I suppose what I appreciate the most about Human Design is the acknowledgment that if something doesn’t resonate or feel right for you, then discard it. Just leave it be. How healing and truthful that feels. This lesson should be shouted from the rooftops in all of life. That recognition that we are all different. That some things will speak to others and not to all. How much lack we can remove from our collective energy with this sort of normalizing. 

There isn’t much in my chart that doesn’t speak to me profoundly. Maybe some gates and channels that I either feel more pull to or not. And you will find in my work that there are some spots that light me up more than others. But overall, my chart feels so aligned. 

Except for one. 

My environment. Environments are those parts of your chart that I consider nurturing. Salve for your soul. I cover environments in detail in Parenting Projectors and it’s definitely something we consider in a Business Deep Dive. Environments are the spot in your chart that show where you will best thrive. There are six different environments. 

1. Caves
2. Kitchens
3. Markets
4. Mountains
5. Valleys
6. Shores

These are more metaphors than an actual location. That’s exemplified in our modern world when we talk about caves. Obviously this doesn’t mean you have to go live in a cave, but a cave is more of a man cave, zen den, or cozy spot. This is the same for the other five. 

Kitchens are creative spaces for the collective. We are starting to see this in our modern world too, with our open kitchen style homes because the kitchen is the gathering spot. It’s also in the kitchen that we cook or create different dishes and meals. It’s where we nurture others with our creations.

Markets are a space outside of the home. A space of buzz and excitement. A market is also a place where you get to be choosy. Where you have options and get to select what you want, rather than just what’s available.

Mountains are how you can gain perspective. Sure that can be high on top of a mountain, but elevation really has nothing to do it with it. My husband is a mountains guy and his career is in real estate. He comes alive when he is driving around and talking about how an area is developing. In the car he is apart from the space and is able to move quickly to have that perspective of what’s happening.

Valley people like to be down in it with the community. On the ground floor, so to speak. They want to be right in it with the people. 

Shores people need to be “out on an island”. Similar to mountains people in that its a way to gain perspective but this is a bit further out. These are stargazers, they like to shift and move around. 

I’m a Kitchens person. When I go through my design chart, I do not immediately gravitate to this description. Caves, yeah. Mountains, sure. Even shores. But kitchens? I don’t know. And yet, I know this is important for me, because I keep coming back to it over and over again. If it wasn’t important or all that applicable, I would leave it and forget it. These things that haunt us have messages. They have meaning. They call to be healed. 

So much of my journey and my story began with hustle and ended in burnout. This hustle caused me to retreat. Understandably so. It caused me to go into a cave for healing and rest and it caused me to reject so much of my former self. The shadow can be a lonely space, but also an incredibly healing place. Coming out and back into your life can feel hard. Being in a cave for healing can feel really bright when I walk out. But what this element has been teaching me, through experiment and play, is that where I heal and where I thrive are likely two very different spots. 

As a manifestor, rest is an imminent part of my being. Rest is also an imminent part of healing, and yet they needn’t be one in the same. Rest can be preventative as well. This is my lesson. Yes, I need to come back to rest. Honor rest. Make rest a norm, rather than a luxury. But my rested, whole self will not thrive in isolation. No. She thrives in community. She thrives when she is able to share her healing elixirs and is able to watch the women in her circle imbibe fully. 

Kitchens has been a full circle experiment for me. I need rest and to take rest more. Rest, though, is not where I thrive. Rest is where I heal. Healing is a predecessor to thriving but not the ultimate space for manifestation.