Earth: Beyond Words

(Please find the video embedded below the excerpt.)

 

Excerpt from “Earth: Beyond Words”

 

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“Are you paying attention to the ways in which you could be more comfortable? Do you even know? It’s a wonderful thing, it’s part of the health in Earth to be able to say, ‘I could make myself at home a little more,’ so when you’re going to be in Earth with someone, it’s actually a really good idea to take an extra moment to do what you need to do to feel comfortable, especially physically comfortable, but all kinds of comfortable. And it’s really good when you’re with an Earth person or a person’s whose Earth you want to give a gift [to], to fidget every now and then, to change your position to one that’s a little more comfortable, because it tips your hand that you understand and respect that being comfortable is actually important. It’s important to Earth, and it should be important to Earth to be comfortable.

It’s not important to Wood — let’s get on with it! It’s not important to Metal — Metal is moving according to the principles — comfort is not important. Fire is just more interested in excitement and the connection, and I will actually become really uncomfortable if I need to just in order to be where the fun is, or keep the connection between us — ’I don’t want to lose her, I don’t want to lose her. The fact that I’m getting more and more uncomfortable doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter, I’m just going to keep the connection going.’ [laughter] All the Fire people, yeah. Earth cares about being comfortable. So you want to let an Earth person know that you get it, that comfortable matters. Because it does matter. It’s those fidgety Earth people who actually can feel like, ‘Ah yeah, this is good, that’s it, that’s right,’ are the ones who are fully appreciating the sensuousness of existence. Even sitting in a chair — could it be really nice? Maybe have an extra little shawl just so I have something to cuddle me all day long? The Earth people are the people who understand that life is meant to be delicious. Comfortable, delicious, right? It’s part of harvest season. Late Summer, if we take it not as mud season but as the main time, what goes on in Late Summer, before the frosts have come?

[students speak about harvest]

Any other harvest season associations? Good smells, yeah. That’s Earth, yeah. Those sensuous pleasures, taking them in. The familiar, yeah. It’s this kind of pause, in a way — it’s not summer, it’s not autumn, and you’re not really sure when autumn will come but not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet. The cicadas! The lullaby all night long. I remember what it was like as an organic vegetable farmer during that season, how I needed to shift with the heat and humidity… My normal personality, no Wood Element, you can’t — it’s not springtime — you can’t just get things done, any more than — feel your digestive system right now — how would you feel about doing a Wood exercise now, on a full stomach? It’s bad, it’s an act of violence, it’s terrible, it’s not going to work. So if we are in our grow-the-economy Wood Element get-it-done mode, we are not going to be able to harmonize with the richness of Late Summer.”