Temperatures Are Rising

The world keeps spinning around us, sometimes giving us a mixed bag of things to deal with

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Temperatures are rising this summer (well at least in between all the rainy days here in the Catskills). Do you feel it? I’m actually not referring to the weather...I’m referring to the tension in the air. And don’t worry, this isn’t a political post.

Politics aside, the world feels like a cloud of combustion everywhere we look. You can’t avoid it. And since we are all connected, we feel it whether we turn on the news, read the newspapers or scroll social media. It’s impossible to escape.

We are affected by each other’s energy and all that we carry around each day — our grief, our sadness, our fear, our anxiety, our pain.

So, what do we do instead of being swept up in its grip? Well, we start by not ignoring it. That certainly doesn’t make it go away. If anything, ignoring makes it worse.

We can only hide our emotional pain for so long and eventually it finds it way back out. Remember, the body keeps the score and pent up emotion will often work its way out in the form of aches, pain or worse.

You can turn off the TV, but you can’t turn off the part of you that senses, feels, connects.

There’s only one thing I can defer to when feeling this way...my heart.

Interestingly, the June full moon was referred to as the Strawberry Moon. This moon only occurs every 18.6 years and gives off a pinkish or red hue in the sky. Native American tribes referred to it as the ‘strawberry moon’ because it was aligned with the ripening of wild strawberries.

Did anyone say strawberry shortcake, vegan cream on top? But I digress (though we do have it back on the menu! Try not to miss it while it’s in season.)

You know what else the strawberry is associated with? Think about its natural shape a moment...a heart. It is also believed to be symbolically connected to working with the heart chakra and anything that blocks the flow of giving and receiving — loving.

Sigh.

Each day seems to bring most disrupt, more riots, more protests, more tension, more othering, more acts of war across the globe...more broken hearts.

I certainly don’t have the answers — and I also don’t try to pretend any of this away. But I know what at the core of what we can do is our heart — how we activate it, how we keep it open, how we access it — in our families, our communities and beyond. How we stay fiercely dedicated to staying connected and caring for each other.

Isn’t it interesting that this full moon is aligned with releasing emotional baggage, creating space for more feeling and considering what may be blocking our hearts.

I always default to prayer. Remember, they don’t call me Lealongprayer for no reason.

I pray each day to keep my heart open. I pray for collective compassion, caring and connection — in our lives, on our plates, across the planet.

I pray as temperatures rise around us that we find ways to stay devoted to finding solutions.

I pray that we stay aware of our actions, words and thoughts — and how they impact those around us.

I pray that we see our judgement of others and where we are contributing to the noise rather than the peace.

I pray that we meet at a table to share thoughts, ideas, organic food (vegan of course), and our humanity — and that we remember who we are at the core of our being and how we want to show up in this very chaotic world.

Will you meet me at that table? Pull up a chair beside me. I’ve got a space for you and your heart. Yes, the temperatures are rising, but we get to choose to stay in our hearts.

—Lea Haas, Owner, The Garden Cafe Woodstock