Chapter 5 The Healing Project
The Healing Project Book
By Dennis Lantz
Chapter 5 The Healing Project
The initial
article about The Healing Project appeared on My Handprint blog in August of
2020, during the chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic. You can read it on my website or
at the end of this book.
At that time, I was going through a brief remission
from the worst of the unexplainable physical problems. Because multiple medical
doctors could not diagnose my condition, I was already growing skeptical of the
healthcare industry. Not because they don’t care or even perform occasional
miracles. But just because all their tests could not reveal any diagnosis for
me.
Our country, and the entire world, was in the throes
of social and political upheaval. I was frustrated by the authoritarian
dictates imposed upon all of us. Life seemed filled with obstacles, no matter
which way you looked. In my anger, I declared that I was going to fulfill my
dreams despite all the obstructions. Poor health included.
In the middle of that year, while tyrannical
politicians and clueless talking heads prattled on about locking down our lives
to ‘flatten the curve’, I started to find my voice. My first three novels were
published. At the same time. These books were written while my physical health
was in shambles, proving to myself that dreams can be fulfilled even under
less-than-ideal circumstances. I vowed to work on my other dreams… and to
properly assess them.
Spiritually, I sought a closer relationship with God.
Praying and meditating gave me a daily foundation of peace and strength. I
won’t pretend that I have attained great spiritual understanding, but I have
put my faith and trust in a higher power. Some people tell me that that isn’t
enough. But it’s a start. I am innately aware that we are vibrational waves of
energy, and that the Universe reacts to us as such. It doesn’t only listen to
words. Our desires mean nothing if stated to the void without the participation
of our actions, thoughts, and passions. The more aligned we are to our purpose,
and the less we are distracted by peripheral energy, the closer we are to
attaining our desires. The closer we are to healing.
Social healing during a pandemic could only occur
using small steps. After reading Johann Hari’s book, Lost Connections. I
couldn’t help but contemplate my place in society. I truly wanted to contribute
to the betterment of my family, friends, community, and the larger humanity. I
realized that modern technology was diminishing, if not destroying, the true
personal bonds that are necessary for thriving. Human interactions are much
more complex than we realize. Our perceptions are not simple. Many occur on a
subconscious level. We don’t even realize the stimuli and information we
gather. You don’t get everything you need from social media.
I am not totally opposed to on-line communication. It
has its benefits. But it should never be a replacement for face-to-face
interactions. Technology is not the
answer to authentic human connection. The only way to bring about the strongest
human relationships is by personally committing to such an endeavor. Later I
will share additional thoughts about connections and society.
I needed some social interaction that was conducive
to improving my psychological health at the very time that social contact was
being severely limited and thwarted. But I still went to work every day. I
guess I was one of those “essential” workers. Listening to the political and
social pundits spew rhetorical nonsense while my world remained mostly
unchanged was almost as damaging to me as were the results obtained by those
who followed the government guidelines and isolated themselves. While not
afraid of isolation, I wasn’t about to blindly follow suggestions I knew were
detrimental.
Winemaking became my social outlet. Christy, some
friends and I started a home winemaking group. There were only six of us,
including one pre-teen, who helped with some of the menial tasks, but did not
partake in the celebrations. The group brought sanity to an insane world. We
shared a common interest. More importantly, we found celebration and passion in
the midst of the pandemic.
My talks with God showed me that my heart longed for
two completely different things. I told friends that I wanted to simplify my
life by focusing on just one dream (writing)… but I also didn’t want to discard
all my other dreams. This inner conflict caused me to struggle with my desires.
I guess it confused the Universe too because the dreams remained out of reach.
One hot summer day, I decided to take action. I
thought that if I wrote down all the dreams I had in my life, I would be able
to evaluate them honestly… and eliminate some from my life.
I described it like this in The Healing Project blog:
Sometimes it is
beneficial to put all of your goals, thoughts, desires, abilities and dreams
into one bucket of wet, muddy reality and stir them up. See which ones float on
the surface within grasp and which ones settle to the bottom. Grab the
floaters.
So, this is what I did. I wrote out all of the dreams
that I had accumulated during my lifetime. I noted every goal, every business
plan, every thought. Money wasn’t a factor, nor was the size of the dream. Big
and small dreams made the list. To say it was extensive would be understating
it.
I truly believed that I would be able to eliminate
some of them… to narrow them down until only the priorities remained. But God
had other plans. A thought popped into my mind. Why can’t you do it all? I
laughed at myself when the thought came… but I understood that it was a worthy endeavor.
Purpose.
In my mind, fulfilling dreams became synonymous with
The Healing Project. In a moment of sheer exhilaration, I decided that I would
not only work to accomplish all of my dreams… I would help others achieve
theirs too!
Many of my dreams seemed out of reach. Money was
tight. I felt physically weaker than at any time in my adult life. And I kept encountering obstacles that made
me question my intention. Back problems. Unknown people kept breaking into the
old family farmhouse. Emergency money expenditures for vehicles. Neck problems.
The cost of living increased tremendously even as I started working less hours
(and bringing in less income) in an attempt to physically heal. That is how life
can be. I tried to focus on achieving my goals and dreams, but it felt like I
wasn’t getting anywhere.
