then moves onto a chapter called “The Three Sisters”. The chapter talks about compatible planting of, in this case, vegetables that are complementary to each other. Specifically, corn, beans and squash are the ones she mentions. Nature has an amazing ability for reciprocity and finding balance with sustainable relationships. The partnership here starts with the corn. They grow tall and thin with shallow root systems. The beanstalks wrap around the corn for support and take advantage of spreading upward with the cornstalks. The corn seem to accept the hitchhikers and separate their leaves to make room for the bean vines. The Indigenous theory on the “Three Sisters”  states that when planted together these plants can feed the people, feed the land and feed our imaginations by telling us how we can live together.

She goes on to talk about the theory that starts with the planting of the corn which shoots up vertically as fast as it can soaking up water and producing sugars. The bean comes next but takes a different root by firmly planting itself with deep roots before it seeks to go upward. The squash comes later and is last to germinate.The birth order is critical to the successful relationship of the trio. I recommend the read as it’s utterly fascinating to learn about this type of gardening techniques. The method is as old as time and yet not commonly practiced or known.

Further she talks about the intimate relationship between the sisters and how they embrace and support each other in order for the greater good. Without the support of the corn, the bean would be unruly on the ground and at risk by predators. The squash provides shade and reduction of weeds while enjoying the corn provides spots of sunshine strategically placed back on the squash. The corn roots are fine and fibrous and make a shallow network where they drink their fill of water. They provide a channel for the excess water to flow downward to the roots of the beans. The squash taps into the excess and there seems to be enough for them all to thrive better together than apart.

Plants are amazing. Beans grow oxygen-free nodules to house bacterium that shares nitrogen with the plant. This nitrogen enters the soil and helps to fuel added growth to the corn and squash. It has been proven that these plants do better together than grown separately. I am sure there are more examples of these combination growth methods to explore.

I find myself wondering about this phonenom. I come from a family of six girls and one boy. There are three girls, a boy and then three more girls. I am second to the last in the grouping. We seemed to rotate our friendships as we grew. I would hang out with my sister who was two years older than me the most. If I was to label us as plants I wouldn’t say we fit neatly into the “Three Sisters”.  What I noticed is that as we get older the message from the sisters rings true.

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