This compassionate and resourceful book gently guides the reader into a larger perspective of life, reminding us of simple means for staying grounded in the present moment, and connecting us directly with what is real, eternal and true in an increasingly disrupted human world. She asks us to remember that we are never separate from the five elements of nature (earth, air, fire, water, space) and shows us how to use these elements for deepening our self-knowledge.

With personal narrative, poetry, dynamic quotes, meditative reflections, invitations to journal writing and other artistic expressions, the author draws us into her garden and her inner world. Here we witness how it is possible to transform the suffering we see and experience in ourselves and others into a “food” source to feed our essential “being.” This contemplative journey quiets our anxious minds and troubled emotions, and ultimately refines our offerings of service toward what is most beneficial and effective.
With a background in Jungian studies and counselling, and decades of life within a contemplative community, Mary Angelon Young draws from a wide range of faith traditions as well as from transpersonal, psychosomatic and archetypal psychologies. She fearlessly engages both the soul and the shadow elements of our human nature, inviting us to confidently welcome the potential for self-understanding contained without our dark moods, doubts and even our despair.

Lovers of the natural world, as well as seekers in any spiritual tradition, will find encouragement and refreshment in joining the author on this quiet walk.