A Love Letter to the Pando Unlimited Community

Happy birthday to Pando Unlimited!

This month we're celebrating two years of Pando Unlimited, and that means we're celebrating YOU - the heartbeat of our community. Thank you for being here. Thank you for inviting your family and friends into this community. Thank you for opening your mind to the ideas I share here. Thank you for being a light in this world and extending that light and love into your communities. You are creating ripples. That matters. You matter. 

Trees Grow in Two Directions

Since I have been thinking about our birthday celebration, it seems like stories about trees have been popping up left and right. A little synchronicity is always nice. It helps me know I am on the right path. My favorite take on trees was one I read this week in the Anam Cara, a wonderful book of Celtic wisdom. It described how a tree grows in two directions at once, downward into the earth and upward toward the light, growing all the roots and branches it needs to become itself. Darkness is a necessary part of growth. Darkness is where seeds begin to germinate. A tree's root system becomes established before it pushes toward the light. This made me think about meditation. It's that quiet darkness where we germinate new intentions and begin to grow our roots. It's where we begin to truly know ourself. Then we have a strong foundation from which to grow our branches and reach for the sky.

The Power of Collaboration

The amazing thing about our namesake, Pando, is that it started as a tree from a single seed, and from there, new trees sprouted up from the already-existing roots. It grew into the largest single organism on Earth by connecting root to root. Through this root system, the trees can send nourishment to each other for the good of the whole, nature's way of showing us what a network of collaboration can do. The power of community. That's us.

I consider it my job here in Pando Unlimited to provide fertilizer for our root system. I want our group to have depth. I want to challenge you with ideas you may not have considered or explored. Rest assured that I do my due diligence on any topic I present here. They are worthy of your consideration. Approach them with a spirit of play and curiosity. Recent scientific research in the field of energy and meditation is evolving our models of how the mind affects the body. Models are meant to evolve as more information becomes available. Otherwise, they just become fossils. 

Plant a Seed and Grow Your Roots

The meaning of the word Pando is "I spread." I hope you'll spread the good ideas you learn here. I also hope you'll apply them. They are practices that will help you build resilience and flexibility and more fully inhabit your life. I believe we are just beginning to understand the power of our imagination and how unlimited we truly are. So ask yourself, "What seed am I planting? What do I want to bring to life?" Then gift yourself the time in the quiet and darkness of meditation to allow it to germinate. When I meditate, I like to imagine that I am that seed, sitting in the dark earth, beginning to spread my roots. And the wonderful thing is, it is then that I often feel a sense of being connected to the roots of my community. A feeling of oneness. When I get up from my meditation, I take that feeling with me into the world. 

I like how when an aspen leaf is turned upside down, it looks like a heart shape. Pando itself is a metaphor for spreading love. I thought it was important this month to celebrate who we are. I have so many ideas of what I would like to do within Pando Unlimited. Now I just have to bring them into being. When I do, I hope you will help me share and expand them into the wider world. This is a labor of love for me, and you are why I do this. You give it meaning. Thank you for being here. 

From my heart to yours,

Cindye