A Crunchy Life - March 2024 Newsletter

Think of this as a letter from a friend with a deeper look into this month's post. I share more thoughts and resources for tapping into a simple, intentional life filled with Earth-based practices.

Hello friends!

The March post is up and it is all about words. March has been a difficult month for me to write. Its noisy right now. There are so many words all over the place - the internet, social media, television, radio, social interactions, everywhere. Words being used, misused, interpreted, misinterpreted, confused. I don’t want to add more to the confusion, anxiety, to the mix. So, I have been really hesitant to put more words into the universe.

The need to communicate, the need to express, the need to share is important in humans. After all, stories drive the world. Stories are the only things that can cause change. And, we all have stories. It is through the sharing of our stories that we build compassion. We learn from each others stories. Stories teach us to feel, stories teach us empathy, stories change perspectives. Stories motivate us to action. 

Words are the integral pieces, the vital elements, of stories. They determine the direction, the mood, the tone, the emotion of the story, and they create characters and expectations. That is why use of words is so critical. Words can worsen anxiety and depression or support health and happiness, cause conflicts or help solve them, create division or build understanding, reinforce bias or perpetuate equality, incite cruelty and violence or empower resistance and resilience. Words matter.

Here’s a deeper look into how I am using my hand, head, and heart this month.

Here I am this month, moving through this quagmire of sound, words, and overwhelm the only way I know how. Slow. Steady. Purposeful. Intentional. This month my hand, head, and heart practices provide an opportunity to do just that.

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

Hand: Spring Cleansing

In this month’s post I shared that Spring Cleansing begins on March 1st and ends the Friday before Easter, Good Friday. Right, it’s spring cleaning. But, when done with intention it becomes something a little more special, a bit more magical, than just cleaning. Hence, cleansing. Cleansing brings in more than just cleaning. There is intention and purification. (see: the Oxford English Dictionary definition of cleanse).

This month I have been cleaning out things that are ready for new homes (i.e. donations) and have been cleaning every surface I can get my hands on. My favorite cleaner is Branch Basics. We use the Branch Basics concentrate for hand & body washing, cleaning the surfaces, and laundry. We add essential oils to it for cleaning and unscented for washing. My travel size Branch Basics goes every where with me. My daughter keeps one with her in her backpack so that she can use it in place of the soap in her school. The farthest it has traveled with me so far was the ATP show in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2015. So, glad I had it there. If you are interested in more information, visit the Branch Basics website. If you are ready to order, use this link to get $10 off of all products.

I also mentioned that on Saturday I will be saining the house after I finish the whole house cleaning. Saining is a Celtic folk practice that uses smoke and herbs to purify and bless a home. Similar to smudging in Native American traditions, saining provides a practice for those with Celtic ancestry who want to develop their own practice based in their ancestry.

In my herbal practices, it is important to me to heal the relationship with the place where my feet are planted by using the plants from within my ecoregion that have the energetics that align with my intention. And so, this recipe is crafted from flora sourced in my ecoregion, in some cases in my own garden.

Recipe: Spring Blessing of the Home

Ingredients:

• 3 sprigs/3 tablespoons Juniper (Juniperus spp.)

• 3 sprigs/3 tablespoons Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata L.)

• 2 sprigs/2 tablespoons Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

• 3 petals/1 tablespoon Rose (Rosa spp.)

• 1 sprig/1 tablespoon Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

• 1 sprig/1 tablespoon Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Note: 3 sprigs/3 tablespoons translates to bundle/loose depending on how it is used.

Tie the ingredients above into bundles with a natural cotton string. I use this recipe as a loose herbal smoke/incense blend and as a saining bundle, depending on the need and the intention of the deep Earth practice. The bundle can be used for a one room or whole house blessing.

Here’s my process:

I move room by room in a clockwise direction. I state an intention for each room and sain all over the doorway and in the middle of the open space. I finish at the front door of the house, sweep the energy out of the house, and say a blessing for the house and family.

I also mentioned that I will then be enjoying a bowl of Żurek Soup (Sour Rye Soup) [pronounced: ‘Zhoo-wreck’] with a slice of homemade bread. It’s so flavorful and comforting. Here’s the link to a recipe for Żurek Soup.

Photo by Olena Bohovyk on Unsplash

Head: The haiku’s of Basho

This month’s post discussed the haiku’s of Basho and the process I am using for reading Basho. I read them slowly and let them sink in. Reading them is like a poetry meditation.

Here’s my process.

First, I read the haiku and welcome whatever comes to me from it. I ponder what is conveyed to me, a visitor to this form and to the culture and history it springs from.

Then, I turn to the notes section of the book. For each poem there is a direct translation, the original Japanese, a Romanized reading, identification of the time period of the poem, and then an explanation of the technique, setting, and additional information necessary to see the poem more completely.

Lastly, I go back and read the poem again to see if there is anything new or different in how it meets me.

Other poetry I am reading this month:

• Woods, etc. by Alice Oswald

• The Thing in the Gap Stone Stile by Alice Oswald

• Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020 by Carl Phillips

• Susceptible to Light: Poetry by Chelan Harkin

• The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

I would love to hear what poetry and poems move you.

Photo by Izumi on Unsplash

Heart: Earth Hour 2024

As I mentioned in this month’s post, Earth Hour started in 2007 as a symbolic lights out event. It has become so much more over the years. Every year, at 8:30pm on the last Saturday of March, supporters in over 190 countries and territories unite, taking action on and raising awareness of the issues facing our Mother Earth.

Here’s my challenge to all of us. Earth Hour may be behind us but let’s take one hour each day to take action or raise awareness of the issues facing our beautiful planet.

Here are some ideas to help us get started:

• Earth Hour — Give an Hour for Earth

• NOAA — Protecting Our Planet Starts with You

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation — What’s Your Bay Footprint?

• WWF — 60 Actions You Can Take for the Planet

• EPA — Climate Change

• EPA —At Home and In the Garden

Try the challenge for one week and let me know how it goes.

Final thought for this month:

Metaphors

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeast rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples.
Boarded the train there's no getting off.

-by Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) in The Colossus, William Heinemann Limited, 1960.

What a fascinating poem! This poem is a great example of the importance of the precise word in creating images and telling stories. Ultimately, Plath gets us to deeply feel her story as we read each line.

Love,

Karen