I have found that my nature meditations and the drawing process bring me a heightened sense of awareness within a particular place. The earth, all of Nature,  and people (including their buildings, objects, etc.), come together in a more integrated manner in my perception as I meditate and draw with mindfulness. My hope is that “place” will also benefit from this work.

I have already begun to make a shift in my storytelling work– telling a story “to” and “for” a place. That seems unusual, as storytelling is usually thought of as entertainment, etc., for people, for an audience. Perhaps the audience can be much broader than the individuals gathered. Perhaps a story can be told for a place, to evoke the essence of that place and uplift it and all who happen to be there– from “beneath the ground” up.

Drawing can also be a way to uplift and “mend” place– especially when it is done as mindfulness practice where the earth and Nature are held in my awareness.

In the “civilized” world, so often we do things to a place that tear it away from the land beneath it, from Mother Earth and the elements. Both the land and its inhabitants are diminished.

My wish is to help bring us and Nature back into balance, into a state of reintegration. The project is done at specific sites  by : discerning the essence of the site from “under the ground up”– and offering story, drawing, and uplifting ritual* to that place.

This work has already to begun to heal me, and I hope to refine, focus, and continue with it, so I can be more inclusive than ever before of “place.”

I am encouraged by what folks are doing locally to uplift “place” — turning lawns into gardens is just one example. I feel that this work will also be of benefit, one small place at a time. Even so, it is big work, and it is a little scary to me.

* I am a CCW facilitator– Crystalline Consciousness Work. This work employs the help of the crystalline aspect of Nature to awaken individuals and the land to their highest potential. In the case of humans, we know that we use only a portion of our potential; we are capable of a much more integrated, conscious, and loving way of perceiving, being, acting. We are capable of acting from discerned intention for the good of all. For this reason, many are currently engaging in mindfulness practices. The CCW work amplifies these mindfulness practices so that they become even more effective. Our “latent potential” blooms at an accelerating rate.