A well of contradictions

It's August and I'm writing this transmission in the morning. Mita, my wolf companion, is sleeping under my desk and outside the feathered friends (geese and chickens) are roaming around under the sun.

It’s 37 degrees celsius. My body is exhausted and sitting at the computer is the only other option if I’m not tired enough to sleep.

Interesting how very warm or very cold weather humbles us deeply. This hot temperature is inviting rest, surrender into the body and/or dissociating behaviours. I’m deeply devoted to “stay” in my body as long as life permits it but it’s not always easy. Scrolling, judgment, pain, discomfort, other people’s needs and wants often drag me out of this compass and temple that my body is.

In the evening my energy returns into my flesh so I run around doing the chores that I couldn’t do during the day: I feed the animals, change their water, water the garden, clean the porch from the geese poo -apparently they love to hangout in the front porch of the house-, I do my movement practice and build for an hour or two whatever needs building. These days I’m building a round stone wall around the well. I never built with stones, cement and lime but I’ve been observing a friend who’s a stone master-builder.

I don’t like the messiness of the building process. Lime and cement are quite abrasive on my skin even if I’m wearing gloves. However, this project, the stone wall around the well is surprisingly interesting and satisfying. Probably because it’s a fairly creative project: I get to choose which stone takes the spot, the round shape reminds me of ancient organic structures and overall I see big and beautiful results in a short amount of time.

For me, this well is sacred because of what it represents and what we’ve experienced to have running water here.

When we moved into this house we didn’t have running water. There wasn’t any pipeline to the main town water system that would reach our place. Thus, we only relied on rain water and had to gather it from the roof of the house into big containers. When rain would come I knew we could wash ourselves and the dishes. If it didn’t rain, we’d pray for it.

After 9 months we finally got the permits from the municipality that we could dig a well. It was a beautiful May morning when two men showed up with a big drilling rig machine.

I remember feeling quite excited and worried at the same time. I know in my heart that drilling many meters down the earth is not what the Earth prefers or likes but we desperately needed running water.

How can we align our needs with the needs of the planet? This question circled in my heart for over 8 years and now I have an answer.

I’m part of this Earth, I’m nature too. Balancing our personal needs with the needs of the planet requires a shift from a consumer mindset to an ecological one. We definitely can achieve this harmony through structural changes in our daily habits but our mindset needs to change first. We need to deeply understand that we’re part of this planet too, our needs are as important as any other creature’s needs. And as long as we feel shame for just being alive, we’re dishonoring this planet and life itself.

Anyway, back to the well. 

Once they set up the big drilling machine in front of the house I kneed down a few meters away from it and began praying in silence. As they were drilling I could feel the ground shaking, vibrating and I shed a few tears. “Thank you for bearing this pain for us, I’m grateful for this water, I am grateful for your resilience”. I kept repeating this prayer for the Earth. I made sure people didn’t see me in prayer nor my tears. I knew my intentions and words were deeply important at that moment and didn’t want to spend time explaining myself or be considered weird. I deeply believe that my prayer was necessary to acknowledge the impact that our actions were having on this land, to respect her and thank her for all she endured.

Once they found water, we celebrated. My heart was happy and heavy at the same time. I kept on saying “sorry and thank you” to the Earth that was still shaking under our feet.

Now we have running water in the house. We can wash ourselves, the dishes, our clothes and give water to the animals, insects, plants and trees. 

It’s August now and it hasn’t been raining for weeks. Having water is a massive blessing not only for ourselves but for all the living beings around us. Needless to say that we’re mindful and grateful in using it.

I’m building this stone wall as a temple around this well. It’s an honor to have water here.