My intention for july: sanctuary

I intend to conserve my Sanctuary this month.

haven, a place of safety, shelter from danger or hardship"

any space set aside for private use in which others are not supposed to intrude "

similar idea: "frith" (old English) and "frid" or "fredent" (Swedish), denoting "animals not to be hunted, flowers not to be picked", a "peaced" place

In my WOSEN course, I learned about the Adaptive Cycle, which attempts to map the stages we go through when faced with changing circumstances. The stages are: conserve, destroy, plant and grow. 
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Covid and Black Lives Matter have given us much to think about this past month and in those to come.

What about that which I'm currently doing will I continue to do?
What would it be best to discontinue doing?
What new thoughts, deeds or interactions can I start?
What of that which I'm doing might I strengthen and grow?

This reminds me of the departing questions I ask my Gr 10 Careers students: "What should I stop? start? continue? in next year's classes?"

Recently, I viewed a TED talk called "Start with Why", which says that we all know what we do, and can explain how we do it, but do we know why? This is, of course, values: significant drivers in my life.

The process of making SANCTUARY Bodice and Brief Set consists of the following steps:
* premordant Lenzing Tencel fabric with alum (2 days)
* premordant fabric in rhubarb leaf dyebath (1 day)
* dye fabric in madder root dyebath (1 day, may be done on same day as rhubarb dyebath)
* dry fabric (20 min)
* cut Bodice and Brief pattern (20 min)
* infuse pieces in echinacea flower, bay leaf and rosemary (3 days, once infusions have been made)
* air dry pieces (1 day)
* sew Bodice and Brief (2 hours)
* iron and label set (30 min)
* bottle infusion as Reinfusing Spray and make Whipped Soap (1/2 day)
​TOTAL time taken: 8 days, minimum

Materia Medica: The known therapeutic properties of echinacea, rosemary and bay are given in the Materia medica linked here:

echinacea_written.pdf
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bay_written.pdf
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rosemary_writ.pdf
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I value feeling safe, and can understand that others do, too. I long for a "peaced" self, community, humanity and planet.
As we ease back into our pre-covid routines, let's consciously and with intention conserve, destroy, plant and grow. 
I will conserve my sanctuary.
I will destroy hatred and chaos.
I will plant kindness and understanding.
​I will grow peace and love.
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