Letters From the Divine: The Healing Power of Place

By Jennifer Lea Laale

I have wondered a lot about how I could have felt so blessed amongst the emptiness and loneliness of my relationship, how I could have endured for as long as I did, and I have come to the appreciate that it was the place I called home that held me...

It was my daily walks to the river, my long bike rides along country roads with no helmet, no cars and the wind in my hair. It was the hours in the garden tending to food I would later pick and eat; it was sitting and watching the river flow, and floating down the river on my back; it was building rock statues, and the awe of seeing the blue heron. It was the smell of lilacs through my window and fresh laundry off the line, and it was sitting under my trees thinking, ‘I never need to go anywhere ever again, I am happy right where I am’, that buffered the negativity I was absorbing.

So my knowing is that the natural environment that surrounds us can absorb negativity, and some trauma.

That the river, the park, the earth, the trees of the place I called home absorbed so much of my hurt, my sadness, my fear, my confusion until even they could not hold anymore and it manifested in my body and I became unwell.

I have come to understand that when the contented words ‘I am home’ filled me up, it was not my relationship or house I was talking about but the land, the water, the sky and the spirits of place that held me safe.

Science is fast catching up to our bodies knowing that nature heals, that our bodies vibrate naturally, effortlessly to the energy of the planet, that we are indeed a microcosm of the macrocosm. That not just who but what we surround ourself with matters.

And now that I cannot go without concern to the place that held me safe for 28 years, my soul searches for a place that calls my heart and soothes my soul. For now I go to my backyard oasis and tend my little garden because I know she sees my potential in her potential to grow. She listens without judgement and I listen to her needs for water and weeding. I accept her bounty and she accepts my tending and my tears, her quiet presence buffers my hearts aching. I now understand that I cannot keep taking, that I must give back to her or we will both become unwell.

So I honour the spirits of place with offerings of love and attention and she gives back a thousandfold.

So until I once again find another place where water, meets earth, meets air, that speaks the words ‘You Are Home’ to my healing heart, I hold the memories of a place that loved me as I deserved to be loved. She in me and me in her, a microcosm of the macrocosm. And I give thanks.

And in my thanks, I ask …

Dear Divine what would you have me know today? And she answers … 

Dear one, There is an ebb and flow in everything. So go with the flow. Do not push or fight against it. Embrace it, accept it, and watch how yang turns to yin, how light turns to dark, how your relationships, your days, your body, the world comes and goes, rises and falls, ever moving, ever changing, and always exactly where you and the world is supposed to be. The journey is not a straight line but rather a spiral.

Although sometimes it feels as if you are going backwards, in fact, you are constantly moving on the path that leads you home. The path to your heart, to your centre, to love, to understanding, to the Divine. Trust in the flow, go with the flow and love the flow, and listen to what it teaches you about power. The power of letting go, the power of vulnerability, the power in not knowing, the power in loving what is, the power is not doing, the power of not reacting, the power in floating down the river.

Be at one with the water Dear one, we love you.

JL Laale ‘Lola’ moves through life like water, weaving the art of improvisation, poetry, and practice into a soulful dance of presence, creativity, and connection. Through The Lola Lessons a living collection of stories, poetry, and insights gathered from the winding paths, the falls, the flights, the still moments she spills her lived wisdom, tender, tangled, true. Through her workshops and wandering words she invites others to embrace their own raw beauty and trust in the sacred truth already whispering within, ‘What if the words you long to hear are already waiting within you?’ Jennifer hosts Tea Time, Letters from the Divine, and other creative and embodied writing gatherings at Ninth Wave Arts. facebook.com/jennifer.laale