We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Williams recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amanda, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Resiliency is foundational to my self-preservation and is something I nurture daily.
I nurture my resilience by maintaining a non-attached perspective of my life here on Earth. I remind myself every day that I am a soul living in a human form on planet Earth and that I have a wonderful opportunity to not only experience life on this amazing planet, but also help to spread wonder, wisdom, peace, strength, and love in a time that it is so needed. This awareness that I am but a soul, experiencing Earth temporarily while I am in human form naturally opens me up to a deep peace and trust- I know that no matter what happens to me, that I am ok, my soul is fine. I exist outside of space and time and nothing that happens on this planet could ever harm me or stop me from existing. By stepping back and realizing that in all things, I am ok, I naturally release the never ending list of the anxieties of what could be and begin to stop perceiving happenings in my daily life through the dualistic lens of “good or bad”. Other steps I take to nurture my resilience through non-attachment include: maintaining an open mind and always knowing that my way is not the only way to live, being willing to take advice (with discernment), and practicing acceptance of all that happens- that “It is what it is”, a lesson taught to me by my precious late Nana Mary.
These non-attachment exercises loosen the grip of my ego and allow me to see myself more clearly and the path I want to take. It moves me from a state of reactivity to one of observation and empowered decision making. In addition to this it opens me up to connecting with a whole world of beings such as trees, squirrels, rocks, the Ocean, ancestors, or interdimensional beings, living around me who also live outside of the mainstream social and mental constructs. Connecting with these “timeless” beings as I call them, enhances my ability to maintain a non-attached perspective throughout the day. It is like working together on a project you are passionate about with a group of like-minded individuals, where the more you interact with them and work together, the more energy you store up to make your dreams and deepest desires a reality. So, as I go about my day I safely communicate with other beings who are living like me and want to connect too- and each connection, conversation, or energy exchange enhances my ability to maintain a non-attached perspective while simultaneously empowering me to manifest the reality I am here to create.
On a more practical level, I maintain a consistent self-care practice with daily and weekly routines, scheduled times for fun activities, a healthy diet with lots of water and an herbal protocol that supports my physical and energetic body, and above all I prioritize rest & sleep. I also keep up with the current astrological transits so that I will know how they may be impacting my energy (being ready for what could come my way!).
In sum, my resiliency is rooted in a non-attached perspective which allows me to mentally face and accept anything that happens to me, a deep love and connection to the other beings living in this world around me who are timeless friends to help strengthen my a non-attached perspective or co-create with, and through taking care of the needs of my physical and energetic bodies.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My daily work revolves around caring for and communicating with plants.
The gardens I design and tend ground and expand each client’s spiritual path and support the local ecosystem. I love to create Celestial Sanctuaries, Astro Gardens, Moon (or other planet/star) Gardens, Memorial Gardens, Herbal Gardens, Wildlife Gardens, Native Pollinator Gardens, and much more. Please visit cosmosgardens302.com to learn more about my design offerings. Each garden I design is bespoke and tailored to the individual spiritual needs of the client. The plants are intuitively selected and I often find them telling me who to include and where to place them. Most of the plants I work with are regionally native and I love to include keystone species in order to support as many beings in the garden space as possible. I primarily design gardens located in the Mid-Atlantic region but I am able to create gardens for any ecoregion in the U.S.
My business partner (Amanda Kathryn) and I just released our first pre-planned garden designs which were created to help gardeners to connect with the archetypal energy of each element while also supporting their spiritual growth- Water (or Hydra) supports the process of remembering and stepping into spiritual power, Fire (or Butterfly Wings) assists and holds space in tough periods of transformation and renewal, Earth (or Grounding Earthly Goals) supports the physical body, and Air (or Dreamwork Hummingbird Garden) helps with identifying and manifesting dreams. Each pre-planned design includes a garden design with a plant list, cultivation information about each plant, and intuitive messages received from each plant.
I also enjoy creating guided journeys which allow experiencers to expand their ability to tap into their inherent multidimensional awareness and visit and create a beautiful gardens, or other spaces, in the astral realm. One reason I wanted to create a garden of this nature is because not everyone is capable of gardening with their physical body for many reasons, so this is a great alternative for anyone who is looking to experience a unique form a gardening that takes place in their mind. I currently have one guided journey, The White Hibiscus, available for download on our website. Each download includes a PDF of the guided journey for experiencers to read at their own pace and a link to an audio version of the guided journey, for those who prefer to follow along in a trance state.
I am in the process of creating online classes which focus on the design and creation of celestial and spirit gardens, connecting safely to plant spirits, and learning more about how to determine which plants are most supportive to the local ecosystem.
