Circles have been ever more deeply on my heart these days, not that it is anything new…just deepening. And going beyond just circles to another aspect of the wild feminine I feel rising in me, asking for expression. Ever since I wrote these words on the parasol I carried in the march last month in Williamsburg…

Let’s  soften, not  harden  our  schools … our  hearts…

(…the world if only I had had room to write it.) I’ve been noticing all the ways the world has been hardened, especially recently, and all of the calls to harden it further.

I believe the world needs softening.

Less pavement and fewer skyscrapers…more weeds and grass long enough to wave in the breeze…more spaciousness in our days and margin in our hours…less plastic and metal…more worn fabric and old wood…less buying and grasping…more contentment.

It’s not always easy, tho’, to find these gentle, restful ways and places…they are not really the way of the world…just the way of the earth. This afternoon, I finished a little ebook for Wisteria & Sunshine about softness with gardening. It’s a path I’ve been consciously walking only a short time, but such beauty I have already found, with many an adventure ahead, I am sure.

It is interesting to be on the watch for it…softness. In sweet, funny ways like the way Doug and I fold our cloth napkins after every meal…his always in a square or rectangle, mine a loose, ruffled fan. In satisfying ways, watching my home become more and more of a haven as I soften what I can and bring in the curve of stone and shell and nest. In challenging ways, as I watch my fifty-nine year old body lose definition and become more rounded and squashy in places. In healing ways, as my need to be right or perfect lessens and my understanding and patience grow.

Are you ready to join me in a softness revolution? You know, the kind of revolutions I like best…the quiet, domestic, using what we have sort?

xo

P.S. This post was written in honour of the twelfth anniversary of this online journal of mine. So grateful for all the years of your visits and comments and support of all kinds!