Newsletter Articles written by Tera Thomas
Issue 14
The Past, the Future, and Right Now
by Tera Thomas
The Past: When I was a child I had a dream, or a vision. In this vision I was living on some beautiful land, surrounded by nature and animals, and there was a sense of well being, of peace, and harmony. In this dream, all beings “spoke” and co-created their living space; all beings were listened to and respected. Throughout my life, I have created and recreated this vision in every place I have lived.
When I began communicating with animals as a profession, I started to get a glimpse of how this vision could become a reality for many people and animals. In 1998, spurred on by my cat, George, and the dolphins, I began the task of turning my childhood vision into a 3D place for others to share. My first step was to form a nonprofit corporation and to get others involved in this dream.
At the time, I lived on some beautiful leased land in a hand-built log cabin where I taught workshops with the help of my llama and cat teachers. For five years, that land served as Hummingbird Farm. Visions of one day actually buying land and setting it up as a teaching center were burning inside of me, but how to actually do that was something I couldn’t quite see. Then in February of 2003, pushed by the fact that the land I was living on was being sold, Hummingbird Farm bought 50 acres of land.
The Future: Picture this. You drive down the mile-long dirt road and when you near the end, you climb a hill and there, spread out before you like something from a painting is Hummingbird Farm. You see green fenced pastures of rolling hills bordered by woods on three sides with a river down below. On the right near the big red barn are 5 llamas and a white alpaca. On the left are goats and horses, in the pasture below are steers and sheep. All of the animals you see are teachers.
The first building you come to is the handicapped accessible classroom space where you can take workshops on animal communication, gardening with nature, wildlife preservation, homeopathy, drumming, shamanism, and working in harmony with all of life. Many of these classes are taught by visiting teachers from varied traditions from all over the world. The classroom space is open and round so that all classes are taught in a circle. There are windows looking out to the woods, the pastures, and the animals that populate them. There are small animals living within the workshop space and rooms where visitors can stay during their workshop experience.
Aside from classes, Hummingbird Farm offers a place of beauty and inspiration to retreat for an hour or a day from the busy world. There are trails to walk through woods of native North Carolina plants and trees, a labyrinth to walk, the river to sit by to contemplate and dream, animals domestic and wild surround you and comfort you, and there is a deep peace to fill you.
There are also organized nature walks, where you can learn about plants and trees and wild animals. There are herb walks to learn about wild plants to eat, plants to use for medicine, and plants to avoid.
There are programs to learn how to care for animals, how to care for land, trees and wildlife. These programs can open the hearts of troubled teens, break through the walls of silence in traumatized children and adults, and earn college credits for students.
Hummingbird Farm is a magical place, a world of peace and harmony where all beings are listened to, respected, and asked to participate. It is a place of love and inspiration for all who enter.
Right Now: You drive down the mile-long dirt road and when you near the end, you climb a hill and there, spread out before you like something from a painting is Hummingbird Farm. You see green fenced pastures of rolling hills bordered by woods on three sides with a river down below. On the right near the big red barn are 5 llamas and a white alpaca. (Yes! We already have this much!)
The other fields do not yet have animals and there is no specially built classroom. Animal Communication classes are now taught in my living room and outside on the land. These classes are the foundation of Hummingbird Farm. The animals help people to open their hearts to their personal connection to all of life. And when we recognize all beings as part of our family our own lives change.
The programs are still just ideas and have not been developed, the gardens are not yet planted, the trails through the woods are not well cleared or marked, there are not yet benches to sit on, no labyrinth to walk. But the land is beautiful, there is a river to sit by, to walk along, there are many animal teachers, an abundance of wildlife, plants and trees, and a deep peace to fill you. The space, the potential is here, the love, the peace and harmony are here. And now we must get to work.
Though Hummingbird Farm has existed for five years, moving to the land to permanently house us is brand new. We are now truly in the beginning stages. The possibilities are limitless and together we can create the world we have dreamed about. This land is for all of us. Here we can build a place of inspiration for ourselves and for those who come after us. We can preserve and protect Hummingbird Farm to live long after we are gone to serve as an example of how the world will change when all life is honored and heard.
Please join us. Share your dreams and vision. Share your knowledge, skills, your hopes for the future, the legacy you want to leave behind. We are dreaming a dream to create a new world of peace and not one of us can do it alone. The business of changing the world we live in must be done with others, in love and cooperation.
Wanted: Others to work together in harmony, with respect for all our relations, to create a new world. All species welcome.
