Finding Solutions In A Dead Era
Through much study & contemplation I have decided the most solid factor in my life which eases my mind, puts grounding to my passions & sense into my soul, is the earth; nature. The roar of a wave expressing its passion, fury, wisdom & perfection; the howl of the wind shooting through limbs, rustling leaves; the drop of rain, the running of a river, the heat of the sun, the cold from its absence; the black bear with its crushing footstep, the mountain lions & deer’s, quails & doves, grasses both dry & wet; the audacity of nature itself reminds me of my place in the world. Growing up, for some reason or another, we seem to believe we are bigger, more important than earth, nature. In our modern cities, suburbs & rural suburbs, we have a disconnect with nature. “It’s cold outside!” “Look at that wind!” “It’s too hot for that today” “the weather is supposed to be GEORGOUS this weekend.” All common things for me to hear. Yet do we do anything to connect with these things, or just simply acknowledge them.
I have committed myself to do at least one thing a day which connects / reconnects me with nature. Last night after dinner my fiancé & I chose not to do anything which required electricity. I wanted to “feel” the early coming of nightfall & embrace how long it lasts. I wanted to consciously “feel” how dark it was outside & embrace it / accept it. So we lit some candles, and with one on my chest as we lay in bed I read aloud 50 pages of a Steinbeck novel neither one of us had read before. It was a great night! It had never really struck me how us humans create a truly artificial daytime in our culture, and I wonder about the impacts that has on our own mental wellbeing.
We never “stop,” really, in our culture today. It’s from wake to work from work to home to making dinner eating dinner cleaning dinner watching tv laying down for bed falling asleep getting up to use the restroom falling asleep waking up going to work coming home making dinner; so on & so forth. Where is the time for us to remember we’re living creatures with a MILLION thoughts / emotions / feelings which most definitely require attention. Where is our time to debrief? Watching reality tv, a sitcom, film, these are not activities which help us debrief from our day, they simply block out what has happened in our day; the outcome is in the morning when we get to work or school our problems / issues / stressers pick up right where they left off…& they begin to compound.
Today, to reconnect with nature, I suited up warmly in some rain gear & covered some of my plants for our california winter season. It felt brilliant to be working with the plants as rain showered down from up above; and I was warm! Dry! I was IN the elements, not complaining one bit. When I returned inside & stripped down from my insulated rain gear I didn’t say in a complaining tone, “it’s POURING out there.” Nah… I just put on a sweatshirt & started working on some stuff inside the house.
Tonight, I may do the same as last night, keep the electricity off, read from Steinbeck, sleep well, wake with the sun or rain & smile at it.
One solution to this massive circus we call life is simply to calm down, take a minute, have a breath, and go outside into an epic world full of a million things, all of which you can find for free 
con suerte,
-andrew
Right on, blake. We are not separate from nature or other beings for that matter. We inter-are! What a fabulous thing to acknowledge and therefore unlock the pure joy in knowing this; these are life’s gifts!
Your passionate words are like an inspiring flame under my ass telling me to get up and move along with nature and quit fighting it. Great post.