Pollinating / Pollinator?
There have been multiple “Perfectly on Time” “ideas” and events unfolding this past week. Perhaps it has something to do with our movement into another season - the fourth quarter as it were, for this year of 2023.
First a need to adjust attitude
Does anyone else out there hit moments of wanting to just stop? To turn off everything (cell phones, iPads, tablets, computers, doorbells, landline phones, social media) and just step away, close a door and sit in silence.
A typical start to a day for this Crone is to read and consider some favourite daily reflection type writings - some in old-fashioned hardcover style - others via Kindle and/or email. It’s generally the best option I’ve found for walking into the beginning of a day with a sense of well-being and gratitude.
Not so on Saturday and there is no real explanation. But at a deep level I knew I was a bad attitude looking for a reason to get worse. I do believe that my “Perfectly on Time” mantra was jumping up and down somewhere in all of this because the next thing I knew I was throwing on some clothes, pulling on my runners and heading down to our Vedder River Trail walking path.
Of course, anyone else who takes moments to step into the middle of the magic of Mother Earth knows what happens right? The breathe changes. The heart slows down. Whatever angst was bubbling turns into a smooth surface. And, voila, the attitude has sifted and moved into a deep knowing that communing with nature reaffirms that the story I’ve come here to experience may be unique but is also connected to all the other stories that are unfolding (“Perfectly on Time”).
Pollinating
When I was visiting my son and family this past summer I was gifted to spend some time with a lovely young couple. North Easton and his wife Rachelle came to my son’s annual Canada Day celebration where North performed for us and “brought the house down”.
The next day we all sat out on the deck drinking coffee and having an in-person, face-to-face (soul to soul) connection that is difficult to describe. I feels like it’s really only this year that we’ve started to re-engage in person-to-person connections so it seemed that the conversations took on a depth of exploration, on an inner workings level, that I would not consider to be the norm. Deep. Insightful. Heart-felt. Kind. Caring.
Toward the end of the visit North suggested I was/am a “pollinator” … I’ve been called a lot of things but can’t recall ever being referred to as a pollinator plus it’s not a word I had heard before. So, when I asked he responded with the idea that some of us are here to share and pass along ideas (planting seeds).
Naturally it filled my heart to be told that, because of engaging from a heart and soul level, perhaps I could then plant “seeds” (pollinate) the hearts and souls of others. Pretty lofty eh? Did it make me feel special – you bet!
Did I immediately run out to begin “pollinating”… nope. But – the word has continued to pop forward off and on and feels like a good fit with my “Perfectly on Time” mantra. In part because there is nothing contrived or planned. When it happens, it happens.
A text message
Almost a year ago, Caitlyn and I seemed to make a lovely and unexpeccted connection. I say unexpected because of our age difference and this week I received this note:
Hello beautiful woman 💌 just read your blog about the cocooning, such beautiful words. Always love to read your mind 🌀💫
I have to say that my heart just felt full to the brim and then I remembered how I had written about her following that connection last year and decided to share what I “saw and felt” at that time:
I believe this is a soul who has probably been here many times and has come back to be that inspiration and example, of how to walk through this earth school from a FOUNDATION of truth, kindness, compassion, gratitude and generosity. Able to clearly see that not everyone is necessarily on the same path as she is and then not taking on any of that resulting dynamic personally - but, instead, coming from her foundation and simply creating space for everyone to do as they need to be doing at this time (“Perfectly on Time”). At the same time, while recognizing, accepting and allowing, she continues to do what she knows she needs to do for her OWN well-being. No animosity or shadow/ego stuff in the mix there …. just those foundational principles she has obviously arrived here with (in the earth school).
I’d like to think that both of us may have been “pollinating” a little bit last year (now that I have that new idea to play with).
Her Granny and I are closely connected and at that same time of writing the above she shared some of her own “pollinating” seeds/ideas.
Her "morning pages" included some references to how we are very much connected AND that while we may be coming from different approaches we're both doing exactly what we need to be doing. That what is unfolding for us is the opportunity to step into that next "role" of teacher/wise woman (in training)_ and to begin passing along to our grandchildren some of the wisdom we've been graced to receive simply through being here in the earth school for as long as we've been here.
Wisdom acquired by continuing to take steps to do the next right thing, as often as we've been able to do that, and as a result now recognizing how every "next right thing" led to a deeper awareness/understanding of principles and living a life from that foundation that her granddaughter seems to have arrived WITH, completely intact from the beginning…whereas, we've had to have years and years of discovering that foundation.
Thank you Elizabeth Gilbert
A re-introduction via Substack resulted in a dive into her book “Big magic. Creative living beyond fear” - both listening and reading. Authentic, funny, honest, encouraging and is so in tune with my own heart and soul. It’s delightful to have her here on Substack!
I’m particularly excited to consider her approach to “ideas” and that they’re actually all over the place and simply looking for someone to be their “pollinator” (my word not hers)… LOL.
Your initial question made me chuckle Marilyn! Do I want everything to stop so I can sit in silence or read, write, and simply contemplate? Yes, yes and yes. All the time!
Good job listening to your Higher Power and getting outside so those bad vibes couldn't stick around!
Thank you for sharing the pollinator story. How wonderful to have had such a meaningful conversation with North and his family that he was able to recognize that in you, so much better than those chats that simply skim the surface.
Keep on spreading your love and wisdom, our world needs it!
Thank you for continuing to share your experiences miss Pollinator.