Living Soil is a Way of Life

Words are magic and we strive to weave them with love and intention. Living Soil is a spell of reciprocity and interdependence. It is a way of seeing and being which values humans, more than human kin, and the earth herself.

When we say “more than human kin” we literally mean beings that share their lives, medicine, and this blessed earth with us. That is, plants, animals, lichens, microscopic and mineral relatives, without whom our lives would be less diverse, healthy, and dynamic.

Botanist, educator, and Potawatomi tribal member, Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that when we assign personhood to our more than human kin, we treat them with care and consideration. This is why we refer to trees, animals and elements as “he, she, or ki” instead of “it.” We believe in a paradigm of compassion and inclusion that ties us together in a global family.

Living Soil Life exists on the bedrock of respect and interdependence for all our Earth supports. As ecologist and monk Satish Kumar states, “You are, therefore I am.”

We are inextricably linked to all life on our planet home and just as living soil includes microbe, protist, nematode, fungi, and decaying matter, we strive to grow practices, rituals, and reflections which honor and acknowledge each part of the whole. Though we cannot see how healthy soil immediately impacts our lives, we practice care and tend the world out of respect for the bounty she provides for us through air, water, shelter, and food.

We cultivate language and ways of being that nurtures the sovereign personhood of all peoples, races, and creeds. 

We practice regenerative exercises that grow communion and relationship in our bodies, communities, and on our Earth. 

We learn to value ourselves and all our relatives and through tending ourselves and our world, we encourage healing.   

Living Soil is lush, challenging, beautiful, rhythmic, and deeply connected.

Welcome home.