Dear Friends,
Let’s start with dessert. India Supera was a firm believer of desserts first, at least when it came to her grandchildren (with me it was sill vegetables first.) In celebration of our Virgo birthdays we’d like to share the recipe of her favorite dessert at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, Vegan Orange Cake. (See recipe here.)
Now that we’ve satisfied our sweets craving, let’s see if we have room to talk about living a life a kindness. In one of her last interviews, India was asked about how she could be so fearless. She replied that it was not about fear, but rather kindness. She experienced fear just like everyone else, but felt that by being kind and trusting in people, the same would be returned.
In that way—by practicing kindness— she was able to overcome her fear to accomplish things like traveling all over the world alone and with groups as their leader, starting the Feathered Pipe Foundation, and without money or skills—aside from compassion and heart—was able to make the Feathered Pipe Ranch into an educational and spiritual sanctuary. It’s been held together with love and kindness ever since.
Through kindness community is created.
The trust that comes out of having a community based in kindness (as the Ranch really is and as I imagine a tribe would be) is beautiful to watch and nowadays is quite rare. My three-year-old daughter spent the summer at the Ranch as a free-range child, running around the grounds and meeting new friends. She was able to connect with people of all ages, play tag, make selfies with their phones, and learn new vocabulary, all while I could trust she would be taken care of.
At the Ranch this felt totally natural. However as we got out into the “real” world and she started to approach people—strangers—at the airport to try to tickle them or grab on to the nearest pair of legs at the bus stop for comfort, I became aware of how strange it felt at once not to be in the trusting womb of the Ranch.
The Feathered Pipe Ranch is at its core a sanctuary of kindness and trust. It is there to nurture you in nature and support you in community. Is it magic or simply kindness? Maybe magic that manifests out of kindness? Who can really say, but it is a unique place that community as its heart and we’re glad you are a part of it.
We invite you to listen to India’s last interviews with Andy Vantrease and Amy Stephan in our latest edition of the Dandelion Effect podcast, India Supera: Walking the Path of Kindness. We hope you enjoy her gems of wisdom.
With dessert and kindness,
Crystal
*Special thanks to dear friend Emily Polar for the featured image!