The Messengers of the Divine Garden

Philosophy and Nature have impregnated me since an early age, although I was never really conscious of it.
It's only after I started a glamourous career in fashion design and traveled the world visiting fashion shows and entrepreneurship conventions, that the longing for connecting and exchanging with humans on a more authentic and soulful level sprung slowly.

Funnily, the fashion weeks I had the most impactful experiences at were not at all the typical Paris or Milano fashion weeks, but more emerging designer countries like Latvia and Slovenia, where there was no pretense at all, at least not the level that was VOGUEish in the other capitals, and people were so much more accessible and down to earth.
There was so much room for real conversations, deep thoughts and sharing simple moments of joy with strangers.

I remember visiting a huge tech convention attended by many of the tech giants in Portugal, and when asked by an attendee what I am here for, meaning he expected a business pitch explaining what I do and what start-up I worked for, I plainly answered: "I am here to make friends!"

What dawned on me more and more while being on such "business trips" was that there was a spirit that was moving across the entire world, more noticeable and prominent in my generation (80skids), that were existentially more introspective than anything I've come across in the rest of the business world I just had entered.
There was something in us, that, although we were creatives, designers or entrepreneurs, there was a drive in us that was beyond just a career or a good pay.

There was a sincere desire for something none of us could really explain or formulate at the time but it was reflected in our conversations, in our perceptions of the "adult world" and in our creative inner realms.

There was a digging for the roots. Just which roots I suppose we weren't fully conscious.

Back then I called it the movement of the "Brave Youth", and started a collective named as such in my own country to create a platform to bring together all sorts of people, all ages, all fields, that I felt were riding on that Brave Youth spirit wave.
It triggered a beautiful blooming of multiple projects that happened collaboratively and cross-disciplinary for many of us; the joy of contributing to a vision with our own passion and practically having full creative liberty with what each loves to do was something I am really grateful to have witnessed; it was just a magical organic cooperation ambiance.

Yet, my mind was still fixed on the career; on making a name, on getting exposure, on making a fortune; basically "making it in the world".
I had not yet explored the magnificent power of human and nature collaboration, but that little gleam of human collaboration was already a delicious sample.

Thankfully, life stopped me in my tracks on my highway to delusion, and served me with a burn-out that gave me the time and retreat to really reconsider many aspects of the adult life I was transitioning into.

With the rise of social media and influencer culture back then, it was really easy to get around with the "fake it until you make it"-mentality, and I must say many adults I encountered didn't have the sobriety to properly ground us, but actually talked and behaved with many of us as if we were rockstars. Obviously it was a positive experience to not be talked down by someone who is older than you, but there was a real discrepancy in what reality is really about.
It got to my head to be invited across the world and to have such priviledged experiences served to me, because of my appearance, my talent and poise, but looking back now,

I feel I was more invited to a cruise into the adult wonderland, than a cave of sobriety and true meaning.

With my fathers cancer in the middle of all that, and after crazy panic attacks culminating into a very somber night of the soul of almost a year, I'm grateful I found the courage to capitulate and admit I needed help and could not go on like that, no matter how much of a "fan-base" I had and how acclaimed and rewarded my work was.

That moment was probably the time in my life where I was finally ready to embrace the invaluable encounters with the tough love that exists in life to make us grow and shed all superficial prestige we have about ourselves.

Such was the start of my re-connection with Nature; the nature of my self, the nature of reality and the nature of life.

I realized all I was after during my ventures was just acknowledgement of my being and sincere appreciation I felt I did not get from the people I loved.
And quickly understood it was not to be found anywhere; not in interviews, not in yachts, not in luxurious hotels and restaurants, but home.

HOME, is such a big word with a totemic essence; it is the safest place we have.
But that place cannot be dependent on the external;
the saying "Home is where the heart is" encompasses so many layers that point to that; it is not a building nor a plot, it is not a culture, it is not a tribe,
it is not an identity.
All those things are subject to change and demolition.

But the home of the heart is beyond the formed world.

It is a garden, perhaps veritably reflected in the beautiful planet that we are living in, on, with.

I wondered, if I'd feel I need all that attention and praise if I was left to myself on the land and just free to create what inspired me at any given time.
And my heart said yes; that is all I wished to do; create with anything that's available, create in my own environment as a gift to my own surroundings, without any need for an audience to make it feel worthwile and treasured.
I suppose this little contemplation sparked a rekindling of what I believe we humans are in essence;

the energy transmuters, the stewards, more properly said: the messengers between all the facets of life in and around us.

The archetype of psychopomps has been resonating strongly in me for some time; just like bees are the emissaries between the land and the celestial realms, and mycelium the mediator between the land and the underworlds, we humans (literally) stand in the middle.

Our freedom of movement and malleability & ductility of our mind and imagination, is a true unparalleled and extraordinary asset for this planet and ecosystem.

I would like to quote an woman that has been a very sobering and unfeigned voice in my exploration of this subject:

We are unique as a species in that we can reach beyond our everyday consciousness and manipulate power, energy, and inner contact to build, destroy or simply commune with the invisible Divine forces around us: the act of magic.
It is time to evolve beyond a mindless stripping and controlling of everything around us and instead move towards a more mutually respectful and beneficial relationship with the world around us.
Josephine McCarthy - Magic of the North Gate

Thereupon, to come back to the roots that I sensed many of us were digging for, I feel many of us were digging to get to the core of what it truly means to be here;
What are the roots that are connecting the invisible to the visible?
Which are the weeds that infringe on the seeds we are choosing to sow, and which we can snatch to use as medicine instead?
What are the dead leaves we shall leave to peacefully decompose on the floor,
what are the fruits and flesh we hold on to so obsessively that we forget to offer them to the black earth for the prosperous fertility that we live on?

And more importantly, what are the relationships we shall and desire to cultivate and nurture above all?

What are the messages we now choose to listen to and what are the calls we will step in to heed?

Feel free to comment with anything that comes up or the answers that you feel in your heart.

If you are curious about our new adventure that takes us into the embrace of the great Unknown, you can check out more of our writings here:

• Stripping down to the Bare Essentials by Shahanshah A.
• Building a 𝕭𝖊𝖊 ꕷ𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖙𝖚𝖆𝖗𝐲 - Fresh Start (with Video) by KPHI

Also, every impetus of support is significant; if you resonate with this message, feel free to check out our Fundraiser and help us on our journey to make a beautiful oasis for the Bee People, by either making a donation of any amount that feels right for you or just by sharing it here or with your networks.

In the meantime, I now choose to faith it until we make it.

Thank you so much for reading until the end.
Thank you for being you.

May your heart blissfully dance in the hearth of its glorious home,

KPHI

All Pictures shot by me
Dividers created by me too, don't hesitate to get in touch for your very own