I live on the land, upon a small tropical farm. Something inside me calls me to do so. I do not fully understand it in my mind, but I feel it with all my senses. At times I complain about all the farm and garden work I endlessly have to to do, but then something happens that stuns me, even shocks me, or delights me and even takes my breath away. I live here and care for this land in defense of beauty. Everyday brings a sensual experience in which I come to know the wisdom of our sentient Earth Mother. I smell her fragrance, I touch her soul, I hear her songs, I see her mystery and I taste her flavors. In her mirror, I can see the truth about divine creation wherein beauty shines as living luminosity. Beauty is the sacred light we are called to defend if we are to forever burn bright. A life lived in defense of beauty grants us the knowledge of our purpose and place within the sentient Earth Mother’s dream.
Touch The Grounded Truth
The soul of the sentient Earth Mother dwells deep within the soil. I can touch her soul when my hands are in the dirt and my bare feet are on the ground. Healing messages come from both above and below. The morning dew is a messenger to the plants and trees that all is well. To walk the morning dew with bare feet brings a healing gift to us like unto the plants, as shared to me by a doctor friend who knows from experience. The truth of who we are lies in the ground beneath our feet, and when we touch the Earth, we also touch the stars from where we came. Our planetary Mother is a living, breathing spirit from on high. We can touch her when we hug a tree, plant a garden, swim the ocean, hike the forest, care for the animals and one another…and she will know us by our touch. For she is the grounded truth we need to grow and flourish.
In defense of beauty, I plant lots of trees.
Hear The Freedom Songs
The songbirds sing every morning as a sign to the plants that it is safe to grow. Sadly for the plants, and us, we have lost many songbirds to toxic pesticides and spring mornings have grown silent. We can help plants grow stronger and faster by playing classical music in the garden. I hear the freedom songs of animals across and all around the farm: donkeys braying, horses neighing, goats bleating, roosters crowing, hens clucking, frogs croaking, ducks quacking, hawks screeching, peacocks crying, dogs barking, cows mooing, coyotes howling and owls hooting. Big flocks of black birds fill the trees in winter with loud, raucous squawking, while summer brings the white Ibis that descend upon lawns and fields of green where they strut, meander and seem to chat as they poke the ground with their long beaks. Rare visits of flat-billed pink Flamingos are a treat, where they gather upon the pond peninsula in a flurry of excitement and chatter. The songs and sounds of birds and animals remind us that we, too, are wild and innately born free. There is no way forward for humanity until we stop abusing the animals.
In defense of beauty, I feed the birds.
Smell The Fragrant Beauty
I awaken to the deep, rich smell of the Earth floating through the window after an early morning rain. All the grass, plants and trees are sparkling with crystal raindrops. I drift back to sleep and dream of a familiar rose garden wherein hundreds of different roses are blooming. I lean down to smell each one, and wonder how each color can have such a subtle and unique fragrance. I drift back from sleep with a memory of walking through endless fields of lavender, overwhelmed by the abundant scent flowing from these blue and purple blossoms. Like the ocean, this sea of lavender is breathtaking as it calms and soothes my soul. I dress and head to the garden, where I can smell guavas ripening on the tree on my way to pick plumeria blossoms. I put the pink and yellow blooms in a bowl of water, place it on my desk and work under the spell of their divine smell. I slip away into the fragrant beauty of the ending day as the scent of night blooming jasmine drifts upon the evening breeze.
In defense of beauty, I plant fragrant flowers.
Taste The Forever Flavors
I was once meandering through a Peruvian open market where I came across about 40 barrels of beans, each one filled with a unique variety. I was stunned to learn there were so many different kinds of beans in the world. Likewise, when I moved to Florida, I could not believe the abundance of tropical fruit varieties of which I had never known nor tasted. We are often limited to foods suitable to our growing zones; and thus, one of the great pleasures of travel is to taste the endless flavors of ethnic food. The Earth Mother has provided us with an exquisite selection of seeds that forever delight our tastebuds. Last year I grew a green cauliflower variety whose color, texture and taste were outstanding. When my garden is bursting with rainbow chard, red cabbage, bronze fennel and all the many textures and shades of green leaves, it is a beautiful sight. My whole being welcomes the healing medicine of fresh grown food.
In defense of beauty, I plant a vegetable garden.
Realize The Mystery
To realize the mystery, we need real eyes. Nothing is what it seems. There is so much more going on than we yet know or can imagine. Yet, it is our divine gift of imagination that enables us to see the mystery. To imagine is an art of innocence, and which invokes our love for pleasure, learning and sharing; but knowledge that is not grounded in truth, freedom and beauty can become a danger, an erroneous power, The mystery of our sentient Earth Mother is profound, and her divine wisdom far surpasses any attempts by artificial intelligence to provide us with an acceptable imitation. The spiritual mystery resides in all things material, and the material world is the mystery of spiritual expression. Life on the farm is steeped in mystery.
In defense of beauty yet to come, I imagine what is possible.
Beauty is essential. To live in a world devoid of beauty is to deprive our souls of divine nourishment. The sentient Earth Mother has created beauty all around us, a mirror of natural beauty in which to see the divine mystery. Beauty is our inspiration to create. As my dear friend John Lash warns, “ Never turn your back on beauty.” If we do so, truth, freedom and all that we love might perish.
In defense of beauty, I create beauty.
