She is Fireweed

An episode about the deep wellsprings of aliveness within each of us that we might remember in ourselves and one another as we face crisis, uncertainty, or simply as we navigate ordinary moments in our lives. How our presence matters: to ourselves, to each other, and to life itself, and how this is the very ground from which we grow into the people we're becoming.

This week is hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

This is Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn explore living with depth, attentiveness and care. Find us on FaceBook to join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast in all the usual podcast places.

Episode Overview
00:00 Introduction
02:46 The Story of Today's Source
06:05 She Is Fireweed
08:59 What's Fireweed?
12:08 Circles
14:59 Roots
17:54 Aliveness
20:59 Storytelling
24:04 Interconnectedness
26:52 Hope
30:04 Conclusion

She is Fireweed

I ask her what makes her indestructible, 
She says it’s her roots. 

I ask her what her roots are like, 
She says that they go so deep, 
so dark, so close to the earth’s core. 

I ask her how her roots got so deep, 
She says that while the sun shone 
she received so much light 
it went all the way down to her toes. 

I ask her how she received so fully, 
She says that her pink opened itself to 
joyful expression with every sunrise. 

I ask her how her pink got so vibrant, 
She says that she saw the blue of 
the sky and did her best to match it, to join in. 

I asked her why the sky helped her vibrancy, 
She says that the big sky blue connects her to life, clear seeing and aliveness as she looks at it. 

I ask her about being so full of life, 
She says all the ways I connected myself to life help me when fire comes to scorch the surface of the earth. 

I ask her about the scorching surface, 
She says that fires are part of nature itself, 
And that deep roots are what it takes to 
preserve life while the fires bring the skyline to seemingly nothing.

I ask her about the nothingness, 
She says it’s never nothingness, there’s always Life beneath, ready to spring back when the conditions are ripe. 

I ask her about regeneration, 
She says that’s what she’s made of. 

I ask her what she’s made of, 
She says she’s actually love and that
She works just like love does. 

Ever present, ready to expand, ready to breathe life back in. 
Trustworthy, life filled, joyful and shining. 

Lizzie Winn

Photo by Herbert Grambihler on Unsplash

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