Come and Sit with Us: A Love Story
The lady slipper first activated my heart, as most of nature does, when I was least expecting it. This was just one of many lessons I would learn, starting with how to listen for the quality of her silent wisdom. Like every other creation, the lady slipper is a unique expression of divine intelligence, which, by overcoming the challenges of its own existence over millennia, results in a highly specific essence. What began for me as a childlike path of observation and study turned into a spiritual friendship, a feeling of companionship, comfort and inspiration. Finally, I realized that what was drawing me towards the lady slipper was my own true self. Her essence filled the holes in my heart, reuniting the fragments of my soul so that I could more beautifully shine as an expression of the divine. This is, in truth, the very essence of the lady slipper, so let me now tell you our story.
I will never forget meeting this pair of lady slippers two spring seasons ago. Can you remember a moment in your life in which time seemed to stand still, to hold some significance yet to be understood? I have a mental photograph of the precise moment when, for no apparent reason, I turned my head to look up at a ridge where the lady slippers were growing. I marveled at their pink, delicate beauty in an otherwise stark landscape. I felt like a child in a fairy tale, discovering a rare treasure. I am smiling now as I look back on this moment of innocent curiosity, now that I know the lady slippers so well. They knew what was
to come! They knew I would return a full year later, and that our relationship would heal and transform me.
May 11: Sure enough, my life brought me to a difficult turning point, and I dedicated myself to walking for two hours every day in the woods in order to make space to listen. I had forgotten all about the lady slippers but they didn’t mind. They caught me by surprise a second time, resprouting in the same spot I had first seen them. Once again, I had the intuitive feeling that something sacred was happening, and I named their location Lady Slipper Rock, a place I would pass by each day, but only occasionally be called in to listen.