Mycelium and mushrooms are growing in popularity in American culture. This new collective awareness is curious to me.

 

What could be the gift Fungi offer to us? 

There are a wide variety of fungi sprouting along the sidewalks, within the forests and nature preserves. They tend to come after rainfalls and have powerful networks of mycelium distributing nutrients all throughout the soil. When fruiting mushrooms arrive at the surface, it is a sign that the soil is receiving the care it needs.

 

Mycologist Paul Stamets (2005) has researched specific kinds of fungi that break down toxins like pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, giving restoration back to the microbial life in soil.* This is called Mycoremediation and it has inspired me to reimagine how our bodies metabolize grief.

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Fungi contribute regenerative properties to create healthy biodiversity. They show up in the liminal space of an ecosystem; the space between death and new life. Surely this is the same sacred space where healing happens. 

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Our hearts grow weary with the suffering of the world. Grief, bitterness, and sorrow pollute our hearts and we train our bodies to hold in the toxins leaving joy, life, and imagination shriveled in despair. 

 

But imagine a mist of spores grounding themselves in the soul of your heart, risking hope amongst the toxins of your trauma. Sprouting from your heart's canals, the mushrooms take the grief, bitterness, and sorrow and give them a home in their bodies. 

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At Wild Heart Therapies, the Fungal Heart symbolizes that when our heart's endure the toxins of trauma there is capacity for new life. With proper care, we can hold and grow through the losses we suffer and create ourselves anew. We can learn how to grow with the gifts of our grief. 

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There is a wild ecosystem around you also grieving. Species each day are in threat of dying, leaving forests and other landscapes compensating for the loss of their beloveds. The forests grieve with us as we too adapt to the many losses happening in our lives and environment. 

 

The Fungal Heart keeps us connected to the truth and hope that although things come to an end, we have the capacity to create ourselves again and again. 

*Stamets, P. (2005). Mycelium running: how mushrooms can help save the world. Ten speed press.