While recently on my way to Birken Forest Monastery for a retreat, my travels obliged me to spend a day in Vancouver, BC. As cities go I understand it is quite beautiful and relatively safe and full of interesting diversions; but how does a country girl survive in the city? I thought I'd look for the answer by seeing how the country survives in the city.
My first answer came by juxtaposition: be my best self. No matter the setting. Be natural and I will shine with my own unique vitality and intactness.
My second answer came by looking up: reach. Reach toward new views; reach beyond the experiences I think might limit or confine and the city will show me new ways of being here.
These humble berries brought my third answer for how to survive in the city: trust myself to live out what I know to be true. I am a drum maker and visual artist who is also an oyster farmer. My life makes a different kind of fruit--different is not better or worse, just different.
My favorite answer came from this tree pushing though the asphalt: I get to define the terms of my life. I get to be rough or polished, amazed at the complexity or serene moving through the tangle. This time in the city has truly been a Journey Oracle, much helped by the words of Cheryl Strayed in her book: tiny beautiful things, which also describes the plants that came to show me how to survive in the city.
