natures invitation

Nature is sanctuary... home... life. When I am surrounded by the natural world it is easier to discard my sense of pompous separation and acknowledge my interconnection with life's many disguises.

When in nature it's ridiculous to assume a Pollyanna approach to its brilliance, waxing on about its kindness. I know that I don't understand it. I know that I must remain open and alert to the possibilities arising in each moment.
Nature demands respect and careful observation.
Nature demands that we come to our senses.
Literally.
And practice once more our neglected sense of:

smell as the scent of pine, wildflower, rain, moose, earth and wind speaks its olfactory dialog with our nose.
taste as our tongue receives the fresh tangy air of a pine forest.
hearing as we silence our cellphones and internal chatter long enough to listen and hear the rustle of wind in trees and the various sound each plant and tree and flower makes as it moves in conversation with the breeze.
touch as we feel the caress of life meeting life in and as tree, flower, bird, moose, you, me.

With senses open, nature becomes a lover inviting our bodies toward the vulnerability and pleasure of this particular NOW.

It is a miraculous invitation held out to us in every single now since the dawn of creation. And when we accept it, even for a moment, what wonders we behold.

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Coraggio

When everything looks bleak and the darkness cramps against the cold, it takes courage to simply look out from imagined isolation toward the wide horizon of beauty available in every moment. It takes courage to lean into the sea of life and trust the tide. When weary limbs no longer support us, it takes courage to trust our inner buoyancy and float. It takes courage, in the face of darkness, to remember the light and sit in all our apparent blindness and listen, silently, to the still, small whisper within. It takes courage, in that dark hour, when nothing else remains. Eyes closed. Eyes opened. A glimpse, a memory, a fleeting vision of a light so bright it blurs the borders of things seen and things perceived into a comprehensive wholeness of being. It takes courage.

tree digging

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angelbirdflies

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