The end of June and the beginning of July have proven to be most inspiring, deep and profound and more than ever i am understanding my place in this vast and infinite universe.
I feel truly blessed to have been able to speak and share some wisdom so far at Inshala, Entheos and Astral Harvest. I am so thankful for those that came to my talks and were able to share their beautiful wisdom with me as well. One of my favorite things about teaching is that i am able to learn so much from my students. I am curious to see what teaching at Shambhala will be like as it is so much bigger and has a bit of a different focus in comparison to some of these other smaller more intentional festivals. I have come up with a different idea for Shambhala that will include music and the building of a live art peice while I teach. I am hoping this will draw more people in and help spread the Permaculture consciousness on a larger scale. I am not sure what the schedule is, but if you are at Shambhala i hope you can make it to my talk!
The AREA garden is coming along super well! Photos are attached below. We have all the beds planted and most are flourishing, small gopher and rabbit concern to try and find a solution for, but I am sure we will get it sorted! There are 6 organizations planting as well as a few other involved in other ways including compost tea spraying, the building of the herb spiral (completed in May) and helping with the mapping process (this is going to be really exciting!). Our main focus right now is working on the forest garden, adding more art elements, digging of the exterior swales and the mapping. We are also working on the volunteer program (thanks to all that have been volunteering so far!) and the Farmers Market which will debut on August 21st! We have been having a great year so far and I cant wait to see how it all looks in a month from now!
My internship with Verge Permaculture has also been great. It has been awesome and therapuetic to get some hands on experience and see how the process all goes in a super productive annual veggie garden, greenhouse and forest garden! There are also great benefits like fresh strawberries right off the plant and awesome dinner salads every intern day!
Giggling Chi Tree has also been super busy! So far this summer I have worked on 3 designs and have hosted one blitz. I have two more blitzes coming up one of which is on July 29th in SE calgary. Please check out www.permaculturecalgary.org for more details! With Giggling Chi Tree I am also working on an exciting new design which I cant say too much about now, but will have details for you soon! I will be teaching 2 cob bench workshops in August and September that I am super excited about, go to my website for details. www.gigglingchitree.com
On top of all the exciting Permaculture stuff, I have also been able to do alot of self reflection and I have discovered so many amazing things about my self and the gifts that I have to offer. In my younger years I always felt a bit alienated as I didnt know anyone quite like me and had a hard time finding community. Now I am blessed to be surrounded by amazing community, but have still struggled a bit to find my place. Although I am friends with many like minds, we are all so different and because when I was younger i was ridiculed for this, I have been afraid to share my full self with some of the people I know. I have recognized now that the people in my life have fully accepted me and that I am the only one that is not accepting me. There may still be a few people in my life that have a hard time, but I cannot allow for this to hold me back. I want to spread my wings and share my whole self, my whole vision with the world and this is the only way that I can fully contribute to the collective and to help the collective to be whole. I want for everyone to be able to fully express themselves and therefore I want this for myself as well. I also realize that we can recreate ourselves in each and every moment, through our hearts. In order to do this we need to fully surrender our pasts, embrace and love who we are in the present and understand we will never know who we will be in the future. A little tough to swallow, but also super exciting! I hope to live these values fully!
Another thing I have been working on since COSM is recognizing my intention in all of the things I do. So whenever I make decisions I ask what my intentions are and make sure that my choices are reflecting my intentions. It has been challenging sometimes to have the strength to do or not do certain things, but the results are awesome! I am able to focus all of my energy into the most important things which really help me to move forward more quickly with my visions!
Lastly, I feel so very grateful to be on this ever changing, ever excting journey! So blessed to have such amazing experiences and filled with crazy gratitude for all of this amazing love I feel!
Wishing you all the very best on your journies and hope to hear about everyone elses inspiring lives!
Talk to you again soon!
Giggles and Gratitude,
Kym Chi
