I am one of thousands of people affected by @quinneaker's visionary community the @gardenofeden. As we clean and organize in preparation for a big move towards Eden 2.0, it's time to let go of my own incredible history here:

Part 1

Part 2 👇🏽

I came to the @gardenofeden sustainable community a few years after emerging from what I call my great depression - deep and choking grief over my sister's death and the implosion of our family that left me broken.

Once on the other side of that nightmare, I couldn't believe that I had survived - and with most of my functions intact, yippee! I celebrated by living my dream of traveling the world, doing yoga, meditation, and learning energy healing and plant medicine along the way.

Given the many blessings that rained down on me after such hell, it seemed obvious that I was on Earth for a purpose.

The problem was that even after years of dabbling, I didn't know what that purpose was - much less have an outlet to express it.

^{Magic is obviously part of my purpose ✨}

Run towards anything that makes your soul scream.

I was raised a heathen in Oklahoma. Christianity was always around, but I didn't have much connection to it and was certainly not limited by that dogma. My understanding of God has come from direct experience, and my best experience has been in those moments when my spirit shakes and shouts "I'M ALIVE!!!!"

Without much spiritual framework to draw upon and more a "do what you feel" approach, I made a pact with myself to run towards those things that made my soul scream, in joy OR fear.

That's how I knew I was in the right place at the right time when I arrived at the @gardenofeden after traveling the world and met @quinneaker, @everlove, the children, and other community members. These people were definitely A-L-I-V-E...and they were happy! And they were in love and appreciation and consideration and support of each other (some more than others, but hey)!

Something deep within me stirred...something I was searching for and couldn't name...something that pulled at my heart so hard that it made me sad...the aching longing for something you aren't even sure if it exists...then the mindfuck of actually seeing the thing, but you've been so unsure for so long that you still try to convince yourself it's not real.

Out of habit, I ignored all those feelings.

I didn't recognize that disconnecting was a dysfunctional way I'd learned to deal with grief, or that I had taken to applying it to any emotional experience. In fact, I was quite arrogant in my newfound new age spirituality shit that I thought I had it all figured out.

THIS is one reason I came to the @gardenofeden - this place makes you see your shit.

And life was going to make sure I took note of all those things I had ignored, pretended, stuffed, disconnected, neglected.

I held it together like a "normal" person for a month or so doing cooking and cleaning and having good old fashioned homesteading fun - but then life wanted to make sure I was paying attention.

That's when I fell in love, and everything I thought I knew beat the ever loving fuck out of me.

Do you want to know why I live at the @gardenofeden?

Join me in the next post, for a great story of real love.

Part 3















✨💛✨ Sara!