Foraging and Fiddleheads

Today is the official start of our summer vacation- yay! Nothing signifies the start of summer like the emergence of the fiddleheads. I spent the morning in a delightfully meditative state, foraging for the special green beauties. My Alaskan friends and I agree: there is something deeply primal about heading out into the woods and gathering wild plants. It just feels right. It's also amazing to come home with bags full of nutrient dense vegetation. 

Collecting wild plants is deeply meditative for me. Sitting on the forest floor, surrounded by trees decorated with chartreuse new buds, completing the rhythmic motion of picking plants...this is my favorite way to calm my mind and be still. 

I also love the symbolism of the fiddlehead. It emerges out of the ground tightly coiled, like a clenched fist. But as the summer progresses, that coil slowly unfurls into a gorgeous, confident, radiant fern. 

How do you feel right now? Like the closed-off, tightly coiled fiddlehead? Or the open, confident, radiant fern? How do you want to feel? The choice is yours. 

Last January my friend decided her focus word for the year was going to be "unfurl". She wanted to open up, to speak her truth, to discover and express that which made her feel confident and radiant. It was so exciting to watch the idea become a reality! She has truly unfurled. 

I am celebrating the return of the fiddleheads and look forward to watching their unfurling this summer. I'm also enjoying eating them! Do you have fiddleheads in your area? If so, I'd like to offer you my e-book, "Fiddleheads: Harvesting and Feasting" for free! Send me an email request (katie@awakenyourglow.com) and I will respond with the PDF. In your email you can tell me one thing that's keeping you tightly coiled, instead of radiant and confident. I look forward to hearing from you!