#404: SPOTLIGHT: Dorie Blesoff

#404: Dorie Blesoff 

October 22, 2024

A Backbeat of Community

Question for Dorie:   

What is one thing that is small and perhaps nuanced or surprising and perhaps typically sub conscious that you can tell drives you each day ?

Dorie's Response: 

I was conscious of this one small thing but not aware until responding to this prompt of what a dominant place it has had in anchoring each day for the past five months. At this particular moment in the season of the earth, and the season of my life, I have been orienting my day around whether my garden needs watering. As one part of our family’s effort to live as environmentally accountable as possible, we’ve transitioned our entire front yard from a grass lawn to pollinator and bird-friendly native plants. Because of this summer's heat waves and drought periods in the Chicago area where I live, I had to supplement the water needs while the plants’ roots grew deep and strong enough to sustain themselves. Having been acculturated in the “sense of urgency/productivity/what have you done for me lately” mindset after a career in business, I began to look forward to watering. 

It often took more than an hour to cover the front yard and the backyard where we have two rain gardens and raise veggies and herbs. When engaged in watering, I slow down, notice and delight in small changes, often listen to chill music, smell all the outdoor smells, feel the breeze, and take time to simply cherish being alive. Something I learned recently is that all of these plants are in the first of a 3-year process gardeners refer to as “sleep, creep, leap.”  Only after the roots are well-established can the plant put its energy into growing to its full height, and blooming. I’ll leave you to ponder the endless metaphors for growth, sustenance, interdependence, evolution, patience, attunement, and care-giving. After this reflection I would actually change the phrase in the prompt “drives”  me each day to “invites me to discover" each day. Winter is coming and I will rest from watering, grateful to strengthen this new dimension in my own roots.