Coming in Balance With Earth Weekly anonymous quotes** from people engaged in reconnecting with nature activities.
April 15, 1998
Texas"An activity helped me become aware of my attraction to the crescent moon as it hung over two hills near my home. Soon, its mellow glow, framed by peaks and trees, embraced me in a wordless, ancient primordial scene. Timeless power, peace and unity swept me up. I just wanted to stay in that state of awe, I felt in balance with all of reality. I was simply "BEING." No tension, no pressing goal, just truly belonging to the global community. This natural energy captured my stress laden pulse and seduced it to the rhythms of Earth. The sleeping disorder I have battled all my adult life dissolved in this power. For the first time in decades, I gently fell asleep after dark and arose shortly after dawn. I celebrated the breakthrough and I thanked nature. I thanked the activity, too, for it lets me reconnect whenever I choose."
October, 1998,
New York State"As I continued the forest activity I found myself attracted to the various songs of the birds and then gradually to the various stones and nuts and shells in the path. I would stop in the path, pick up the stone, admire its beauty and then feel clearly called to return it to its appropriate place. So often other times I have felt I needed to put it in my pocket and carry it home. Now I had a real sense of appreciating each rock, each shell, each leaf in its place for the time I was there. I felt suddenly freed from the need to possess something. I had a growing sense of letting it be and to just be still and glory in the fullness of the moment.
As I allowed myself to connect, appreciate, thank and move on with so much of what surrounded me, I felt a letting go into being present. In this transformation, I began to feel a part of the scene more and not the other self that needed to possess.
I learned that I do not need to possess something to have the joy of it."
Earth Day April 22, 1998
British Columbia"Trees swaying, blue sky,
Soothing wind blows through my soul,
Earth, wind, sky, trees, Us!"
"This haiku arose in me as I sat under a tree in my beloved forest area where I have skiied all winter and had many beautiful moments of connection to Earth. The area is wondrous now, washed in sunlight; green spruces and beige poplars seem happier, brighter. This glorious sunny day inspired the haiku through light often gusty winds blowing and playing with the tops of trees. An owl called (even in bright daylight) and songbirds visited from time to time as they wandered through the forest. My dogs, as usual, played or sat near me. I was inspired to assume the posture of the swaying trees so I stood up. Feet firmly planted on the ground, I moved my upper body and arms mostly to the changing motions of the wind in the trees. I sensed how rigid my storied, stressed body and thoughts are, and how wonderful it feels to let go and let the wind, through nature's intelligent-nameless-love, carry me, touch me, move me. All the while, as my upper body swayed, my feet felt firmly rooted to Earth - an empowering feeling of belonging.
I realize that, yes, many people around here would label this as "flaky". My response is, "If this is so, are you really happy with the effects of our non-flaky world? What's important?" I feel the reconnecting with nature process is the opposite of flaky, which connotes superficiality. I'm tried many forms of self-improvement, this is the deepest work I have been involved in."
May 4, 1998, Florida
"The activity was amazing. As I wandered the area, communing non-verbally to permissons from attractions as they appeared, groups of starlings gathered in the trees above my head. As soon as I stopped and consciously focused on them, they flew away. When I withdrew my focus and allowed myself to be touched by the surrounding attractions again, the birds returned, fluttering and chirping. I felt entirely connected with the natural area - I felt an inspiring sense of awe, and tears came to my eyes at the beauty of this ecosystem of which I was a part. I felt priveleged and honoured to be a full participant in that part of nature and Earth for that time."
May 11, Washington DC
I am sitting on a park bench in a soft rain. Because of the rain there are very few people around. I am sitting here because a very old, very large tree has called me here. The tree is several feet around and must be hundreds of years old. I cannot explain the way it called to me; but I knew immediately that I wanted to do this "knowing without names" activity here.
When I know this area without names or labels I feel an ancient presence, timelessness, warmth (but not temperature warmth) "heart warm" whatever that is. The place is saying wisdom, knowledge, power. I feel sad that I cannot know what it knows. I wish it could teach me. Without my name I am nature, the same as the tree, the grass, and the soft rain that falls on my face and becomes a part of me.
I am a question, I am hungry, but not for food.
In doing this activity I have reaffirmed my trust in nature. My eyes very often fill with tears when I do these activities. The moment I saw this tree my eyes filled and I had to touch it. I put my fingers into the deep groves in the bark and I can feel the tree "breathe" (for lack of a word). This type of attraction is something I have felt all my life and I know that it is real. If I were to lose this ability I would feel very alone. I want to be part of the world around me and I appreciate it allowing me to hear and feel it.
May 16, Illinois
"Upon the stage of this natural area, I slowly make my way, feeling lines radiate from the center of my being, from my belly, lighting pathways of connection. And following the pathways, acknowledging the connections, I know myself as a sensing being, a sentient being, who cannot deny the truth of what she feels.
Just as love starts with self, so too trust. I'm beginning to understand that as a child - with my 53 senses sensing like crazy to discover all I could about this world I live in- I trusted those bigger and smarter than me when they told stories that reduced my senses to five. (after all that's what good little girls do, right?) Contact with nature is helping me to see that in trusting others, I began to learn to distrust, mistrust myself -- it was them or me, had to be, because my 53 senses were still sensing like crazy and telling me this five-sensed world is a lesser world than the world really is....and I couldn't live, didn't know how to live, in both.
I'm beginning to understand that my story of trust never did become clear and precise, but rather developed into a distorted and tangled mess. AND I am excitedly beginning to see that the full sensing part of me never really did let go (or I never really did let go of it) --that it sat on my shoulder (like Jiminy Cricket) and kept whispering not to trust those bigger and smarter people and their limiting stories, while the five-senses stories, and the people who told them, grew more and more powerful. And so I became confused,and so clarity eluded me....and I so came to trust no one, myself (and "Jiminy") included."
May 20, Germany
"Many times I have also forced myself to back away from the deadlines and details of the our super demanding lives and return to nature. In every case I have found the same welcoming feeling of self. In fact, I had to stop today (a particularly stressful day) and make contact with a beautiful maple tree outside of my office window whose leaves are just popping out of their buds. People often ask me how I stay so calm while they are all running around like crazy. When I try to share the ideas in this course, so many people look at me as if I was the crazy one."
May 23, New York
As a nature artist, I have known nature produces unity for awhile, but have been unable to verbalize exactly what was happening to me. Sometimes I thought it was a unique experience, until it started happening to my husband too, when he would go out with me. Something in us changed. Our relationship deepened. I started feeling the world in a different way. A joy crept into my heart that I had never known before. My time out in the woods "working" was more effective than a month of therapy, more fulfilling, and ALOT cheaper. My husband and I checked it out, and our pulse rates actually lowered when we spent the day in nature! In fact now it's a joke between us when we go out in nature. "How ya doing Honey?" and take each other pulse.
May 26, Japan
I learned was that I can reconnect with nature anywhere. I don't have to wait until my day off to go to my favorite place. I can take my break outside and do these activities in an environment in which I feel very disconnected. How could this experience not enhance my self-worth and trustfulness of nature? I am allowing myself to be more open to non -physically explained phenomenon and it's incredible in every aspect of myself (spritual, mental, emotional and physical). This is really powerful stuff. I wish I had more words to add accolades and applause and flashes of light as my expression to how this makes me feel
Every week, Project NatureConnect sends these thoughts from its online course participants. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
** To receive a short quote weekly via email sign up at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Natureconnectnews/
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