(written May 10, 2013)
I am sitting in the RV watching and listening to a light yet persistent rain. I am currently in Mancos State Park, CO. This was not a planned stop per se. Until yesterday, I had been sharing my time and space in the RV with a friend who was visiting from Australia. Given that her visit was a vacation, a trip planned around experiencing and seeing things she would not otherwise in her daily routine, we had a stacked agenda. Our days were planned around which sites we would take in, what scenic route we would travel, or what urban experience we wanted to absorb. While there were many moments of silence between us, many spans of time apart and days wherein we went off and did our own thing; I am contemplating deeply today the impact of being alone, the quiet that occurs when we do not talk, the solitude that comes from not being engaged with other humans. I happened to park myself here, at Mancos, and have discovered a forested wilderness, a small lake, an extraordinarily dark night sky and complete quiet ~ all of which, I am enjoying without any other human interaction. There is one other camper in the region. There are homes dotting the hills outside the park boundary and within sight of my evening walk and morning run – both of which were endowed with hail as I was quite possibly exactly halfway around the lake. Anyone who knows me also knows that this is my bliss, my Zen, my way of reconnecting to my sense of spirituality. I am unusually comfortable alone. Writing that initiates much judgment of self, pondering of why that is, and questioning am I different? Questions and judgments that I have thankfully learned to acknowledge then set aside in exchange for self-acceptance and appreciation of who I am.
I am impelled to write now as I was sitting enjoying a cup of warm tea and the rain while looking at a pamphlet for Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico. What inspired me was in the section titled “Human Connections”. The pamphlet reads “Local Native people have a long and enduring relationship with the land and its resources.”My instinctive response was “all people do, we cannot live without the land.” Then after some consideration, I realized that the sentence in the pamphlet taken literally, did not express what I believe the reality is. I believe the reality is that the nature of the relationship is what sets the Native Peoples perspective apart from other views of human relationship to land. The Native People value the land as a living breathing being worthy of reverence. They are cautious about what they take and are conscious about giving back to the land. The land is the great mother and keeper of all beings.
Think about it, without the earth, the land, the seas, the sun, the sky etc…we would not exist. Our very life is dependent upon “the land”. We definitely are having a relationship! Albeit in many cultures today, it is an unhealthy one. This is what impelled me to write.
I don’t profess to be an environmentalist, an activist, a political letter writer or frankly even a news watcher. What I do know is what I see and experience from being extraordinarily curious about people. Sadly, what I am seeing with respect to our relationship to the land concerns me. I offer that, like any relationship, the human to land relationship thrives best under loving conditions. In order for us (humans and the earth) to live a long abundant life together, we must nurture one another with respect, kindness, and generosity, striving and supporting each other to live to our highest potential. These are certainly qualities I seek in human to human relationship. I have a simplified understanding of concepts such as reducing our carbon footprint, recycling, water conservation etc…all loving systems that will assist the earth to continue to thrive and sustain us for generations to come. Fundamental to any
undertaking is a purpose. So what is our purpose as a body of humans in caring graciously for this great earth? We sometimes think such questions are about the “big” picture and not relevant to our immediate experience, that “someone else” “out there” is taking that issue on. Often, we are apathetic, thinking “what difference does my contribution make?” I think your contribution is urgent. I invite you to ask yourself: What does the earth give me that I appreciate? I invite you to pay attention to what you are feeling when you see a resplendent sunset, a snow capped mountain, a rainbow of wildflowers in a field. I invite you to consider the enormity of the idea that this earth has sustained life since time began and it is still sustaining you, now. Nobody in relationship likes to be taken for granted. Becoming aware of the gifts we are receiving is a first step to taking loving action to sustain this extraordinary relationship we share with the earth. Believing in the impact of our thoughts and what is called our “energy”, I ask you to take pause today, to touch the grass with bare feet, to inhale the sweet scent of a flower, to close your eyes as you eat a piece of fruit and to recall that the earth generously gifted each of these to you. Then, feel gratitude for the earth, for all of her gifts, let your loving and appreciative energy flow out to the earth with grace.
