Happy Earth Day!
I am not afraid of love or its consequences of light. ~ Joy Harjo
Today I’m sending love letters.
The first one of course I’m sending out to Earth, joining in the celebration honoring her. I confess I don’t quite understand those who lean into the desire or spiritual understanding that being here is some kind of test or punishment. I believe we each chose to be embodied here and now for the purpose of creating, expressing and experiencing in the physical, and that this is a wonderful, glorious place where we get to daily remember our connections to everything. The Earth is sentient, she is wise, and she sends her love to us each and every moment. If only we could say the same of ourselves. But today I choose to be a beacon of love and pour it into the Earth and thank her for her support and her love. What I really want is for my presence here to be an on-going love letter.
Which kind of brings me to my next love letter. A love letter to myself. Rae’s invitation in this week’s Celebration of Wellness Art-ivity was to focus on self-love, being curious about how one’s thoughts were either supportive or not so much. And so all week I’ve been consciously practicing extending love to my thoughts. What an interesting practice! And actually quite delicious. Above is a peek at my art-ivity – the cover of the accordion-fold book I made which contains a love letter to myself. It amused me to picture my head as this great big heart spouting love thoughts.
And I’ve spouted another love letter. Every Earth Day I do a limited-edition zine in appreciation and celebration of one of Earth’s glorious creatures. This year my love letter is to elephants. I adore these magnificent beings. Elephant has shown up as a beloved totem for me, and I’m so grateful for the beautiful gifts and medicine. And so my zine is indeed a billet doux to elephants everywhere.
I’m offering a love letter to you as well. Thank you for being here; thank you for taking time to read and connect, thank you for being who you are. I welcome the connection and extend my love. And if elephants happen to be a love of yours also and you’d like a copy of my zine, leave a comment saying so and I’ll enter your name in a drawing. I’ll even toss in a few elephant-related bonuses for the lucky winner. If you’re reading this post as an email and want to enter the drawing you’ll need to click through to the actual blog to leave a comment.
I hope you find some wonderful ways to celebrate Earth Day, and I’d love to hear about them.
I want to encourage everyone to enter the zine drawing as I was fortunate enough to receive one in the mail today, right on Earth Day, and it’s lovely, jam-packed with pretty art and elephanty things. Happy Earth Day!
i love elephants too they seem to be wise and protecting.thankyou 4 your loving words your an inspiration.
Lovely post, Deborah! Elephants hold a special place in my Heart, and they are one of my Ancestral Totems. One of my favorite things to do in the Spring is to clean up all of the litter that may have accumulated under the snow on the land around my home. I was doing this last week, and I was gifted with a beautiful Turkey Vulture feather! Thank you for the beautiful Love letter – we Love you, too! (((HUGS)))
Deborah, I can relate to a lot of what you have written here. I have friends who can’t wait to get to the next leg of their journey. I respect their perspective, but for me….I am having such a wild ride thru this life that I don’t need to reach for the next. I will stick around for awhile.
The love letter idea is brilliant. For the Earth and for yourself. Somehow, loving Mother Earth is an act of loving oneself because we are of her.
As for the Zine, BRAVA! I would love to be part of your drawing. My honey and I began collecting Zines on our trip to Oregon in the Fall. And Elephants happen to be an animal I find to be quite powerful and majestic. I have one on the cover of my newest journal.
Peace! Rae
Thanks for the comments, and for the entries into the zine drawing. Yay – we have winners! I’ll be contacting you to get your snail address, so be on the lookout for an email from me. Let the elephant love continue!
I have a polvore gift for you. http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=31153675
Love this polvore Rae – thank you!