The end of November! How did this happen? It appears that we were so busy during the flurry of harvest activities and making sure things were getting tucked in before the coming chill, we forgot to look up! The days are not as long, you know; they are gone before you know it! We hardly noticed just how swiftly one turned into another while the sun skated low across the sky. What happened to high noon?
And then as quickly as the leaves fall during a November bluster, it is Thanksgiving, along with all the rumble-tumble of the holiday season. It is a celebration of the harvest and of abundance, of taking time to be with family and friends, and of pausing a moment to appreciate how very fortunate we are, no matter our circumstances.
I must say – I am deeply touched by the support of family, friends, neighbors, customers – even total strangers – who have encouraged, laughed with me, and shared their own insights and experiences through this blog. The Internet has changed our reality; it has given us this ability to connect with wonderful people all over the world – an ability to see into their individual lives and recognize we are not so different after all. For that, I am very thankful.
For those of you who have followed all the garlic conundrums, the food forest follies, and our attempts to wing it in a wing-nut world – and whether it be in learning traditional skills and lessons, or new ideas about permaculture and sustainability, or just how to be in better tune with nature’s ways – I am reminded that the main purpose in all this is NOT to be “self-sufficient” (although that is, indeed, a good goal), but rather, to see a bigger picture: to grow enough to share, connect enough to give, to understand enough to see what is truly important: love, laughter, friendship, and doing what we can to make this world a better place.
And it strikes me profoundly that YOU, dear readers, are an integral part of this evolution. And that each of you, in turn, reach to a circle of people around you, who in turn reach out – and who in turn…
We are a honeycomb – strong in our connections – a community creating a sustainable future for our children’s children’s children.
Because regardless of how many degrees of separation – it only matters if we actually make those connections. Self-sufficiency is – well – selfish. It’s not enough. We must reach out. This, indeed, is the source of our power to make a difference, at a time in which the individual is but one in 7 billion.
And so, during this Thanksgiving – let us pause and think about this food we eat – where it comes from, how it was grown, whether what we pay in exchange for it supports a living wage. At a time when edible “products” are so cheap, we can ask, is this real? Does it nurture? Did it come from good soil? Is it free of poisons?
And during this time of Thanksgiving, which by the nature of the word, we take time to acknowledge our abundance, we also must recognize that the world is not a fair place. As a species, we still have not been able to eliminate hunger, sickness, or war.
We have, with our lives, an incredible opportunity to strengthen the honeycomb of our existence.
And on that note, I just wanted to say, “Thank You.”
Wishing you abundance in your life and in that of all those you touch.
May your holiday be full of love and laughter!
~blythe
**~*~**
I would like to share a poem I wrote in 2011 about gratitude – it was the year my brother died, and a year in which the garden was of great solace. Even when times seem incredibly hard, we can be overwhelmed by how very fortunate we are. Life is a gift. Thanksgiving is every day. (Click here: Thank you, Good Earth)
