Invasive Species

We are living in interesting times!  I know this is an understatement, and yet, we have heard this said so many times, that it is too easy to laugh at the statement, agree, and then think no more about it.  After all, what can we actually do about it???

Every day for the past two weeks, the reality of Invasive Species has been up close and personal in my awareness.  My sister and I decided to build a path between my parent’s house and her adjacent property, up the hill.  As we walked through the thickly wooded area between these two homes to create a pathway of connection, what we encountered was bone-chillingly shocking.

Three different species of prolific and persistent invasive vines were choking out and killing trees throughout the woods.  These vines were everywhere!  They climbed up saplings and then jumped over to the larger trees, spiraling up the trees, wrapping tightly around, literally choking the life out of both the saplings and the old growth trees.  As we set out to save our trees by pulling up these vines, we realized that the insidious root systems were as massive as the vining network above.  We untwisted, cut, and pulled as many vines from above, as we did below the Earth’s surface, spending hours every day.  Just as we began to think we were making progress; however, we saw new vines sprouting up all through the woods. UGH!

To witness and even experience how these vines are taking over the woods and killing so many trees was extremely disturbing, to say the very least.  What is happening here seems to defy logic.  So, I asked, “Why are these vines choking out all of these trees?  What purpose do they serve?”  When I sat with these questions and my accompanying feelings of dismay, confusion and the dread, feeling like I had been thrown into an old sci-fi movie with the uncontrollable monster who ate the woods… something very interesting occurred to me.

As I witnessed how the trees are being choked to death, I thought of George Floyd and others who were literally choked to death by those whom we have always called officers of the law.  In what law system is this ever OK?  The words, “I can’t breathe!” have taken on a whole new meaning just in the last several months!

Then I saw a picture of the so far uncontrollable fires happening all over the globe, creating unprecedented smoke, causing some of the worst air quality that we have ever experienced.  This smoke is choking out plant, animal, and human life, while destroying the habitats of all three.

In areas of drought, we see the Earth choking for water.  Parched Earth is devoid of essential nutrients, threatening all Life within those regions.

Then, there is the C virus compromising lung tissue and function, causing those infected, burning with fever, to struggle to breathe… some, to die choking for air.  We all know that if we are in a weakened or stressed state, we are more susceptible to illness.  Likewise, in a garden, insects will attack the weakest plants that are lacking in proper soil nutrients.  Fish living in contaminated waters are more likely to be weak and unhealthy than those living in fresh, clean water.  Invasive species of all kinds are most likely to attack the weakest first, as the weakest have less resistance and less internal power to fight off the predator.

The predominate invasive species for humanity appears to be fear and lack of empowerment on one end of the spectrum, and greed on the other end.  When we believe we are too small to create desired change even in our own life, we are less likely to believe that we have the power to restore the needed balance on our planet.  On the other hand, when we believe we are too big to fail, greed becomes an insidious invasive species that seeps into all areas of our lives, choking out balance and Life itself. How can balance be restored when so few people remember what true balance feels like?  How do we face, head-on the uncertainty of our times with fearless resolve to restore, to remember and fully embrace our full potential once again?  It is helpful to have an awareness of both our strengths and our weaknesses, so that we can use our strengths to bolster ourselves and each other when our weaknesses feel bigger than we believe ourselves to be.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?  What is your invasive species, invading your energy and contaminating your belief in yourSelf?  If we can use this awareness to restore our own inner eco-system to harmonic balance, then we have learned how to support our Mother Earth in also healing and returning to balance and harmony.

Do you, by any chance, see a pattern here???  What we are each seeing in our individual microcosms is being magnified on a global scale.  My experience tells me that everything, always happens for a reason.  Could it be that Mother Earth is telling us we are destroying the basic building blocks of Life, the elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air to a point where we are causing all Life to choke?  In humanity’s incessant need to control, exploit and desecrate Nature, have we thrown Life so far out of balance that we have made survival of all Life forms on this planet impossible?  Are we (humanity) holding on to so much fear that it is permeating down into the Earth, contaminating and weakening Her as well?  Are we now experiencing what it feels like to watch all Life be choked out?  Have too many of us forgotten just how precious and sacred All Life really is?  Are we willing to recognize even the subtle, unintended ways in which we each have contributed to the profound imbalance on the Earth at this time?  How can we support each other in making choices that cultivate positive balance and harmony?

Maybe, just maybe, it is not too late to change our current trajectory.  I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about what the Greater Message might be, for all that we are experiencing and witnessing on our beloved planet at this time.  What do you believe it will take to restore the balance of our own inner eco-systems and ultimately, all eco-systems on this planet?

Looking forward to your response…

Many Blessings,

Debra

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