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This weekend, I attended Mushrooms and Roses, an intimate, yet deeply magical herbalism gathering in the Burren in the west of Ireland. The space itself (a sustainable retreat and event space called Common Knowledge) is stunning, but what I especially love about attending and speaking at events like this is the synergy between the place and the event happening within it.
One of the big themes this weekend was place. At a time when we are so disjointed, not only from each other, but also disconnected from place and even from being present in our own bodies, to spend two days deeply reflecting on place and community felt like a wonderful gift.
One thing I noticed in particular was trust: How allowing myself to be connected to my community, and allowing myself to trust the land to host me, requires me to be vulnerable. Open. Willing to let down my walls and risk getting hurt because the rewards are so great that they are more than worth the risk.
We had a lot of conversations, in the car down and throughout the weekend, about decolonization. About centering the land as a partner in our conversations about where we go next. About treating place as a living being with a memory rather than something we just exert our experiences onto.
Place is a collaborator. Place can be a friend and partner too.
I think about this a lot in terms of fermentation, and the microbes who themselves are our ancestors and collaborators, who are a living embodiment of place. Want to get closer to the land you’re on? Grow something, then ferment it. Literally ingest the living flora and fauna that’s unique to where and when you are, and notice how things shift for you when you do that often.
If you want to learn more, I teach you how to do this in Rooted in Place, one of my sliding scale, online classes for the culinarily curious.
I left with renewed and new friendships, but also with a deeper desire to work more with place in my new home here in Ireland. The land feels both similar to, and different from, Georgia where I live in the US (though at this point I’m mostly here). I suspect part of this is geological (these mountain ranges used to be connected!) and part human (many Irish diaspora moved to the Appalachians). It’s a nuance that defies words and for the moment even my own understanding, and one I look forward to exploring more deeply.
I also led a group meditation, a live version of my mycelial meditations, which I offer in both online and in person spaces, where we imagined ourselves as part of an interwoven mycelial network. Where we let ourselves be a part of something bigger than us, and to really feel into what that means. It felt like a beautiful extension of the work being done overall that weekend, and I loved hearing what people saw and felt as we journeyed together (one big theme was badgers!)
I have a few more live events planned for October and am considering running some in November, December, and January too (if you want to host me or collaborate in Ireland, or in Atlanta, one of those months please reach out!)
But for today, I’m just basking in getting to spend time with the land, with people I like being around, and having the sorts of deep and generative conversations that I crave but can feel challenging to find in rushed modern life.