It seems something is afoot. Over the last week, I have received numerous emails from people who feel they have found their community, and their place in the world.
They tell me the Green Path (my plant lineage) has awakened something inside them.
A curiosity and connection that goes far beyond making a wild cocktail or pesto.
There’s nothing wrong with that when we start on our foraging journey. But at some point, you need to jump further into the hedge.
And often, you won’t have a choice. Instead, something you can’t quite describe will pull you into it.
It all sounds a bit poetic and mysterious when I read that paragraph back to myself.
I suppose it is. The earth is a living system, and humans are just a speck within it. A speck that seems to have caused a bit of a problem for old Mama Gaia.
I like to think this ‘tug’ that people are experiencing is simply Gaia nudging humans back into ‘right relationship’ with the rest of the non-human world.
Let’s face it. We can’t keep on living the way we have been. Otherwise, we will create more of the same problems we are experiencing now.
I think the lockdown has exacerbated this ‘tug of the wild’. I’ve always believed that where there is darkness, there is also light.
So with the frustration of being under what has felt on occasions like house arrest. Unable to meet friends and family, the upside has been that many have been able to spend more time outside, immersing themselves in nature.
This can only be a good thing. Curious things start happening once you allow veriditas (from Latin, which means greenness) into your life.
I can’t explain it. And neither am I that bothered. So I’m comfortable sitting with don’t know.
You see, some of us are just not mechanics.
Let me explain. If I want to illuminate my living room, I only need someone to show me how to flip a light switch. I don’t need to know how the power gets to the light switch.
Sure it can be fascinating intellectually to understand the mechanics of how power does arrive in my home. But, knowing all that information still doesn’t turn the lights on. I have to flip the light switch.
All that power sits there until I act. Thinking and reading about it does nothing other than make for interesting chit-chats.
You’ve still got to flip the switch to benefit.
Where’s all this talk of power leading? I’ll tell you.
I recently discussed with some people who seemed stuck believing that large organisations, multinationals and governments hold power over us.
That as citizens, we have no power. That we are disempowered. I don’t see it this way.
You see, there is a bit of a revolution happening, and it’s happening from the ground up. Not top-down.
A revolution of ordinary folk seeking solace and strength in the vegetal world. A quiet, peaceful revolution of people learning to feed and heal themselves with wild, green beings.
A revolution that is coming out of necessity. This deep yearning for connection that so many crave is accessible to everyone, everywhere.
No uniform is required to join. We come in many flavours. Yer gotta love diversity, right?
As I wrote in the introduction to Forage in Summer:
If you know one plant well, then teach it to others. This is how we spread our love of plants. It isn’t about becoming an expert or a teacher per se; it is about changing the culture, one plant at a time.
Our plant heritage is slowly being forgotten, and it is people like you who can change that.
Start sharing what you learn from the information I put out with others. Create wild food meals and ask your friends and loved ones over. Take them out plant spotting. Bring the wildness of the world into your home. Surround yourself with green.
See this as a journey down the Green Path. An exciting adventure. Become a playful plant explorer. Enjoy the ride. It’s going to be a blast.
Forage in Summer is now available as a paperback; click here to learn more.