If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I travel. And today - well, today I woke up on the farm. Two days ago, I left Melbourne, Australia.
I don’t get jet lag as a rule - everyone knows that sleep is my superpower. But this time, I feel a kind of culture shock. From summer to deep, cold winter. From city to farm. From unthreatened to suspicious. From a cozy, kind space to Trump-Musk land. Whether you love them, tolerate them, or feel immediately triggered (all your choices) there will be a reaction to a certain political landscape. Personally I find when I am in a house dominated by these political figures I feel uneasy.
So, here’s the plan: I’m going to consciously focus on being happy wherever I am. Most of us don’t even have to try - being naturally optimistic is a gift. And I believe I’ve got it. People like you - yes, you, dear reader - we know we can’t go back and change the past. We live in the now. But that doesn’t mean we walk blindly. We pave, patch, and smooth the road as we go, so those who come after us have an easier path to follow.
I weep for the land; mauled by billionaires. But then I smile at my own 400 saved organically and sustainably farmed acres. I smile at my organic, grass-fed cows out in the snow. I pat and scratch the pigs in the barn, I know I am feeding people good food. I am self sufficient and now I even have a wood fired stove that will cook that good food. Making the farm house even more sustainable. As in - sustaining an earth friendly lifestyle.
Life changes and flows and we learn all the time. Every challenge we face changes us, sometimes we learn about new tools. Sometimes we find new weapons. All the time we change whether we like it or not.
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
— Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5
But I will fight.
I will fight anyone who says we cannot make a difference.
I will fight anyone who tries to take away our choices.
I will fight anyone who insists we must follow a single path, eat a specific diet, speak in a particular way, or join a popular club. I hate bullies.
But today I am all out of fight. I am tired. I am going to plot instead.
I believe in autonomy. Taking responsibility. In taking control of what we have. Owning our mistakes. Not asking permission. Making our own small changes with butterfly wings. And then we do the work and line our patched roads with apple trees for those coming along behind us.
As I was hauled through the air, traveling back to the farm, a strange thought popped into my head:
What if the story of Adam and Eve wasn’t about creation, but recovery? What if it told of life after an apocalypse? What if the Earth had been so exhausted, so utterly depleted, thousands of years ago, that Adam and Eve were the last two people alive? Then they set to and recovered. Free to make the same mistakes all over again.
Now there’s an interesting thought.
Today I offer you the last chapter of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - read by me. We will take a wee break then I will begin recording our next bedtime story - Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. I love Wind in the Willows and will miss Alice in her wonderland.
But we can think two things at the same time you know.
We are all loving someone and missing someone at the same time.
Go HERE to listen to me reading the whole book - one chapter at a time.
And remember: however you choose to subscribe, I love you for it! Together, we will gently and carefully nurture our little corners of the world and be kind - to each other and to the Earth. (Unless of course I am in a fighting mood - then the gloves will come off!)
Have a gorgeous evening or night or day wherever you are.
Celi
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