012 Do you have black sage energy?

Hello friends,

Last week’s email was all about suffering and what nature has to say about it.

Today I’ll talk about what happens when we learn to trust suffering. Once again, I’ll be leaning on the natural world for support. This week our guide is black sage.

Salvia mellifera (Black Sage)

Next time you’re going through the hard stuff, the times that hurt the most but bring the most healing and transformation, consider black sage as your totem.

In summer, Salvia mellifera displays a bad ass trait called seasonal dimorphism. As the weather and soil conditions become drier and the sun heats up, black sage replaces its lush full sized leaves (like those in the picture) with smaller curly ones.

This reduces the rate of transpiration (loss of water through the leaves) but allows the plant to continue growing. While other plants drop their leaves and/or go dormant, black sage keeps on chugging.

Not only has black sage figured out how to grow during the most challenging time of year, it’s intelligence and resiliency has made it an indispensable part of its broader ecosystem.

It’s what ecologists call a keystone species, which means the health of the California coastal scrub community depends on the health and wellness of black sage. A powerful totem indeed!

What Black Sage Can Teach Us

Last week I covered the bittersweet nature of suffering – how it’s the worst but also how it’s the most potent fuel we have for healing and spiritual liberation.

Basically, we can’t transcend suffering unless we suffer.

The devil, of course, is in the details. Our liberation comes from learning how to suffer, which – in the beginning at least – is a delicate process.

But as we proceed through the healing process, we begin to embody black sage energy. That’s because suffering, when handled skillfully, transforms into wisdom, resilience, and compassion. As our innate worthiness and strength are understood, we’re less affected by the hard stuff.

Let’s face it, nothing takes more attention and energy than feeling unwell or unsafe.

When we feel secure in ourselves, we can direct our attention and efforts beyond our suffering. We become more nimble and purposeful in our actions. We have greater access to intuition and creativity.

And if our health is stable, we have energy for those around us: Loved ones, strangers, the natural world.

To be like black sage, we need resilience and wisdom. We need tools and resources to draw on during the difficult seasons of our own lives. All of this is found through working with suffering.

Then, when we’re solid, we become resources for those who continue to struggle. We become keystone species of our families, friendships, community, and ecosystem.

Our very presence becomes healing.

But most importantly, we understand that the purpose – and the grace – of our suffering extends well beyond our personal experience. We realize that our individual challenges are transformed into healing for everyone and everything we touch.

It’s a wonderfully strange paradox: Suffering is awful, truly awful. But handled correctly, it’s the most powerful medicine we have as individuals and as a collective.

Which is all well and good but it begs the question: At what point do we suffer less?

It's a great question – one I’ll take a crack at next week. For now, consider it on your own and see what you come up with.

Then go outside and enjoy yourself.

That’s it! See you next week.

Energetically,
David