We’ve been in full Colorado springtime with incredible sunshine and gentle warmth. I hope you all have been spending as much time outdoors as I have. It feels like my cells have been waking up in a way that makes me crave joy, laughter, and cookouts with pals.
On hikes with my dog, I’ve been reflecting on the sense of community and belonging that I feel in nature. The growth of all the plants, trees, and flowers around me makes me feel like I’m surrounded by cherished friends. Each friend brings something different to the table…
Flowers make me feel so appreciative of the present moment. The ephemeral nature of their beauty reminds me to feel gratitude for what is here now.
The huge cottonwood trees growing their leaves again give me a sense of the return of old friends. I feel their stability, strength, and reliability.
The creeks filled with water feels like a welcoming life force on the planet. Mother Nature provides for us. We are inherently connected through the skies, oceans, glaciers, and ponds.
I wish for everyone to be able to feel this sense of belonging and interconnection in nature. With the people around us, we all vacillate through times of feeling connected and disconnected. This is being human. When our relationships are flowing well, we feel a nourishing sense of tribe that brings out our best self. However, during times of challenge in relationship, it’s easy to fall into a feeling of isolation and depletion.
It’s tempting to try to “keep growing” to arrive at some enlightened state where we feel connected all the time in our relationships! While this is sometimes a beautiful impulse, it can also set an unattainable goal that makes us feel bad about ourselves or others that we love.
Instead, what if we cut ourselves and the people in our lives a little slack? Challenges are natural in life. One of the ways that we can get through them, however, is by discovering inner resources.
When we know how to create a feeling of interconnection with the ecosystem around us, we cultivate a spiritual resource that is deeply reliable. Rain or shine, we can connect to the trees, soil, and animals in our environment. We can know that our bodies came from the Earth and will return to the Earth. We can experientially feel that the sunlight that pours into the atmosphere is the prana that flows through every one of us.
Next time you’re outside, you can even bring this connection into more conscious awareness by asking for guidance from the eternal forces:
“Mother Earth, what nourishment and support do I currently need in my life?”
“Father Sky, am I living a life in alignment with my soul purpose?”
“Sister River, what area of my life could use more flow and surrender?”
As a way of giving back, I often pause and send appreciative energy to the flora around me. I intuitively feel that they can sense my gratitude and love. Some trees have even told me that they adore when people see their beauty and strength.
My gratitude also goes to each of you still reading, who certainly have a kinship with the natural world. I trust that a better world awaits us when all humans know that they are never alone or abandoned, so long as they open to the community of life that literally surrounds them. Wherever you are right now, I encourage you to pause and feel the Earth underneath you. Feel the sky and cosmos above you. Take a breath into a deep knowing that you belong right here, right now, in the interconnection of life.
Blessings,
Kelley