I adore and deeply revere trees and part of my life-mission on Earth is to ensure the survival of the next generation of the local wild trees in Delaware and beyond. Deforestation due to development is a huge issue in DE, and worldwide, and more often than not, trees are either not re-planted or they are replaced with non-native or nursery reared trees. In order to create a healthy and resilient forest, it is imperative to plant trees that are native and bio-regionally adapted to the local ecosystem. Trees of this nature are not widely available, as most nurseries and producers do not wild-harvest their plants. Adopt DE Trees is a program I began several years ago to help ensure that the local wild trees are available to community members. I do this by collecting and rearing young local and wild trees, which otherwise would be thrown out as “weeds”, from the gardens I tend and then offer them up for adoption to community members at events such as the Horseshoe Crab Festival in Milton, DE and Coast Day in Lewes, DE. So far, over 200 baby trees have been adopted and planted! Adopt DE Trees is currently in the works of transforming into a non-profit organization and I am hoping to expand it into a community-based organization that can serve as a template to empower others across the world to preserve their local trees too!
Additionally, I have been apprenticing with an herbalist for the past 4 years and have most recently been studying to work with clients in a clinical herbal setting. I am planning to start working with clients in a clinical herbal setting.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One quality that has served me well is my ability to remain open to views or ideas different then my own. For example, as a child I was taught that there is only one way to connect to God. I struggled in believing this though, because it naturally excluded many, including myself. These beliefs went unchallenged until I was directly confronted by friends during college. I naturally responded with openness, rather than close-mindedness and since then have learned about so many other ways to connect and expand spiritually. One simple way to practice having an open mind is to consider ways in which things, people, or ideas are similar rather than different. You can also weed out from your own personal thoughts and opinions, the voices of others. When you know what you believe and who you are, it may open you up to realizing that we all live in individual realities and the possibilities of what could be are truly endless.
A skill that has greatly empowered me and which I would highly recommend to anyone is making friends with plants. This can take many forms- meditating under a tree, planting seeds, growing your own food, arranging flowers, visiting a botanic garden, bonsai, and the list goes on. I call this a skill because in our modern society it is not common practice to spend time with plants or to get to know them. Most people I come across see plants as a commodity- something to beautify their yard, eat, or hide them from their neighbor. These things plants do wonderfully, but plants are also living beings, much like us, just in a different type of body and their capacity for sentience far exceeds what many have come to think of them as. Thankfully the skill of making friends with plants is easy to cultivate, it just requires the intention to connect with the plants and time. If you are new to connecting with plants, I’d start by finding a spot that calls to you outside and visiting it on a regular basis for between 10 minutes and an hour. Do this weekly for as long as you can, but for at least 3-4 months if possible. While at your “spot” notice as many plants as you can. Sketch them, write poems about them, identify them, and if you feel up to it thank them for the oxygen they created that you are now breathing or bring them a gift of clean water, pouring it close to the ground around them. Before you know it, you will be seeing your plant friends everywhere!
An area of knowledge that has greatly impacted my journey is astrology. I naturally love outer space, connect to all things spiritually, and love to learn. Astrology is an endless subject that focuses on the stars and how they connect to us spiritually, so it is the perfect area of knowledge for me! If you find you are interested in these things too and are considering learning more about astrology, I would highly recommend learning from renowned astrologers such as Molly McCord or Dalanah Smith, each of whom have podcasts on Spotify. A personal practice that has greatly helped me in my understanding of astrology is to check what zodiac sign the Moon is in each day and notice the qualities of my emotions, thoughts, feelings, or happenings that day. After doing this for over a year I have begun to recognize patterns and am now able to more clearly identify when specific planetary energies are supporting certain aspects or tasks of my life, allowing me to consciously go with the flow.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The most prevalent challenge I face every day is witnessing the destruction and degradation of the land which I call home and our beloved planet Earth. Where I live, tens of thousands of acres of forests have been cleared in the path of housing developments over the past decade, with little to no effort to replace the beautiful native ecosystem that has been destroyed. In addition, the river which runs through this land, the Indian River, is consistently polluted by wastewater from the various industrial plants which are stationed on her banks and by the trash and abandoned crab pots of the many boaters which enjoy the water in the summer.
It is a personal calling of mine to ensure the survival of the next generation of Delaware’s trees and the program I began, Adopt DE Trees is my solution to this challenge. I also create wildlife habitats through designing and installing gardens which support as many of the local wild beings as possible, which is my way of restoring the destroyed native ecosystem. In addition to this I volunteer with the University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program and Delaware Sea Grant Derelict Crab Pot Program, where I collect water samples from the Indian River which get screened for harmful algae and bacteria and analyzed for nutrient content, and I also volunteer to remove abandoned crab pots from the Indian River too.
I have also discontinued eating and purchasing certain chicken brands which I know have negatively impacted the Indian River through years of dumping wastewater.
Every day I pray for and seek to manifest the healing of the land I live on and all of Earth. I know that with my intention and the collaboration of others with a similar heart, things will change- there will be trees everywhere again and that all of the waters on Earth will be clean enough to swim in!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cosmosgardens302.com
- Youtube: @Cosmos_Gardens
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