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Posts from the ‘Nature’ Category

Jun 2

Reclamation

“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can”.”― John Muir

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”― John Muir, The Mountains of California

Get lost then found in nature.
Explore, wander, be quiet to hear the symphony.
Waterfalls flowing, birds singing, a soft breeze on a summer’s day.
Restoration, rejuvenation, reclamation.
Soul, spirit, body.
It’s a beautiful world.
Go out into it.

“The sun shines not on us but in us.”― John Muir

May 10

Refrains of Nature

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”― Albert Einstein

Heed the call of nature.
Get out in it.
To stop overthinking.
To listen.
To observe.
To inquire.
To breathe deeply.
Watch quietly.
When your world gets too small, get out into the world of nature.

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Feb 17

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Birch Swinging

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree~
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.”― Robert Frost

The hem of Heaven.
The earth beneath my feet.
The common work between the mountains and valleys.
In all things, in each moment, a possibility to see and be new.
Present, awake and in awe, sitting right next to boredom and commitments.
Auto pilot off, task checking paused, for a moment or two a swinger of birches.
Delight in each season and the moments they are made up of.
Next and near to, a breath away.
May each see all that is before, breathe deeply, choosing what to grasp and what to release.
Daily bread.

“The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain common work as it comes certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life.”― Robert Louis Stevenson

Dec 10

Under Our Feet

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” — Henry David Thoreau

“When it comes to the beauty of nature, time stops, the space becomes silent and the soul falls asleep while awake!”― Mehmet Murat ildan

After an off-leash romp in the woods, Abby returned wearing the woods.
And a big grin.
Sasha came up behind with the same delight.
Coats of joy.
Evidence of frolic.
A big mess to brush out.
Worth every stroke.
A release of energy and enthusiasm to generate even more.
Go off leash every day.
Untie from tasks, rushing, shoulds, have-tos, busy work, transactional.
Unbound, untethered, free-falling into felicity.
Nature invites all to the playground of expanse and exploration.
Breathe. Drink. Taste.

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” —Henry David Thoreau

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Dec 7

Gladness and Praise

“I am one of those who has no trouble imagining the sentient lives of trees, of their leaves in some fashion communicating or of the massy trunks and heavy branches knowing it is I who have come, as I always come, each morning, to walk beneath them, glad to be alive and glad to be there.”― Mary Oliver, Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems

“I would write praise poems that might serve as comforts, reminders, or even cautions if needed, to wayward minds and unawakened hearts.”― Mary Oliver, Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems

May gladness and praise be the path you walk.
The well you drink from.
Your journey home.
Wandering and wondering.
Dipping into the immeasurable.
Awakened and found.
Attentive to the beauty.
Held by the light.

“And as with prayer, which is a dipping of oneself toward the light, there is a consequence of attentiveness to the grass itself, and the sky itself, and to the floating bird. I too leave the fret and enclosure of my own life. I too dip myself toward the immeasurable.”― Mary Oliver, Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems

Oct 22

On Whom Nothing is Lost

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.” – John Keats

“Try to be one of those on whom nothing is lost.”― Henry James, The Art of Fiction

The crunch of leaves;
The crackle of snow;
The softness of thaw;
The sinking of sand;
Whatever season, feel the earth under your feet;
Grounded in the present, the now of it all;
Walk the path, break trail too, wandering and exploring;
Fully present, moving into the unfolding and unfurling.

“Paths are made by walking”― Franz Kafka

Oct 16

Fruits of Octobers

“We cannot become so impatient for the destination that we arrive before we are ready.”
― Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.”― Hal Borland

Late bloom
Color ablaze as dormancy ensues
No bloom without seed
No harvest without planting and waiting
Harvest and planting time in each season
Patience, endurance, persistence
Fruits of Octobers remind of ever-present beauty in transitions, in thresholds to becoming.

“We are made to persist.
that’s how we find out who we are.”― Tobias Wolff

Sep 27

Deep Woods

“Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen.” – David Wagoner

“We are gradually losing the art of silence. Of walking down the street lost in our own thoughts. Of closing the door to our rooms and being quiet. Of sitting on a park bench and just thinking. We may fear silence because we fear what we might hear from the deepest parts of ourselves. We may be afraid to hear that “still small” voice. What might it say? Might it ask us to change?”― James Martin, SJ

May curiosity be your compass.
Silence your friend.
Unfolding and unfurling into the deep woods of unknowing, becoming.

“When I think of the wisest people I know, they share one defining trait: curiosity. They turn away from the minutiae of their lives-and focus on the world around them. They are motivated by the desire to explore the unfamiliar. They are drawn toward what they don’t understand.”― Dani Shapiro, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life

Sep 2

Reciprocity

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” – Samuel Smiles

Summer Sun by Robert Louis Stevenson

“Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven without repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad,
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles,
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.”

May you be touched by the sun
Warmed
Softened
Held
In return, share your light with the world
Reciprocity.

Jul 31

Flying Flower

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The butterfly is a flying flower. The flower is a tethered butterfly.” — Ponce Denis

Fill yourself with summer.
Sun, flowers, butterflies.
Nature invites, embraces, creates.
Get out on the playground.
Participate, observe, renew.
Enchantment awaits.

“When the spirit of nature touches us, our hearts turn into a butterfly!” — Mehmet Murat Ildan

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