Namasté
I am sitting in the RV watching and listening to a light yet persistent rain. I am currently in Mancos State Park, CO. This was not a planned stop per se. Until yesterday, I had been sharing my time and space in the RV with a friend who was visiting from Australia. Given that her visit was a vacation, a trip planned around experiencing and seeing things she would not otherwise in her daily routine, we had a stacked agenda. Our days were planned around which sites we would take in, what scenic route we would travel, or what urban experience we wanted to absorb. While there were many moments of silence between us, many spans of time apart and days wherein we went off and did our own thing; I am contemplating deeply today the impact of being alone, the quiet that occurs when we do not talk, the solitude that comes from not being engaged with other humans. I happened to park myself here, at Mancos, and have discovered a forested wilderness, a small lake, an extraordinarily dark night sky and complete quiet ~ all of which, I am enjoying without any other human interaction. There is one other camper in the region. There are homes dotting the hills outside the park boundary and within sight of my evening walk and morning run – both of which were endowed with hail as I was quite possibly exactly halfway around the lake. Anyone who knows me also knows that this is my bliss, my Zen, my way of reconnecting to my sense of spirituality. I am unusually comfortable alone. Writing that initiates much judgment of self, pondering of why that is, and questioning am I different? Questions and judgments that I have thankfully learned to acknowledge then set aside in exchange for self-acceptance and appreciation of who I am.
I am impelled to write now as I was sitting enjoying a cup of warm tea and the rain while looking at a pamphlet for Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico. What inspired me was in the section titled “Human Connections”. The pamphlet reads “Local Native people have a long and enduring relationship with the land and its resources.”My instinctive response was “all people do, we cannot live without the land.” Then after some consideration, I realized that the sentence in the pamphlet taken literally, did not express what I believe the reality is. I believe the reality is that the nature of the relationship is what sets the Native Peoples perspective apart from other views of human relationship to land. The Native People value the land as a living breathing being worthy of reverence. They are cautious about what they take and are conscious about giving back to the land. The land is the great mother and keeper of all beings.
Think about it, without the earth, the land, the seas, the sun, the sky etc…we would not exist. Our very life is dependent upon “the land”. We definitely are having a relationship! Albeit in many cultures today, it is an unhealthy one. This is what impelled me to write.
I don’t profess to be an environmentalist, an activist, a political letter writer or frankly even a news watcher. What I do know is what I see and experience from being extraordinarily curious about people. Sadly, what I am seeing with respect to our relationship to the land concerns me. I offer that, like any relationship, the human to land relationship thrives best under loving conditions. In order for us (humans and the earth) to live a long abundant life together, we must nurture one another with respect, kindness, and generosity, striving and supporting each other to live to our highest potential. These are certainly qualities I seek in human to human relationship. I have a simplified understanding of concepts such as reducing our carbon footprint, recycling, water conservation etc…all loving systems that will assist the earth to continue to thrive and sustain us for generations to come. Fundamental to any
undertaking is a purpose. So what is our purpose as a body of humans in caring graciously for this great earth? We sometimes think such questions are about the “big” picture and not relevant to our immediate experience, that “someone else” “out there” is taking that issue on. Often, we are apathetic, thinking “what difference does my contribution make?” I think your contribution is urgent. I invite you to ask yourself: What does the earth give me that I appreciate? I invite you to pay attention to what you are feeling when you see a resplendent sunset, a snow capped mountain, a rainbow of wildflowers in a field. I invite you to consider the enormity of the idea that this earth has sustained life since time began and it is still sustaining you, now. Nobody in relationship likes to be taken for granted. Becoming aware of the gifts we are receiving is a first step to taking loving action to sustain this extraordinary relationship we share with the earth. Believing in the impact of our thoughts and what is called our “energy”, I ask you to take pause today, to touch the grass with bare feet, to inhale the sweet scent of a flower, to close your eyes as you eat a piece of fruit and to recall that the earth generously gifted each of these to you. Then, feel gratitude for the earth, for all of her gifts, let your loving and appreciative energy flow out to the earth with grace.
Namasté
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