Invasives

Transcript

Hello, dear listener. I'm back. It's me your favorite weed lover and member of the most invasive species on the planet.  By now, you know, I have a great reverence for plants. And you may have gathered that so-called weeds. Have a special place in my heart.  It is from this place that I want to chat with you today.  I'm noticing the conversation about invasive plants and non-natives is ramping up.  While I love 

the awareness.  I have notes.  Always notes.  

I love that there is a wider awareness about the plants, history and origin.  I love that people are taking greater responsibility for the benefits of native plants in their habitats, opposed to non-natives.  Any attention we give to an ecosystem that is balanced and synergistic, makes my heart flutter.  This is all so good.  

Where the conversation gets a bit cringy for me personally is when it turns aggressive and we start using words like invasive and noxious.  When we start acting like the plants, put themselves on ships and crossed oceans in order to wage war against our innocent communities.  

So I just want to take a moment to remind us all that humans are the most invasive species on this planet.  We are responsible for the majority of the disrupted ecosystems around us.  

For all its faults, kudzu does not build dollar generals. Or clear cut forests.  So maybe.  We can chill. On getting so angry. At the plants.   

Also just because we have forgotten how to maximize our relationship with these plants doesn't mean they have.  They keep showing up for us.  They keep on doing the work that they are uniquely capable of doing.  Our misunderstanding should not equal their villainy.  

Let's look around us for some examples. We'll start with my all time. Favorite flower. Ever.  Don't tell the others.  Dandelion.  This absolute powerhouse has so many gifts for us from root to flower.  The roots are incredibly beneficial for our livers and digestive system.  The leaves contain essential vitamins and minerals.  The flowers are a delicious, nutritious food and offer sun protective qualities for our skin.  That's just what they offer to humans.  When they grow, they help break up hard compacted soils. Their long taproots, bring nutrients from deep below and deposit them back into the top soil.  They are food for animals and pollinators.  

Mimosa is another delightful example of a villainized plant.  Please. Let me remind you. This plant is quite literally here to help heal your broken heart.  She offers so much physical and emotional support.  

Plantain, yarrow, mugwort, chickweed, cleavers. I'm not even scratching the surface. Of the multitudes of incredible plants. Who are prolific.  They are opportunistic.  They have so much support to offer us.  And they keep shooting their shot.  

We are so quickly losing the wisdom of our elders. We are forgetting the ways our ancestors worked with nature.  The way they accepted help and the way they did their part to bring balance to the ecosystem.  I believe that part of the reason. It is easy to forget is because so many of us are naturalized to the places we live now.  Our ancestral lines have been disrupted.  

Am I saying that is bad? No.  It is part of our story.  

I want to point out that the same way we can't all just go back to where we came from.  We can't send all the naturalized plants back to where they came from either.  We can honor native plants and how they support the ecosystem.  

We can also honor all the other members of our natural communities.  

Let's remember that nature does not like avoid.  She will send whoever. Can begin the process of filling that void.  Many of these plants. Who have such bad reputations as invasive,  are opportunistic.  They will do the hard work of breaking up compact clay soil.  They will gladly go into a barren area and patiently draw nutrients. Up from deep below. 

They will fix nitrogen. And prepare the way for more of their kin to follow.  

Instead of villainizing plants and people.  What, if we get curious?  

We can learn more about the origins of the beings in our areas.  

We can get to know them.  We can develop relationships.  As we all know. There will be people and plants. Who just don't fit in some spaces. They can't play nice and will cause trouble..  

That's okay.  It's okay to identify that trouble. And work to make changes that bring harmony.  Instead of approaching people and plants with the assumption that they are trying to stir up trouble. What if we approach them with a question in our hearts?  What are they trying to accomplish here?  What is their point of view?  

From that perspective, how are they trying to add to the situation?  

Now let's remember.  As above. So below.  As without, so within.  

So let's bring this thread into the ecosystem of our bodies.  

Because whether we know it or not, the same villainizing attitude is being applied to what's going on in our bodies. The same attack mentality is flowing into our understanding of our health and how our bodies operate.  As a part of nature,  can you look at the ecosystem of your body? And get curious.  Instead of saying my body is attacking itself.  Could we dig into the idea that the body is created to protect itself?  That we may not understand the mechanism of protection yet.  And it can certainly feel like an attack.  

But we can gain wisdom by approaching the situation. With grace and curiosity.  

How could this be protective?  What would that mean about what is going on?  What gift is there in this for me? And how can I help contribute to the balance and harmony of my ecosystem?  

Instead of viewing the body as broken. Or villainizing its actions.  What if we decide we're on the same team? And pursuing the same goal.  

We may have different ideas about how to get there, and it may be hard to understand each other. But we can work together. We can learn. And we can widen our perspective.  This process applies to much more than auto-immune issues. Apply this to cramps, candida cancer.  When we zoom out and try to look at the whole picture, what do we see?  When we spot a thing that appears to be causing trouble or is disrupting the harmony of an ecosystem.  What can we learn about it?  What is actually happening.  

Is there any way that this thing could be protecting itself?  Another thing?  Or the ecosystem as a whole?  Is there a way to support the thing or the ecosystem in coming back into balance?  

Can a little grace and curiosity. Create a path for healing.  

In most cases, my friend, that answer will be yes.  So.  I invite you to look through this lens. As you view your yard,  your community,  and your body.  

See what can happen when we shift from the assumption that we are under attack,  

to curiosity about what is going on around us and within us.  

May you feel and come to respect your place  in nature.  As nature.  

May you recognize all the support the world around you is offering.  May you also recognize that fear based thinking.  Creates enemies, where there are none.  

May you feel supported in developing the muscle of curiosity.  

May extending grace to yourself and to others  become your first reaction.  

And may you feel the love and appreciation I have for you.  

Big love my friend.