Interdependence vs. Independance: A Reflection on What’s Real on this Fourth of July.

Dove Recovery Art would like to recognize and thank all our veterans, as well as those currently serving, and to the lost. Thank you for keeping us safe, we love & have the utmost respect for our soldiers! Happy & Safe Fourth of July to everyone!

InterDependance vs. Independence: A personal reflection on this Fourth of July.

I’ve spent most of my life not knowing what to trust. People? Systems? Even my own body? They’ve all let me down, failed me, betrayed me in one way or another. But when I sit still—when I really sit—I remember something deeper, something older than every broken promise: the four elements.

The elements were here before me. They’ll be here after me. They don’t ask me to believe—they just are.

The earth: my bones.

The air: my breath.

The water: my blood.

The fire: the warmth that keeps me alive.

We didn’t invent these things. We didn’t write them down in a book and then call them sacred or law. They were always sacred. They were always truth. Before us. Before we ‘invented’ time, space, death.. Before language. Before time. Before our human hands tried to carve up the world and name it.

I can trust this:

That I am not separate.

That I am made of the same things as the rivers, the stars, the wind, and the flame.

That every breath I take is shared, that every drop of water inside me has passed through oceans and clouds and ancient veins long before it reached me.

And when I sit in my pain—when I feel like I am the only one suffering—I can remember: suffering is universal. It connects me to you, and you to me. It reminds me that I am not alone. It gives birth to compassion. And compassion is the medicine this world needs.

Today, I choose to trust in what is real. The elements. The interconnectedness of all life. The sacredness of nature.

I choose to breathe in this truth and let it steady me when everything else feels like it’s crumbling.

We are not separate. We are not alone.

We are Earth, Air, Fire, Water—together.

Affirmation for the Day:

Today, I remember that I am connected to everything around me and everything within me. I am grounded like the earth, flowing like water, open like the air, and alive with the fire of my own spirit. I carry the universe in my bones. I am never alone.

With Love,

Dana & Nicky (who is going through her first HEAT Cycle… Puppy PMS is NO Joke!). Send flowers, chocolate, and a chew toy for Nic before she eats all my sheetrock!