“Bless this peaceful valley!”

[Sahedran]

Dear Community of Sebastopol,
Hello. . . and blessing to everyone in the New Year!
I grew up in Tomales, and am grateful to have made my home in this special community for the past thirty-nine years. Perhaps you have noticed me walking, with long white hair and often dressed in pink.My cat companion, Millie, and I are seeking a long-term property caretaker or other work-trade-for-rent living situation within walking distance of downtown.

The Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce gave me the Humanitarian Efforts Award, and I have excellent references. I am free to move any time after February 11^th. If you know of something, could you please leave a message on my voicemail: (707) 304-9191. . . Thank you.
~Sahedran Ann Shelborne

P.S. I am an empathic healer, and also a writer. The following piece is excerpted from my memoir, A SOFT BODY IN A HARD WORLD:

. . . Here in Sebastopol, heaven is in my hands. I walk everywhere. And smile often. People of all ages, at all hours of the day and night, are out and about. On foot. Bicycles. Skateboards. Roller blades. Scooter. Electric wheelchairs. Golf carts. Mothers jog, pushing an aerodynamic stroller with an infant tucked inside. People walk alone. In twos. With their dogs. Whole families stroll together.
I walk past one frothing garden after another. Creative little funky houses. Apartments. And starter castles. There is a spirit of joy here! Of prosperity. Of hope.The Children roam freely. They are my angels. I sued to be nervous walking after dark. But the children were everywhere! Teeming in front yards. Pouring out into residential street to play ball or a game of tag. They made me laugh! I stopped worrying. Now I walk at midnight when the streets are deserted and don’t blink an eye. The children’s joy lingers like fairy dust everywhere.

I am remembering a story I once saw on television. It was set in medieval times when a fierce war raged across the land. A captain and small band of soldiers in his command are badly wounded. They must draw back. Farther and farther back. Until they come upon a high mountain pass where they almost perish while making the ascent. As they start down the other side – they discover a peaceful valley, amazed to find it is fertile and unscarred by war. The people farm and are self-sufficient. There is peace, prosperity, joy.
The gentle residents take in the wounded soldiers and care for them. The captain is nurtured back to health by a beautiful young woman. They fall in love, and while he convalesces, they are intimate.
Then one day when the captain and his men must return to the war they retreated from. She begs to be allowed to accompany him. I will never forget his response: “No. . . you must stay here. This is the last peaceful valley. I want you to be safe! Marry another and make a home together. I am a soldier, and I must fulfill my duty by returning to this horrible war. I can stand it - - if I know you are alive and well and living the way human beings were meant to live.”

I think one of the hardest things in life is to nurture peace and love - - while knowing that others are ravaged by poverty, injustice, war. Yet, I feel the captain was wise; that he was able to see the whole picture. Until we collectively choose to turn our weapons into ploughshares, someone must serve as the soldier. But someone must also grow the crops. Someone must make love and be a lover. Someone must nurture the babies born out of the love-making. Someone must create the art that inspires adults to visualize new possibilities . . . and so on, and so on.

If the bombs drop here tomorrow, it will be another story. Today, I live in a peaceful valley. As a writer/empathy - - I know my job is to help hold a space for peace, for love, for beauty, for joy, for the dream of a sustainable future for the earth and all its inhabitants.

Not a day passes now when I walk amidst this thriving community that I don’t feel tears coming into my eyes, as I whisper under my breath: “Bless this peaceful valley!”

[Lilith Rogers]

Wish I had a home for you dear. And hope one appears soon. Blessings.

Lilith