To Be Wild & Free of Shame
The September flowers have a secret. (It lives inside of you, too)
Dear Friend,
Walking through my landscape this week and seeing the bold fullness of late summer flowers, I thought of Grace Paley’s poem, September:
Then the flowers became very wild
because it was early September
and they had nothing to lose
they tossed their colors every
which way over the garden wall
splattering the lawn shoving their
wild orange red rain-disheveled faces
into my window without shame
It’s that line and they had nothing to lose that stirs something up in me.
I think of how much I’ve changed these last years of my life, what losses and getting through illness have taught me about how to go of expectations of myself, of others, of what my life should be.
and they had nothing to lose
We humans hold tight to so many things. It’s scary to be in this world of unknowns and uncertainty–and just survive every day!
And like the flowers…it’s not a secret that our time in this life is finite. It will come to an end. The seasons change.
they tossed their colors every
which way over the garden wall
I sense a fearlessness in how they tossed their colors every
which way…do you feel that?
This poem fills me with a sense of possibility. Of shifting. Of taking a chance.
Of beginning. (You knew I’d bring this back to our monthly theme, right?!)
splattering the lawn shoving their
wild orange red rain-disheveled faces
into my window without shame
Without shame! How often is it shame, buried deep deep down inside of us, because we were told we had to behave a certain way blah blah blah, that holds us back from our expressing our nature, transforming into who we are meant to be?
What if right here, right now we could inhabit the energy of these wild September flowers? What could that open up?
Let’s ignite our imaginations and see what this creative play brings to life.
Press the little arrow above, flower, and I’ll read you the prompt & poem.
Writing Practice: Set aside 5-7 minutes for this practice. Write in a journal or open a ‘Journey with The Season’ document where you can return each Sunday.
Prompt: You are the flowers that Grace Paley describes. You are very wild. You are orange red or any other vibrant color you want to be.
What do you want to tell the world about it feels to be wild, to toss your colors, to be free of shame?
Some phrases to get you started:
I am a (kind of flower or patch of flowers)
I am (colors/size/location)
Having nothing to lose feels like…
Now that I am free of shame, I can…
I want to tell you a secret…
I’d love to read what your September flowers have to say! Leave a comment here or try the messaging app.
Deepening Practice: Writing from another perspective is a creative way to discover and free our emotions and energy. As you explore your landscape this week, pay attention to whatever elements of the natural world draw your attention: the sky, a body of water, squirrels gathering nuts, more flowers. Leaves beginning to fall. Try the exercise above and see what emerges!
Wishing you a week full of vibrant colors and wild play! With love, Gabrielle Ariella
PS: Tzivia Gover (who wrote this guest post a few months ago) is hosting a group dream experience on September 20th in a quest to use the power of dreams to help heal Planet Earth in the face of climate change! Learn more here.