I made it to the full 10 sting therapeutic dose for Lyme disease. It is an experience far more expansive than trying to move from “sick” to “well”. Living in such close and sacred relationship with the bees is shifting my perception of self, community and responsibility. Life becomes more intentional and sacred- everything matters when you are taking such important life. We might be cocreating the world, we could be mutual stewards of the earth and all it’s beings. They emanate an understanding that is hallucinatory. When I kill the bees by stinging myself I sense they are so deeply concerned for the whole and I cannot begin to fathom their desire to support. They work as one, they always tend to the hurt bees who I sometimes think are dead and magically are flying around the next day. They are teaching me how to live with a more open heart- not that life will be easy or nice but that the work is worth doing and the work can only come from the heart. This great whole with all it’s messiness is something to keep working for. I keep learning how to live in greater relationship with and support this whole, the bees and I are living and dying together. Not separate.