From my garden

1. Truth: We are busy getting ready to leave for Oregon. We compressed two months worth of gardening in to two weeks, got seat covers and a cartop carrier for the new car, the dogs have been to the vet and are all up to date and checked out, we got service done on the new car even though it is brand new (just to be sure), all our reservations are made and paid, and we are working our way though a list of other things that need done before we go. We are so lucky to have a friend who is happy to live here, have a whole house to himself with a/c and a big TV for his own tiny vacation, so we don’t have to worry while we are away, and can have a garden even though we’ll be gone.

2. Truth: We are traveling to one of our favorite places. The central Oregon Coast, more specifically Waldport, Oregon. This is I think our 7th trip there as a tiny family, at least the fifth time we’ve stayed in this one particular house. The first time our first dog Obi was only 4.5 months old. I am looking forward to this trip being a bit easier, since Ringo is a grown up boy now, (he was still a baby last time).

3. Truth: My heart has two geographical homes. One is here in Colorado, and the other is in Oregon. I grew up there, and even though I don’t miss the nine months of rain, or the mud or mold, I miss a lot of other things — the ocean, my big family, the produce, the green, the trees.

One wish: That no matter where you are spending your summer, it’s a place you love with people you love.

1. Truth: I trusted my gut, and I was right. I saw a new podiatrist today, the one my physical therapist originally recommended but he was in the process of moving from a group practice to a private practice and wasn’t available. This dude was the foot whisperer! I just knew that the custom orthotics I was using weren’t right (turns out they actually caused tendonitis in some ligaments in my ankle, thus the lingering discomfort I’ve been dealing with) and that the real issue is my hip. He confirmed what I already suspected, that the chronic low back and hip pain from a fall off a horse when I was 18 caused my body to modify my gait, to overcompensate for things that were hurt in a way that became the norm long after the injury, made me “calf dominant” and allowed areas of my hips and right leg to weaken, and the plantar faciitis was never the real issue, just a symptom of a long term ongoing problem — that can totally be corrected!

2. Truth: Reading and taking a nap are medicine. As I spend this time on vacation, I’ve been paying attention to what feeds me, what makes me feel good, what helps, and these two things in particular are magic.

3. Truth: My perspective about depression is shifting. I watched a video yesterday, From “De-pressed” to “Deep Rest”: Depression as a Call to Spiritual Awakening?, and it kind of blew my mind. Have you ever had it happen that the thing that you most needed to hear just seems to show up at exactly the right time? That’s how I felt about this. I’d been having a hard couple of days (no one showed up for my last yoga class, someone hit one of our cars but didn’t leave a note or anything, Eric and I had a hard discussion, etc.), and this came when I really needed it. It changes everything for me to think of depression as a particular kind of exhaustion caused by working to maintain a false sense of self, as an invitation to rest deeply with who I really am.

One wish: May we trust our intuition about what we need and allow ourselves to have it, seeking help if we need it and allowing ourselves to rest, to heal.