Planting in September

I am assuming that we all know this date. We all have some terrible memories and feelings that still haunt us. I don't want to push away those memories and feelings, but I do want to live in and have hope for today and tomorrow.

Yesterday I bought seeds. Today, I planted them - well, most of them. So far I have planted Fennel, Basil, and Cumin. Later today I will plant Echinacea and Catnip.

Is my act of planting seeds due to my desire for transformation simply symbolic? I don't think so. Will my planting seeds on September 11, 2008 make a change in the world? Maybe. It is an act of hope. It is also an investment in life. My life. Your life. Non-Human life. All life.

It is also the act of transformation for myself. I am needing to be differently on this day. I am needing to be active and hopeful. My grieving is changing from being devastated to rebuilding. If I begin to rebuild - in the way I talk and the decisions that I make - then my planting seeds isn't simply symbolic. It is one of many steps toward rebuilding, both internally and externally.

Some of you may not be at the rebuilding place. Some of you may be, but don't know that you can. Some of you may be actively involved in rebuilding. For everyone and for myself, I have planted these seeds and will nourish them. They will serve to change the air around me as well as to be a visual reminder that we can and must rebuild.