“I can guarantee that there would be less violence, less fear, isolation, loneliness, mistrust, jealousy, greed…less hatred, less addiction, abuse and cruelty in the world. In fact, quite the opposite – there would be more laughter, more grace, more connection, more acceptance. More empathy and joy, more play, more bliss. More belief in the sacredness and sanctity and ridiculousness of life. And there would be much more love.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” she said. “Are you suggesting that people should go around blasted on mushrooms all the time?”
She looked genuinely annoyed. Which made me smile, because she does that thing where her eyebrows furrow in this particular way, and I dearly loved her, in particular.
“Not at all. Because we like to have responsibilities, and things to do, and we are all happiest when we know and understand our place in the world. When we know who we love and who loves us, and we feel deeply connected to them; to our family, our tribes and communities. And we feel this deep connection to our environment, to the plants and the animals, and the trees and water, and we deeply feel beauty, and music and art and dancing…”
“Dancing?” she interrupted. “So nothing ever gets accomplished, we are all just dancing in the woods all the time, high as fuck…”
Without pausing I continued, “And when we feel those things, we want to contribute, to do our best for ourselves and others, and to be of service. And it’s not forced, or difficult. It just simply is. It is our true nature to trust and to love. The thing is that these little plants provide us with a temporary glimpse into some ultimate truths and they are there to give us guidance and wisdom when we need it, and to gently remind us that we are, and everything is all so connected. And that we are not alone, we are not gods, but we are the very embodiment of god, but so is everything and everyone else. That we are loved, truly deeply loved.”
She had resumed the washing of the dishes in the sink. I had caught up on the drying and putting away. I stood there watching her face, knowing that her mind was turning this over and over, intellectualizing, filing, sorting. But her body had responded with a gentle sway, a slight shift…in the way that our bodies respond when it hears something that is like…an ancient truth.
“It always reminds me of how goddam much I love you,” I said.
She shot me her best glaring side-eye, and I moved to dodge the soggy sponge fired directly at my head.
- spiritwolf, ‘exceprts from a book i’ll never write”
spiritwolf 