*☾ Written during the Waning Gibbous moon in Pisces; published on the last Quarter in Taurus on July 28, 2024*. I'm writing to you from day 7, my last day, of a solo retreat in Mexico City! A retreat into creativity and expressing myself in many languages. A retreat into honouring myself – especially in body and spirit – ahead of my birthday next week. A retreat into the sacred heart of compassion. Three insights I want to share: 1. Protection, in the right measure, makes abundance and sharing in it possible. Think of fountains, waterways, and wells. Think of bones and flesh. 2. Nature and artifice aren't as separate as we may think. They can be in poetic relationship. Think of trees and telephone wires interweaving. Water flowing down bark. 3. It's all a gift that we give and receive. Hold open your palms and trust. # Collage Photos by me, July 2024. ![[regeneration-axolotl.jpg]] Mural by @mar_karey in Coyoacán showing a young child dressed like an axolotl, watering a plant. The child is surrounded by roots of a tree. A large axolotl sits overhead. [Axolotls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl) are amphibians indigenous to the lakes that underly Mexico City. ![[flower-heart.jpg]] Fallen fuschia flowers in the shape of a heart on the stone pathway that runs through Frida Kahlo Park. ![[heart.jpg]] A red heart-shaped sticker on a lamp post with the word 'miel' handwritten in black ink. ![[madre.jpg]] Tile work on a white plaster wall showing Madre María, surrounded by roses. Me and my bright green umbrella in a parking mirror overhead. ![[three-in-one.jpg]] Sculpture of a person in three parts, on a circular pedestal on front of a white garden wall. Alternating blue and pink, blue, and pink. The ground is covered in puddles from rainfall and green spiky plants. ![[circling.jpg]] Woven circles with swirling shades of sage green, lavender purple, terracotta orange, corn yellow, and espresso brown, suspended in the shape of a galaxy. On front of a bright primary blue wall and square terracotta tile floor. Weaving made from palm branches by women from Tlamacazapa. Shown at the [Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares](https://mncp.cultura.gob.mx/). ![[fantasma.jpg]] A hole, shaped like a person in the trunk of a tree at Viveros de Coyoacán. ![[water-wire-tree.jpg]] Water running down the smooth bark of a tree trunk. Branches entangle with telephone wires overhead, which hum alongside the patter of raindrops. ![[irrigation.jpg]] Two wide rows of green leafy plants in pots. Further back, a small building made of chainmail fence with blue pipes flowing out of it. A small wooden sign reads Systema de Riego – irrigation system – in red capital letters. ![[bones-and ideas.jpg]] Underbelly view of a whale's skeleton, showing its ribcage and spine. The bones are marked with black lines. The skeleton is suspended underneath and between library stacks – which are rectangular glass and metal pods proliferating upwards. At Biblioteca Vasconcelos. ![[tree-wire-water.jpg]] Many black telephone wires running in parallel lines between the trunk, branches, and leaves of a rubber tree. ![[garden-gift.jpg]] Springs of purple basil, yerba buena, rosemary, thyme, green tea, and sage along with a small orange habanero pepper and tiny red chili placed on top of a black, purple, orange, and green woven tablecloth. Plants gifted from the garden of my host. ![[three-shirts.jpg]] Me, standing and smiling, among potted plants in a white brick archway. I'm wearing a red dress shirt, over top a black cropped shirt, and skirt that is made of two dress shirts – one black and one light blue, tie-dyed with a darker blue. The skirt is made by [Ruda](https://www.instagram.com/rruda__/?hl=en).