The following is an excerpt from The Holistic Garden by Barbara Allen

“Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.”
William Wordsworth

“A delightful new vision of the world is rising softly over our horizon—a vision that finds the planet no longer revolving with humanity at its center, but rather in the midst of an enormous orchestra, each instrument played by a different life form from the smallest single-celled creature to the planet itself. Each playing a vastly marvelous complex symphony in perfect harmony together.

Awakening on stage we realize that we are not the conductor but simply one of the musicians and we are not playing the same tune as everyone else! We have been playing out of tune and out of time.

In startled embarrassment we stand silent, listening as the music flows around us, each of our fellow musicians playing in perfect synchronicity. Slowly, we begin to sense the part we play, and shyly—softly at first—we sound our note, testing its appropriateness. As we hear the quiet harmony with which it rings, our confidence grows. Joy flows though us, as our note rings clear in perfect harmony with the rest, resonating, lifting…

Like children, humankind has seen the world revolving about themselves. The day has come that we must set aside our “childish toys” and awake to our adult role on this planet. It’s a wondrous place in which we live, an incredibly complex living system and we are just beginning to look around us to seek the part we play in it all. It’s an exciting journey of discovery and we can begin it right here and now, in our own backyard. We can create a safe and healthy environment for a multitude of life forms, from the bacteria in our soil to the birds in our trees, an environment that respects the existence of each form it finds there and the part each plays in the web of life.”

The Preface from my book—The Holistic Garden—first published in 1991.