A Crunchy Life - June 2019 Newsletter
HAPPY JUNE!!
What I am excited about
Summer Solstice is coming! Midsummer/Summer Solstice is a time for outward celebration. A time to gather with loved ones and share the longest moment of daylight and the shortest moment of nighttime in our year. Over the years, our preparation for and celebration of Summer Solstice has included the reading of The Return of the Sun King by Christine Natale, the leaving of gifts for the fairies, and the making of fairy wands, sun candles, and bonfires. Now that the girls are older they participate in determining our activities for the solstice. I am sure it will involve gardening, a craft, yoga, and a bonfire. I'm excited to see what else they come up with.
What I am listening to
Forest 404 is set in the 24th Century in a world where forests have been erased from history, There are 9 episodes that include the story, a talk, and a soundscape. It is an immersive sci-fi thriller that raises the question: can you feel loss for something you have never known?
From https://www.bbc.co.uk/ :
"Forest 404 is set in the 24th century, after a data crash called The Cataclysm. Pan, our protagonist, is a young woman with a boring job sorting and deleting old sound files that survived the crash. She uncovers a set of sound recordings from the early 21st century that haunt her.
They are recordings of rainforests – places which no longer exist – and Pan feels compelled to hunt down the truth about how the forests of the old world died. All the time she is pursued by the agents of the new world’s ruling powers.
The drama will provoke you to imagine the world we know today as a thing of the ancient past, to picture a scenario where all we have left of the earth’s verdant ecology is a few audio files. The big question at the centre of the tale is: what are we willing to lose, and who are we willing to become?"
image from https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06tqsg3
What I am reading
Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing by Michele Elizabeth Lee is a beautiful book! I discovered this book through @herbsandloreapothecary. It is a wonderful herbal book but it is so much more than an engaging narrative. It ties history to the stories of real people and then ties the stories to generational medicine passed through families. Recipes + stories + generational wisdom all in one place.
Find more about the book at https://tinyurl.com/y689svl2
image from amazon.com
What I am thinking about
My love of herbs extends beyond what grows wild or in gardens where I live. I am also intellectually curious about cacao and herbs such as maca, mucuna, ashwagandha, shatavari. These are herbs that have been cultivated for thousands of years and used for medicinal, therapeutic, and wellness purposes. I have been reading and thinking about the wisdom surrounding their use.
Along the way, I came upon Gabrielle Brick. Gabrielle is a holistic nutrition specialist and life coach who is deeply committed to helping people "discover how to create powerful elixirs that will do everything from balance hormones, boost your immune system and create sustainable energy." Her recipes use cacao and the herbs listed above among others. I am still learning and thinking about all of this and her blog is a resource for some yummy recipes. Right now, the Cacao Elixir made from cacao paste is a favorite.
image form amazon.com
What I am learning
I discovered Rachel Simmons in 2011 when her book Odd Girl Out was released. This year our daughter's school community read Rachel's new book, Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives, and hosted Rachel for a talk. Now, I am completing her 8 module course, Enough As We Are, that accompanies the book.
Rachel's introduction to the course states: "Over the next eight weeks, we’ll work closely together to reflect on the ways your childhood shapes how you parent, helping you pivot to new strategies as needed. We’ll also learn and practice critical skills for raising strong daughters, using the tools I’ve developed after two decades of working with girls and their families. Together, we’ll build an intimate community where we can connect, share and learn."
It's been such a powerful experience so far to think about how my childhood impacts how I guide my girls through their's. Rachel has lots of great resources available on her website.
I want to hear all about you and what you are interested in so that I can tailor these newsletters to your interests, too. How are you being intentional each day? How are you living your best life each day? This life is messy and it is all we have so let's support each other.
Love.
Karen