Blackberry Plant: An Excerpt From Speaking With Nature

​Sensual Blackberries that happily soak in the sun seem to say: “What’s the hurry? Slow down! Allow things the proper time they need to grow.” 

Blackberry Plant gently evolves its fruit from flower to juicy berry, demonstrating how to appreciate nature’s pace—whether we are raising a child, writing a book, building an organization, or restoring lands, waters, and forests whose growth cycle extends hundreds and thousands of years beyond our own. 

In the temperate rain forest where I live, it’s easy to see that cut forests know how to replenish if left on their own. Some forest rhythms appear rapid to me, such as ferns, yellow dock, oxalis, nettles, wild Blackberries, salmonberries, and countless other ground covers that seem to sprout up overnight. Alder trees, which also restore clear-cut land, grow much faster than the spruces that develop through decades and even over centuries. 

Each nature being has its cadence. Life thrives in the fertile mystery of rhythm. 

Blackberry Plant tells us much about fruition as it does about growing. Ripe Blackberries practically drop off the vine. On the other hand, berries that cling too long turn sour. Similarly, neither is it healthy for us to try to hold back when we need to change. Just as color and plumpness lure us to sweet berries, life signals to us when we’re ready for a new phase. 

This message of release is poignant, as the signs are everywhere that “life as we know it” is changing. Humans have birthed wonderful creations, but at a cost of separation from the Earth and Spirit. The challenges we face now, personally and collectively, invite us to bridge these gaps and live in more whole ways. 

So many of us feel and confront this push to change. Opening to the wisdom of Blackberry Plant helps us to see that: “The time is ripe. We can trust and let go to a new way of being.”

As we embark on personal and collective change, I invite you to explore the programs offered through the Olympic Mountain EarthWisdom Circle (OMEC). Each of these programs support us in building a sacred and responsible relationship with the Earth, opening us to natural rhythms and transformative growth. 

From my heart to yours, 
Llyn Cedar Roberts, MA 
Founder and President