nature

There is no going back

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A seed, once sprouted can’t ever return to curl up once again in its protective shell. Something magical has been set in motion that must play out!

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Tiny seedlings and concrete

Once born, a baby cannot reenter the womb. It’s life is now, unfolding as nature intended – growing, developing, maturing, with no looking back.

Once you have crossed the threshold of healing, once you have experienced the soul satisfaction of living at full power, once you have regained your own voice and witnessed your own light from the inside out, you, my dear, will never look back at your old life with longing.

You may have fond memories of the past, but you will know without a doubt that your path unfolds before you, as nature intends.

You are here to grow and develop into the best version of yourself. You are here to fulfill the promise set forth on that magical day of your birth!

Contentment

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Do you fear that you will lose your edge, become complaisant, or a lie-about if you allow yourself to be content? (Those of you who push, jockey, and fight for position in life will need to cover your ears and eyes for a moment.)

Contentment is peace and peace is your true nature. Contentment is a feeling that all is right with the world. “All is right within me. I want for nothing in this moment. I feel good in this moment. All is well in this moment.”

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Belted Kingfisher

Yet, in the next moment, you may find yourself remembering a want, a need, trying to solve a problem, or worrying about what is next for you.

Can you hold the memory of the feeling of contentment in your heart? Then you can bring it back to mind when you want to feel peace again.

You might remember the feeling of contentment you had while sitting on your porch watching golden patches of sunlight light up the trees in late evening.

You might remember the feeling of contentment while walking in the woods on a cool summer morning listening to birdsong.

You might remember the feeling of contentment you had when holding your new grandchild in your arms.

Savor these moments of your precious life and inhabit them fully, for they are your life. Remember the sights, smells, feelings and emotions of contentment and bring them to your awareness.  Pay attention, absorb the feelings into your heart and breathe in the peace you feel.

And now I ask on behalf of the trees and all living things: Can you be content with the earth and her living creatures, her rooted beings, her stones and bedrock without bulldozing the sacred trees, scraping away the precious soil, paving over the prairies, felling the forests, scarring the landscape with ugly buildings, making war on those you do not understand?

Dear ones, these acts  reflect discontent, a pulling away from your center.  They are not you at your best, not a reflection of your higher self.  Find gentler ways to live and interact with this earth and her people, and we will all thrive.

Those who find contentment and peace within will live in harmony with nature, with the earth, with others, and with all that is.

We belong together

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Dear ones, you are here on planet Earth inhabiting your magnificent body, taking up the space you need, partaking of the Earth’s resources – drinking, bathing washing in her precious water, eating foods that originate in the earth…

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You are using her stones to pave your roads, her wood to build your homes; her gems, minerals and metals to beautify your lives and support your roads, bridges, and buildings.

All living creatures depend on Mother Earth’s growing things to feed and clothe and nourish and shade and shelter and provide a soul satisfying life.

We have grown up together, the earth and all her creatures. We depend on each other.

We need each other to sustain our beautiful lives here on this sweet green earth where there is space to be who you are; space to live.

Let us care for one another, human, animal, plant, insect, bird, micro-organism, water, air, soil, so all can thrive!

What can you learn from plants?

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What is it you’d like to know dear ones? Do you want to know what it feels like to live your entire life in the elements in tune with the seasons and cycles of nature? Do you wish to experience life from the perspective of a rooted creature of the earth?

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Virginia creeper, sunlight and shadow

Can you imitate a magnificent tree, rooted and patient and focused in the here and now? Giving all of yourself to your current occupation, focusing your attention like a shaft of sunlight or a laser beam?

Do you know that roots give freedom to grow, reach, spread, and accept the gifts of sunlight, moonlight, rain, twilight, sunset color?

Do you become quiet and observant?  Do you breathe in the rich fragrance of the soil, feel the rough bark, become mesmerized by the shimmering silvery leaves overhead, marvel at the intricacy of our root systems?

The community of rooted beings has much to teach the human world, both at the physical level and the level of spirit. Can you quiet your mind and focus your powers of attention enough to learn from us?

Intoxicating…

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Must you intoxicate yourself? If so, intoxicate yourself with the summer day.

Lose yourself in the shifting and dappled shade under a friendly tree, the breeze moving through the grasses like waves on the sea.

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Female red winged blackbird

Feed your spirit with the shimmering silver leaves on the crown of a cottonwood tree, birdsong, insect music, cloud patterns, rushing water in the creek weaving patterns in the sand and silt, the scent of wildflowers and tree blossoms…

Come under the influence of the soft morning air embracing you, the hoot owl at dusk, patterns of sunlight and shadow in the leafy neighborhoods, soaring birds riding the thermals, the hot sunlit air…

Surrender to the beating of your heart, the breath flowing in and out of your lungs, the weight of your body and limbs as you let yourself rest, as you allow the earth to support you

Fall in love with the moon waxing to full, filling the night sky with her silvery light, waning to new, repeating her ancient cycle without end.

