Growing Mindful – My Book – Coming in January

I’m happy to announce that my book, Growing Mindful – Explorations in the Garden to Deepen your Awareness will be published by Llewellyn Press on January 8, 2021. If you have enjoyed my blog posts I hope you will check it out! And please consider adding it to your Goodreads list, and asking your local bookstore or library to carry it. It is available for pre-order now.

Growing Mindful was informed by my years of hanging out with plants and inspired by my meditation and spiritual practices. It’s my simple offering as a way to deepen connection and awareness, something I think could help solve a multitude of problems on the planet. (Whenever we bump around as separate entities not sensing interconnectedness, all kinds of bad behaviors and decisions take place.)

There are two distinct parts to the book. The first is a kind of “cookbook” of garden spiritual practices from meditations to movement and crafts. The second part of Growing Mindful explores 52 specific plants and their correspondences as focal points for contemplation.

Much gratitude to everyone who provided encouragement, feedback, cheerleading, meals, and other support while I was writing! I am indebted to  my garden plant allies, the gardeners in my life who provided inspiration and stories, and my ritual and craft partners over many years.

I am also thankful to the National Novel Writer’s Month (NANOWRIMO) which hosts the annual “write a novel in the month of November” marathon. The novels I wrote during my participation years are probably best left in a box at the back of my closet. However, NANOWRIMO taught me to commit to writing each day, whether I felt like it or not. And to write without judgment. (Editing happens, but much later.) Without that practice I think this book would have remained an idea in my heart.

It is exciting to see something I have worked on so long come into manifestation. There were a lot of 5 AM mornings writing before work, and also moments where I thought it wouldn’t happen. It was especially challenging writing in the summer when the garden was calling to me. I had to choose between writing about the garden or being in the garden. And it is a funny thing that what seems easy to talk about can be hard to put into words on paper. But now it is complete. I hope those of you who pick it up find something nurturing, joyful, or inspiring. It has been all those things for me.