One moon cycle at Songaia, by Garden Intern Kendall

It is June 7th, the Saturday of my 4th week at Songaia. I sit on a west-facing dining deck strung with pride flags that celebrate diversity and remind us how precious it is to be seen and loved in it. That’s one of the most significant things I have experienced here so far. The Pride Month of June is only 7 days in, but there has always been a welcoming enthusiasm of beings being just as they are.

Anita the garden steward is my mentor, and they start us every morning at the crisp hour of 7am with practices of noticing. There are signs in the central garden gazebo that invites one to “Come to your senses”, and to ask “Are you in the story or in the moment?” We check in about how we slept and how we feel that morning, any dreams that feel significant, and then we learn a bird call that Anita plays for us and prompts us to move out into the garden to spend a quarter of an hour simply Noticing whatever arises. 
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This morning routine is deeply helpful for me maintaining balance. I came to Songaia at a point in my life where I recognize my emotional and spiritual bodies are deeply desiring my attention. I have been looking for a way of living that allows space for all beings to express themselves. “Is that even possible in this day and age?” I am wondering. “Can we let go of the intensities of needing to ‘obtain’ and ‘achieve’?” “Can we collectively break the curse of separation that is threaded through the aspects of concepts such as colonialism, patriarchy, and monocultures and embrace Love on a deeper level?”
At this point in my life, I definitely feel this is true, and I am experiencing a community of people in which many share a vision of such a world.

This morning I had the delight of participating in a Community Circle gathering concerning how Songaia wants to move forward with matters on infrastructure and facilities. It was heartwarming to witness the amount of care people had about how things are handled in honorable ways. These are certainly not the types of people to throw money at a problem and expect it to be resolved! I witnessed a deep desire from many angles of people wanting to be involved in these processes. And, by love, how they included me as one of them! Even having been here for under a month, I am constantly warmed by how so many here value me and my influence. There is so much effort put forth in allowing each other to be seen and heard, and this is incredibly impactful amidst the large culture of today of sweeping discomfort under the rug.

They’d also welcomed me to join their monthly meeting four days after I’d arrived in May. I was so very curious to see how a community of ~50 people organizes their process, so I was very happy they opened it up to me! My arrival was so fresh, and yet they encouraged my wielding of the mic at even the slightest indication that I had an idea to share.
I took more notes on the process itself than the content of the meeting.

It also strikes me as I write this that in the recent years before coming here I had the fortune to be a part of healing communities that opened me up, and through them just this past winter I began consciously transforming the parts of me who felt unworthy of love. If not for that work, I don’t think I would be able to fully accept the immense amount of love and care that is pouring my way from these people here, and in doing so return it. It feels so insufficient to say it in words, so…

​As for the things my hands are doing, I’ve always loved being in the dirt. Anita and the other folks who join us are a joy to work with. It’s also gratifying to see all the different gardening methods and philosophies- there are some quite varying opinions on which plants stay and who goes in the weeding process– and yet overall I see the values of collaboration remaining steadfast. It is always encouraged for us to listen to our own energy and body capacities, so it’s quite sustainable for someone like me with chronic body pain and for our elders to engage without injuring ourselves further.

Anita describes the garden as a learning garden, and I feel that when I’m in it, and I feel that sentiment expands to Songaia as a whole.

Though I have yet to join a designated spiritual gathering here,* I feel my own spiritual process being encouraged, and I notice the deeply spiritual lives the people here embrace. There is the aspect of the spiritual in all the work I have joined in on so far, and I smell deep potential on the wind for me discovering more spiritually connective rituals in this place.

*Actually, as I typed that, I realized it’s not totally accurate. I haven’t joined a dedicated meditation session (of which Songaia often holds), but a lovely person living here hosted a creative workshop on the Hermit Archetype and Symbology in the Tarot, and that was a very actively spiritual process as well as engaging my left-brain learning. Really rich stuff, Friedel!

And I still haven’t talked about what we’ve been doing in the garden!! Writing like this shows me how much I pay attention to the underlying energy more than the actions themselves. No wonder I’ve struggled with small talk all my life. 😹 That being said, neurodivergence is welcoming explored here, as well!

Anyway, I’ve participated in planting dry farm squash and tomatoes, weeding out garden beds that are ready for sprouts and seeds, learning about how I make those decisions between who I let live and whose life I end… Having love for all the things even as I do so. Giving the trees haircuts for their health, and working with others to string nets over the ones we want to protect from bugs. I learn how to harvest in a way that encourages the plants to continue to thrive. I share the joy of finding a gorgeous bug or mushroom with my fellows. I plant and weed and water while playing with a young child having fun finding rocks and making circles with them around the newly planted squash. I hear a desire to help the Sweet Cicely from overtaking the herb garden, so I get to know this plant that is new to me and harvest her seeds at dusk when I’m winding down for the day. I find her to be delicious, and still have no idea what I’m going to do with all I’ve gathered and packed away in the freezer for now. I spend 5 hours of a Friday afternoon experimenting with making Parsnip chips out of all the roots a couple of the other gardeners have pulled to make room for new plants. I learn that you can make pesto from Lemon Balm, and it’s delicious!!

I was also lent a bike early on, and while the hills are nothing to sniff at, it’s been such a boon for getting on the buses to Seattle, and finding my way to the beautiful North Creek trail down the hill where yesterday I dipped my feet (and the rest of my body) to cool off from the rising summer heat.

Also I love living in the A-frame tucked into the trees. Always serenaded by bird song and the rustling of leaves! (And being helpfully lent a box fan to help drown out the unfortunate traffic noise at night.)
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So, that is not nearly all of my thoughts coming out of my first four weeks, but it’s enough for now.
-Kendall T. ​