Cut, dig, pull, see with a little more clarity, repeat.

We continued this process for days, finding an equal mixture of plastic, bits of garbage, and medicinal herbs. The more we cleared the space, the more I could see our humanness reflected in this piece of land. Earth, our great mirror.

Bits of plastic ‘out of sight out of mind thinking’. Powerful herbs that ignite hope and give maps towards wellness. Discarded bits buried, only to resurface. Trees of comfort and wisdom. Life sustaining soil that holds it all.

All of it existing, in all of us, with all of us.

“Disrespect. Distrust. Seeing the other as the problem, the faulty one. These are roots of a war that play out between the Men and the Women. These are the hurts that play out in families and relationships. They continue and spread seeds of division through the beliefs we hold, with our without awareness, of one another.

I wanted something better for my Son, my Daughter, myself, our family, and the larger world that we all ripple out to.”

What I came to see was the power we hold to influence our relationships with the energy and intention we bring into them. When I fully took responsibility for how I show up within our relationship and how I want to experience our relationship it began to shift into a more authentic, grounded and healthy dynamic. It is really easy to choose conflict (even silently), especially if that’s what’s familiar, but it takes a lot more vision and heart to choose something that will take effort and massive self responsibility. This isn’t to say that when we show up with clear intention and energy that it will always be reciprocated equally, but it does make a difference as it’s difficult to have conflict or a battle with someone who isn’t fully showing up for it.