This is your world, your precious gift. Give yourself to it, body and soul.

Roots hold fast

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Your roots will hold fast during the storms of life when the wind rises and the rains pour down. Your roots hold fast when you fear for your life or health.

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Summer grasses

When the thunder cracks and lighting blinds you, your deep roots will keep you upright. Bending with the wind will keep you from breaking. You will weather this storm and the next and the next for there will be more. It is the nature of life.

Your deep roots allow you to stretch to your full height and reach, to feel and know your belonging to this earth in this place and time without fear of toppling over, breaking, or blowing away.

Our roots, the roots of all growing things interweave and stitch together the soil, the stuff of life that feeds your planet and makes your existence possible. From the deepest taproot to the tiniest microscopic thread searching for water, roots hold your world in place with love.

Invitation from a tree

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Dear ones, I invite you to rest here against my rough bark, soaking in the energy of the earth and sky that I channel through my my roots and branches. Rest in my shade and I’ll wrap you in peace.

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Grandmother Cottonwood and hand

I’ll help you root to the earth, to feel at home; to feel belonging and kinship with all creatures here below. I’ll help you reach to the heavens and feel your connection to the source of creation.

We trees might be simple life forms when measured against your mighty accomplishments. Yet you grew up on this earth in the company of trees in forests, jungles, savannas, or those purposefully planted in your neighborhoods.

We belong together!

We trees wish to be reunited with you and your higher selves- the part of you that can feel and know the harmony and healing love we offer. Sit with us quietly and feel peace.

Two webs

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Billions of roots hold the soil. The multitude of grasses, the flowering beauties that return year after year, those rooted organisms you call weeds, the magnificent trees of our beloved planet all anchor our soil, forming a vast web of interconnection…  Call it love!

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Honeysuckle and ash tree

The web of roots anchoring this abundant life mirrors the energetic web of all things, invisible to most, yet permeating and connecting all things in exquisite perfection. No word or thought or feeling of any human can be separated from this web. They are the stuff of the web.

The energetic vibrations of your feelings, thoughts and words announce you and create an energy pattern, unique to you. Others might not see this, but they can feel and sense it.

Your energies and vibrations join with those of others and yet others, and still more, creating intricate patterns and possibilities one alone could not dream of.

Just as the mighty roots of a cottonwood intertwine and interweave with the roots of other trees, grasses, weeds, and wildflowers, so do your thoughts and words interweave with the feelings, thoughts, and words of others. In this way, you are all connected at the energetic level…   Some call it spirit.

Change

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You stand on the forefront of great change. The very earth beneath your feet, the atmosphere that permeates your world are all shifting. You have heard the tired old words about change – that it is inevitable. These words, while tired, are true.

Even great cottonwoods fall, as the earth is washed away from their roots, the wind rises, lightning strikes. The great tree, reduced to splinters. The physical body, living creatures, trees, are all subject to the eternal laws of nature.

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Grandmother Cottonwood

All things come into being, all things die, all things are transformed into the earth beneath our feet; food for rooted things, reminders of things and loved ones past. Even the stones will wear away to sand and dust.

Do not weep over what has been. Set yourself firmly in what is now. Embody your life now, even if it is not what you hoped for, dreamed, of, planned. Gather your courage, heart and strength to live in this world as it is now, created from the ever changing web of all things.

Your higher self alone is unchangeable, the one true constant in your life. Some call it spirit, or soul.  While all around you changes, your spirit, the core of your being remains steady, rooted, strong.

Nature and time

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You divide what you call “time” into even increments. You measure the immeasurable with clocks and watches, shiny addictive devices. You live by the schedule imposed from outside yourself. You order your lives according to the numbers and commands of the little gadget in your pocket or on your wall.

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Waxing moon and sycamore

You allow your ideas, beliefs, bodily needs for food and drink, rest and sleep to be ruled by a pale and ineffective substitute for the real thing. Do these ideas and concepts and gadgets run your lives instead of the sun that bathes our planet in life giving light? – instead of the cycles of nature?

The more “civilized’ you are, the farther you are from the seasons, rhythms of nature, of sun and moon, and dawn, noon, evening, dusk, planting, reaping, nesting, fledging, aging, death, and rebirth..

You have been created to order your days and nights according to the nuances of sunlight and moonlight, and the needs of your body. This is the wise way of all nature.

Your bodies – all living things are minutely attuned to this light – the angle of the sun, the length of days, the quality of brightness, the position of the sun, moon and stars in the sky…

There is no match for the wisdom of your bodies in concert with the natural world. Work within the wise ways of nature. Become a student of her cycles, her life giving energy.

All time is now, dear ones. There is only the infinite now. It is where you must attend your focus. Pull your mind from past and future, from the pull of your devices, and live in the light, for you will only be balanced, focused and centered in your power in the here and now.

It is the eternal present where the true richness of life unfolds.