It’s week 5, and we are a third of the way through this trimester. Although I’ve been here for a while, it never ceases to amaze me how fast the time goes by. I keep looking at the calendar like it’s exaggerating, but it’s not. The weeks are moving fast, and I’m trying my best to move with them gracefully. I’m thankful for being able to implement changes that allow me to be more in balance as a student and an artist. Being able to connect the dots and meet at the intersection of where all the different parts of me connect has made the integration of information settle in deeply. It’s also allowed me more room to show up in the community in club spaces.
Club Lunch
We recently had Club Lunch, and I tabled for Garden Club. I walked in with pure excitement and without holding expectations. It was nice to see that the intentionality of what I had planned reached the students well and the turnout honestly surprised me. By the end of the event, we had a hefty list of people interested in joining but my favorite part was watching the joy on people’s faces as they interacted with the offerings on the table. We set up a tea-building station so people could create their own blends and have a hot cup of tea to accompany them on their way out on the cold day. There’s something grounding about selecting herbs with purpose, learning about them and then actually drinking what you built. The exchange of knowledge was abundant, too, as students shared their own personal favorites and connections with some of the herbs.
In another section of the table, we created a space where students could plant and name their own pothos baby plant. I had some seedlings from a pothos plant that travelled with me here all the way from California and I thought it would be great to send off parts of her into this new state we call home now. What started as a simple propagation activity turned into conversations about root systems, drainage, light exposure and long-term care. I loved watching people take ownership of something living. It’s one thing to study plants in theory. It’s another to get your hands in soil and realize growth requires consistency, care and relationship.
Moving Past Winter
On a more academic note, early assessments are flooding in, and I’ve never felt so prepared and at ease. Studying in community hasn’t always been helpful for me but my relationship with that is being healed by my current study group. I appreciate the aspect of laughter and play we encourage in those spaces and the conversations we have in the pauses between reflecting on material. It holds the threads of both purpose and preparation that reminds me that the credential isn’t the main goal but a mere step toward the door of living in our truths and sharing our gifts of healing with communities who await our arrival. I think for the first time in a long time I’m being held accountable to always hold a balance in the energy field of being a student who is learning and a soul who is ordained to be a steward of healing.
Week 5 doesn’t quite feel like a milestone. It feels like we’re in the middle of building something certain alongside skills, community and confidence. Through the slowness of these last weeks of winter, I can feel the steady expansion. And through deep breaths, I take it all in.
