Happiness is Resting on Water

I noticed that I've been resisting to post because I have been waiting for that extra special something to take the main stage in my life. (Although going to college for a semester has put me "on stage.") On the other hand, there is this curious lightness of being in the air and a lack of eventfulness that is quite nice, actually. So I began to wonder… Why do I always harp so much about my search and desire for the inner calm, but when it actually comes my way, I easily dismiss it as unimportant or feel a little too plain within myself? The answer was in looking back on my pictures from Eden the other day. And right now it really feels as if I have been suspended by a calm and floating bliss: happiness is resting on water.

The reason I chose the image above is because it illustrates what I see from this state of "happy resting." From here I see my life as a beautiful collection of small compartments filled with seeds, gardens, trees, food, water, animals, rocks and soil. Some of these containers are filled with prettier parts, some have had more time to germinate, and some are more colorful than others. From this point of quietude though, I'm not choosing one thing to focus on. Instead, all these living boxes only prevail to form a big picture with a "You are Here" sign that places me on a trail-side map sign with random veins and arteries coming in.

Sure there are things that still need attention and work (piles of homework). Besides, we always feel the need to push forward no matter what, don’t we? If I could begin to tell you how that anticipation has burned and consumed me in the past few months and years. But not now. Now I am just sitting in this pool of tranquility, while all this other stuff remains out there to be solved, fixed and taken care of. Yet, I am content going on walks, taking the time to bake, watering the seedlings, loving my 2 hens, Luna and Night, eating mashed sweet potato yams and reading a magazine not pertaining to my classes. Not much indeed is happening. But somehow this mellowness warms me like the the floating sun on a winter-ish Friday. It rests on water, and it is enough. Love, Sharon

Clean Up as You Go

This is a new principle that I have been working on and is grounded in the three permaculture ethics. It is so rich and real that it inspired my post today! I've been doing a giant clean up around my house and in the yard and preparing to have friends over around the holidays. I'm caring for things in such a way that the clutter does not build up again as quickly. Also, I'm preparing the ground for a future, small-scale, high-yield garden in the spring. The balancing force to this is that a clear space will inspire people to use it and fill it with love and life...one day soon.

Another inspiration has been my two new, young hens. As strange as this sounds, they remind me to emotionally clean up as I go. This means I'm dealing with the stuff that comes up when relating to others in the moment, not leaving it for later when it has gone stale or festered. This energy is so powerful. It can make people uncomfortable, but it is there to enlarge our lives I believe. I no longer want to baby anything that does not want to seize its chance at life or to be available and connectable in my life.

Getting back to permaculture, I think it's only fair to leave a place at least as beautiful as how you found it. Who knows how many generations are going to walk in my back yard after I have left it, right? For example, it is my goal to no longer take other peoples' time by leaving a pile of work for them after I leave the dinner table. My foods scraps will either be fed to their animals or put in the compost and my dishes will be done after the meal. And if I had my own gold mine (metaphorically I do), the tailings would be left stable on a re-vegetated, open field.

When you clean up as you go, you can always manage it. It never becomes overwhelming. It is truly a pleasure to work and live in a cleared space. Happy Holidays with Love, Sharon

Stadsodlarfestivalen | Stockholm

Please allow me to spam you with some colorful photos from today's Urban Gardening Festival held at Fatbursparken, Södermalm, Stockholm.







The emphasis was organic farming and permaculture. It was a 50/50 split between those vendors selling their bounty of baked goods, seeds, jams, organic beauty products, eccetera and those with displays only, as their land rights where governed by the state and municipality, therefore they could not commercially sell anything (but give it away if they chose to). I came home with black cabbage (similar to kale), multi-colored cherry tomatoes, geranium shortbread cookies, aronia relish, bread with dashes of beet root, a handful of portlak, not to mention all the samples I tried!

There was also a unique method to get people in touch with their roots: gardening roots that is, by way of a Planting  Performance where a person, as if they were a flower, is planted in a pot to grow. I really enjoyed this 4-minute experience and the little story that came with it. It touched my heart, my feet loved it, and I think I grew a couple centimeters! I also learned to make small containers for seeds (see packets) with colorful paper, recycling catalogs. Love, Sharon

30 Days of Indie Travel | What European City do I Most Want to Visit, Day 16

Drikke vin means drink wine in Danish, and this is exactly what I was doing last night which lead me to an affirmative post for Day 16. Last night's terroir-driven Mediterranean wine/olive oil/sea salt tasting event here in Charlottenlund, provided my hands down answer of Sicily! (Technically not a city, but a region/province of Italy.)

I want to meet the people and see what they are really like. While they make know how to make a meal with passion, I also want to make them a meal with equal fervor. Share some Mt Etna wines. Kick a football. Listen to their stories. Or just sit and be quiet offering friendship as best I can, hoping they know how much I appreciate giving and sharing life's many great passions. I know it will just be beautiful even if I have to wait until after 10pm to get Pasta alla Norma, then so be it.

Here is a link to an enticing travel webpage: Sicily Vacations. Love, Sharon