I wasn’t alone in my confusion. The world was in the
throes of chaos. Disinformation. Misinformation. Authoritarian limits on
information. Propaganda. Dozens of large movements were pushing for change. Too
quickly and without enough detail. I’m not opposed to change when I believe the
end goal is worthy. Change for the sake of change is dangerous and myopic. I need
plans. To know what I am working toward. What possibilities exist that make
change preferable to the status quo. I also believe that any change should be beneficial
to many, if not everyone. The dreams I want to fulfill had to meet that same
requirement.
To fulfill any dream, it is initially necessary to
convince just one person that it is worthy of being made manifest… and that you
are worthy of being the one to achieve it. The first person you must convert is
the one who looks back at you from within the mirror. After that, your plan
will fall into place.
Sometimes dreams take time. It has been nearly four
years since my initial declarations about The Healing Project. I have been working
at many different goals. Some are getting closer. Others appear just as distant
as they did when I started. When you fully believe in yourself, your purpose,
your dreams, your goals, your vision… then you can start asking others to help.
And, just as importantly, now you can help others.
Taking on such a large task might be an unrealizable
fantasy. Would God ask me to do more than I can accomplish in one lifetime?
Maybe. I shrugged it off, accepting that the means and ability would remain in
the hands of the spirit. I’d already put my health into God’s hands. I decided
to put my finances there also. I don’t pretend to understand how God works, but
I strongly believe the cliché that everything happens for a reason. And at the
proper time.
If my dreams are steps along a brush covered path, I
hope The Healing Project is a machete that reveals wonderful gardens of beauty.
Listing my dreams was only the first step. Turning this
list into reality was still going to take an assessment, a plan of action,
setting goals, allocating the limited resources… especially time. Time spent
focusing on the wrong priorities is wasted. We may learn lessons from lost time
or energy, but we will never recoup them.
We will take a closer look at assessing your dreams
and purpose in a later chapter, but I want to share a small part of how I
approached the task.
To follow my own advice, I needed to take a closer
look at my own life. I needed to develop a multi-faceted approach, even as I
worked on improving my physical health, I felt obligated to assess my spiritual
life, my psychological state and my social connections. I contemplated my
purpose to develop specific tactics that would help me align myself with it. I evaluated
my abilities, my desires, my arsenal, my fears, and any obstacles in a clear
and realistic manner.
The first dream on my list was The Healing
Project. I described it as a sanctuary
for healing and a facilitator of personal dreams. I have been cleaning my
family’s old farm with a goal to transform it into a haven filled with healing
gardens. Unfortunately, the land and the buildings are in extreme disrepair.
Garbage and junk are abundant and need to be removed. Most of the structures
will have to be torn down after they are cleared and cleaned. And then the
design and creation can begin.
Eventually,
the land will be transformed into a beautiful park. Peace gardens, walking
trails, bridges, benches, cabins, a fruit and berry orchard, a Free Shed, Trading
Post, sculptures, rock cairns, a labyrinth, a bookstore & library, a selfie-center,
the world’s largest atlatl and dart, a treehouse, and rock or earth art
that can be seen from the sky… are all parts of the dream that have yet to be
undertaken, constructed or obtained.
I listed each of these as separate dreams.
Cleaning was the priority. And the hardest part. I have worked on some of the
other dreams… and will continue to do so as long as I am able.
The Healing Project will be a resource center
for health and healing. In addition to the gardens, the possibilities for The
Healing Project home include classes for exercise and spiritual growth, a food
pantry, writing and art conferences, and numerous special events.
This book is also part of The Healing Project
dream. Like the Healing Project journal on Facebook, it will show and share the
fundamentals of the dream.
The next
dream on my list was the Library of Self-Reliance… a community resource for
learning and sharing homestead-style skills and other life lessons. The LoSR
will be a group of people connecting students with teachers to learn or share
new skills. I hope that the old farm can become a multi-purpose center. For The
Healing Project and for the Library of Self-Reliance.
Other
dreams included a campground, manufacturing original board games, a political
podcast, a winemaking group, a barter community, off-grid residence, and a
small theater for artistic endeavors. The final dream, of equal importance to
the Healing Project, is that I want to write as many as two dozen books.
The Healing Project, and all of my dreams, do not
comport to a single, straight-forward business model. It is a life plan. For my
life… and for anyone else who wishes to chase their dreams.
I vowed then, and still do, that I would devote the
rest of my life to this adventure. The Healing Project has become my purpose.
…
Read, Learn, Live.
Dennis
Dennis Lantz is
the author of Zander's Tale, The Spiders of Eden, and the Pine Street Trilogy
(Pine Street and the Mighty Mutation Circus, Pine Street and the Dino-Beast Clones, and Pine Street and the Mirrors of Freedom.) His nonfiction Summer in Gentlewoods uses journal entries to tell the real-life adventure of living in a
primitive shelter in the woods of his family farm.
Dennis and his
wife, Christy, live in Warren Center, Pennsylvania. They share their home with
Austin, a Texas rescue who is a cross between a Jack Russell and an angel.
For more
information visit www.dennislantz.com or follow Dennis Lantz Books on Facebook.
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