get to know your land

My friend is building her own house. That is not unusual - many people do so, with varying degrees of expert and not-so-expert help. Most of them, probably, go through the process while living in rented comfort. Not my friend. She's in it for the whole experience.

So she acquired a tepee, pitched it on the land & started living there - before any building had begun. My friend is a dear soul, and surrounded by well-wishers - not all of them understanding why she would willingly engage in such a level of discomfort. Busy with my own life, I assumed she had her reasons, and so was happy to admire from a distance.

Then I went to visit, and stood next to her, and saw the place through her eyes, and heard the deep contentment in her voice. I had admired her courage - now I saw the wisdom of her process.

She told me of the permaculturist who advised her: "Live on your land. Get to know your land."

My friend is doing just that. She is getting to know every inch of it, the way the breeze moves across every inch of it, the life in and of every inch of it. She is in touch with the life of her land, and immeasurably enriched by it. It has become her home long before she has built her home there.

Doesn't it seem sad that so few of us get to do this ? Estate agent, price, transfer duty, home loan - if we navigate these issues competently, we acquire a home. And we call it "home" without being particularly acquainted with the very life of the land where we find ourselves.

"Home" can mean so much more - and it's a pity that so many of us, so often, find that we have to settle for a lesser, duller, smaller experience.