I was reacquainted with the word biophillia while listening to a gardening podcast several weeks ago. It means an innate, soul enriching, instinctual kinship with the earth and living things. We all have this ingrained love of nature imprinted in our DNA, whether we enjoy getting dirt under our fingernails or not.
If so, then why do we consistently insist on destroying something to which we are so spiritually bonded? Maybe it’s because in our urban, cement-encircled lives, it is beaten out of us. Or is it because our “advanced” culture is divorced from nature?
I can hear some of you already berating me for miss-allocating my love of the Divine! But, wait a minute! Isn’t that what all creation stories demand of us, no matter the color of our stripes? We are to be caretakers of this garden, this Eden, earth.
Can one person make a difference in such a gargantuan task? Yes, indeed!
Any great change happens with 4% of a given population. Why can’t you be in that 4%?
I try to do so within my sphere of influence, especially in my garden.
1. Sow seeds whose plants turn brown in the winter and return each spring. Brown is a color too!
2. Don’t plant for just decoration.
3. Examine what that plant does. Is it medicine? Is it a bee magnet? Do birds benefit from it? Is it edible? The quesstions and uses are endless. There’s so much more to landscaping than looking pretty!
4. Explore, learn, and teach the next generation their sacred connection with duty, honor, appreciation, and love for all living things. Plant the seeds of change in their little hearts.
What green habit can you cultivate this spring?
Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love.