Welcome to The Garden Space, a newsletter and podcast where we consider connection. What could it mean to be in community with oneself, one's intra and external space, as well as with one another? Where do I find myself? Ismatu Gwendolyn does a one-take reading of their essay, "The Garden Space: an Introduction."

When I reached inside myself one day and pulled out something to put on a page, I found bright green raspberry leaves. Who was surprised? They were just like me, the way they hung to themselves until the good, thick ongoings of July. I thought the fruits were so silly. They hid under big bright leaves but couldn’t resist growing so good and so ripe and so heavy they would bend the whole plant and give themselves away. Raspberry juice tasted just like me. It was the first time I had ever experienced watching myself bloom in real time.

I went inside myself and felt found. The first touch of my own earth humming hello under my bare toes. I had a garden space; how wonderful. This makes sense, I thought. The earth is everywhere.

Read the full essay at ismatu.substack.com.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe