What humankind builds inevitably crumbles and turns to dust. Nature being centered in some higher power of the universe, quietly takes over and continues in its eternal renewal and expansion. Total human civilizations have been built and destroyed while Nature watches.
Perhaps it is time we took a cue from Nature. We are no longer centered in our eternal natural rhythms; they are being overwritten with man-made programming. We think we own our smart phones, but more often than not, they end up owning us. Next time you’re out in a public place, look around you. Generally speaking, more faces are pointing down towards those tiny screens than are looking up and around at the world.
We are organic beings, not machines, and yet those little screens have quite a scary hold on humankind. Technology has its place and can be very helpful to us, but if Nature teaches us anything, it’s about balance.
How do we reclaim ourselves, so that we can live in balanced harmony with our natural habitat (the Earth) and our machines?
My garden is a refuge for me, a respite from the troubles of the world. Do you have a refuge? Men often call it their “cave” and I will share with you a post from April 2021 (yes, when we were in the thick of the pandemic, and all going crazy.) Finishing with a new poem “Garden”.
Today I tip my hat to the wisdom of men, and one in particular who taught me (with much head bashing on my part) that “caves are sacred”.
Do you have a designated place where you can go to claim a quiet interlude, far away from the fray and anger of the world? Our modern world is always a noisy place, but the volume got turned up full blast in 2020. The mental discouragement and emotional processing of negativity just feel like too much to bear some days.
People often equate the word sacred with church, but have you considered that the term should encompass protecting your own internal landscape? If you do not honor and protect your own peace of mind, if you do not recognize that it comes first and foremost, sooner or later the current craziness of life will take its toll.
If you have not already done so, establish a sacred place where you can find some quiet and cultivate peace within yourself, where you can hear your own voice.
I have noticed that men (at least the ones I have known) are particularly good at this. They call it “going to my cave”. When the big problems feel overwhelming, going to a quiet place and working in solitude on a smaller solvable project allows them a) time to process their thoughts, and b) restores their sense of mastery over their environment. They emerge feeling more in balance.
On a humorous note, a girl friend’s husband emerged from his cave on one of my visits, sporting a T-shirt that read, “What happens in the shop stays in the shop”.
Hmm… It did make me wonder what exorcisms those walls have seen. 🙂
“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”(Henry David Thoreau)
Just as Thoreau apparently did, I feel very connected to nature and the Earth. How about you? If I had my druthers, I would spend the rest of my days exploring her wild places.
I also love the below quote by Edward Abbey, notable American author and essayist. I do believe when we connect to nature, we feel the pulse of our origins. We somehow got this idea that taller buildings and more technology define us as more civilized. I would tend to disagree… It feels to me like society is becoming more uncivilized by the minute.
When we reconnect to the Earth and respect her in a way that she deserves to be cherished, it will be a big step towards creating a healthier, more fulfilled and truly civilized society.
The haiku Blink is an excerpt from my tribute to nature,Our Beautiful Earth, now in its 2nd Edition
Wishing you a beautiful weekend, bright with happy things. 🙂 Now I must bid you adieu, because Izzy and I have some gardening to do.
Do you realize your true worth in the world? Experience and learning, love, and the people in your life are the gold. Your soul is the gold. YOU are the gold.
We live in a world that prays to the almighty money god. For many people abundance means having loads of it in the bank, so that they can buy any THING they want. Money = happiness, or so they think. But is this true abundance? What have you invested in today that would still be with you tomorrow if your money disappeared overnight?
At the end of your life, in your soul’s journey and looking back from your deathbed, the things you accumulated will mean nothing. They will be simply material objects that accompanied you on your journey through life.
The Trip
We arrive with no luggage and leave with none too, so why do we spend a lifetime accumulating mere things?
To prop up our egos, and relieve our boredom, to salve our hurts, and impress the neighbors.
Within the glorious potential of the soul’s quest, we lay waste to what could have been for the next new toy.
The kids fight over the treasures left behind by their parents, thinking that the having is some kind of victory.
But the wounds inflicted in the fight for more are baggage of a different kind, ones that can cross over if we don’t take care.
Traveling light and loving well are the real accomplishments, and as big as they are, they pack small for the leaving.