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"Welcome To The Garden"

Written by Marianne Stewart

I came to DSIL because I wanted to see a change in the world, and I needed to start with myself: learn new tools, skills, and ways of being and doing; to connect with others who are invested in change.

The Wild Garden

This analogy is very apt and powerful for me. Having grown up on a farm, the great outdoors is my life, and I have a deep sense of belonging to the earth. People, food, and country are my passion. The greater the diversity the healthier the garden. The siloed monoculture of black and white garden gives me horrors and reinforces my views of industrial agriculture and all that is unhealthy in the world. As I started on the DSIL journey, I immediately embraced the experiential style - my kind of learning system: with the non-prescriptive format fostering the “you are OK as you are model." How refreshing to have archaic learning roadblocks removed and to celebrate everyone’s style and capacity. The insight and learning have been potent: we all play an intrinsic role in our ’garden’. We are at our best when we show up as we are, and my biggest learning is it is OK to be me – I am enough –everything is as it should be.

This is my ongoing mantra to myself. Throughout the course and beyond I used/will use the wild garden as my reference to help me overcome and problem solve the issues I face.