Musings

Welcome to Musings, a place for the rabbit holes I find myself following to interesting and often serendipitous pathways. When the pathway stirs my soul enough, I immediately want to share it, talk about it, learn more, and see where else it may lead.

I like the word musings, and I looked it up to see if it actually means what I think it means and what kinds of references, synonyms, and websites it's correlated with. Here are a few of the definitions that came up:

A noun meaning 'a period of reflection or thought'
Your thoughts or comments on something you have been thinking about carefully and for a long time
Meditation

It's just right! One of the search results was the Musingsmag.com site, which is very much in line with where my head and heart are. So that was another fun rabbit hole that led to more good things.

I'll continue sharing more musings here as I run across those that pique my curiosity and maybe yours too.

I hope these musings inspire you
and lead you to magical places ❤️

The Honorable Harvest

The Honorable Harvest is one of the teachings that Robin Wall Kimmerer shares in her beautiful book, Braiding Sweetgrass, and also in this video. It is a traditional teaching about the covenant of reciprocity between humans and the living world. It is an ethical protocol that we owe these generous, sovereign beings - the plants who give us everything we need - at the very least our attention and respect. We only take if they are willing and able to give. We never take the first plant that we see, and this inherently means we'll never take the last. We ask the plant and then we listen to the answer. We care for its well-being. We share with other humans. We celebrate it with song and ceremony. We understand that every breath we take and every sip of water we drink, was made by plants and the earth. We take the time to be grateful for those gifts.

We must have the understanding and humility that we are not at the top of some biological hierarchy, and that we are in fact the younger brothers and sisters of creation.

The Color Purple

I had an interesting coincidence or synchronicity, but definitely not random, thing happen this week. The first part is that I painted my front door a beautiful, rich purple color called Purple Basil. I love the color, and it already appears in several rooms inside my house in various forms. But this was bolder since it is on the exterior of my house! AFTER I painted the door, I happened across some meanings of a purple front door, and it made me love it even more. "It symbolizes creativity, individuality, and spirituality. Historically, purple has been associated with royalty and wealth, and it can also represent a sense of magic, mystery, and transformation. More recently, purple doors have been linked to a bold and open-minded personality, suggesting someone who isn't afraid to stand out and embrace new possibilities." 💜

The second part of the synchronicity came when I went to see the theater production of The Color Purple. It is a painful, loving, heartwrenching, and powerful story of black women during the 1900s through 1940s in Georgia. I had seen the movie when it came out, but to see the live theater version as a musical was even more emotional and raw. It's also been decades since I saw the movie, so I've changed and matured, and the world has changed as well (somewhat). I had a vague memory of what the movie was about but had forgotten much of the storyline and details. The main character is Celie, who is married off to a cruel man who emotionally, verbally and physcially abuses her. Eventually she meets two strong female characters who show her a different way to be and who appreciate Celie's own beauty, grace, and kindness. Shug Avery sings the song, Too Beautiful for Words, to Celie. It is a touching song that everyone in the theater was in tears. It is a powerful moment where Shug helps Celie recognize her own inner beauty and worth. It's also about grace, love, and self-discovery. Shug is also the one who tells Celie about how God is not an old white man in a church. God is in us and in everything and everywhere. She challenges the conventional idea of God as a distant, judgmental figure. She believes God is more akin to a loving, admiring presence that delights in the beauty and wonder of the world. She said that God made the color purple to cause pleasure and make humans happy, and that it pisses God off if you walk by purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it! The turning point for Celie is when she is able to leave the oppressive relationship and find the courage to speak up and find her own voice. "I'm poor, black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here!" She learns to love herself, experience joy, and even becomes an independent business woman who owns her own trouser shop filled with the color purple.

The book was written by Alice Walker, who in 1983 won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

The Beautiful Unknown

Ancient worlds knew more than us
Silence is the way to learn
Listen
with ears and heart to Elders
Shared stories of beautiful light
and stars and sun and moon
Energy chakras,
circular and infinite
Feel
you will not break if you bend
Do not fear the unknown
It is all unknown to us
See
with your heart open wide
~Lori, Wild Thing Life 2025

I wrote the beginnings of this poem when I was at the Seattle Art Museum attending a hands-on exhibition from the Institute of Empathy. I finished the poem this morning after running across my scribbled notes from that day.

Braiding Sweetgrass

I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass,
as thick and shining as the plait that
hung down my grandmother's back.
But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take.
Wiingaashk belongs to herself. So I offer,
in its place, a braid of stories meant to heal
our relationship with the world.

I finished Robin Wall Kimmerer's beautiful, poetic book this week. It's filled with indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Robin is a scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

Her words teach us how to respect, appreciate, and be good stewards of and WITH the earth. She describes asking permission of the plants before taking them, and then only taking a small amount when they are abundant and strong enough to live on. Imagine how our world would be if we had mutual respect for the plants and animals, air and water, that we rely on so heavily for our existence. We can create pockets of this peace and harmony, starting on a small scale, with Acts of Restorative Kindness in our own backyards and neighborhoods.

In one of the last chapters, she talks of People of Corn and People of Light. When the People of Light were created, they were beautiful and dazzling and smart, but they thought they knew everything. They were not grateful for the gifts of the earth, and they met their demise. They were replaced with People of the Corn, who could dance and sing and they had words to tell stories and offer up prayers. Their hearts were filled with compassion for the rest of creation. They were wise enough to be grateful and respectful for the world that sustained them. And so they were the people who were sustained upon the earth.

I am hopeful that there is still time for us to change our ways of greed and disrespect, and to survive alongside our plant and animal friends. We humans are the ones who still have so much to learn from the other beings on earth. We are the young beings who need to listen and learn from plants who have been here much longer and have a wisdom that we don't fully understand.

Purpose

I was thinking about a recent podcast where Mel Robbins interviewed Jay Shetty, and it was all about finding your purpose. No small deal right! Many of us are searchers and seekers, trying to find meaning in our lives and answer the ultimate question of why we are here. We feel, and rightly so, that it should be more than just taking up space, resources, and oxygen. How do we give back in a meaningful way that fills us up and makes us feel joyful and connected? How do you strike a balance between giving of yourself to the world but not so much that you end up feeling depleted and resentful? Or maybe it is the right amount of giving, but you feel frustrated or unfulfilled because it's a path that is not meant for you?

I've read many books and articles, listened to many podcasts and watched TED Talks on this subject. I am a searcher and a seeker, for meaning and connection. Follow your heart to find your purpose they say. Sounds good but it's not always easy to tap into that quiet voice if you're used to listening to everyone outside of yourself, or listening to your brain, which just wants you to pick something already so that it can start figuring out how to make it happen.

What is purpose and how do you find yours?

Jay Shetty says that "your purpose is when you use your passion in the service of others. If your passion doesn't have a service element, if you don't use it to improve people's lives, if you don't use it to inform other people, if you don't use it to make a difference in someone's life, it's not a purpose." He also says that your purpose doesn't have to be this big thing where you're changing a billion peoples' lives. It is not defined by scale or the amount of people you reach. It doesn't have to be for charity. It doesn't have to be big, or be your job, or be something you dream of doing every day. Your purpose is simply using your passion in the service of others, in the smallest of ways and it brings you so much joy and gives you validation for something beautiful that you do.

Figure out what brings you energy. Look for the small whispers and signs. Finding what energizes you may not be a big bright light, it is often a whisper that says just try this. It is also often something that comes so easily and effortlessly to us that we discount it or don't realize that it is special. Pay attention to those small things you do that are enjoyable and see where else you can apply and share those skills.

Listen to the full podcast here.

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