Something Beautiful

photos by John Slaymaker

My partner-in-dreaming recently informed me that hateful graffiti began appearing at the clean-up site of my very first restoration project. (I will often cross-reference my own dreams, since I am documenting a process.) We felt as though we were challenging an energy that required a dirty, littered condition in order to survive in this particular place. So, when we pushed, it pushed back. I feel the spirit is a juvenile one. Middle school kids are the perpetrators of the graffiti, and other dreams have informed me that they do not actually feel this way, that they are just misdirecting their anger. Still, my partner-in-dreaming brought it to my attention that we would need to demonstrate grace and subtlety to have a long-term positive impact on this place. He continues to do just this by visiting the site regularly to check up on it, pick up whatever new trash people have discarded on the ground, and play a few tunes on his flute.

He noticed that other people must be helping to pick up the trash, since it looked "a little too clean." Some people even started using the trashcan I hauled up to the site. Unfortunately, new hateful graffiti also kept appearing. Then something amazing happened. On Thanksgiving, he excitedly informed me that others were indeed participating in the healing work! The graffiti had mostly been replaced by brightly-colored hearts, peace signs, and handprints! He documented this through these wonderful pictures, which are so important to a process that can seem rather abstract. I feel so honored that we get to participate in healing a small chunk of this great Earth. The hill was asking for health, and some of us are listening!