Nature lovers: A path to spirituality

Being in nature has and always will be home – the place where I feel the most at peace and in sync with who I truly am. I can get carried away by a cotton candy sky, enveloped in a big branchy oak tree, and lost in a vast green pasture. It is like I’m seeing it for the first time – soaking in its splendor. I’m not sure how I came to be this way, but I know it’s the essence of my spirituality.

It enhances my acceptance, strengthens my capacity for gratitude, and widens my scope for love. This affection is the reason I seek out the wonder and awe in others.

It happens every September. I walk out of my house one morning to a knowing that reveals fall is upon me. With bright eyes and a smile, I turn to my husband and say, “I can feel a slight chill”. This comment is usually met with a side eye stare as we stand together in 90-degree Florida heat.  Of course, although milder, much milder in some cases, we do experience seasonal shifts. I love fall – the changes in color and the approaching holiday season. But this appreciation mostly follows a long and hot summer.

Not much happens in summer, other than an overindulgence of the same for weeks on end. After a few weeks it loses its lust. You may feel like me, in which case you might agree that deep down inside we yearn for change and growth, that which a hot and stagnant environment doesn’t offer. We become bored and uninterested in stagnancy. While it offers us ease and comfort, rarely does it provide us with much else. What it does offer is a vision towards our next quest.

Learning how to release and let go: moving through the seasons

The mere thought of change can rattle even the most stable of us. It can be scary – whether planned or unexpected. On the contrary it can be exciting, offering us new experiences, and new ways of thinking and being in the world. Despite knowing change is a constant, we cling to the familiar dragging our heels behind. You all know the feeling. You finally get into a groove and then whap! The rug is pulled from beneath you uncovering dust, grime, [or perhaps soil.]

You see, we also experience seasonal shifts – passing through summer, fall, winter and spring. As like in summer you may experience an abundance; an ease, effortless to your existence. You may find yourself comfortable yet perhaps becoming complacent. This may lead into an intentional shift in your focus; or an unforeseen life transition may come crashing in on you. Either way, fall will arrive offering you the opportunity to release and let go. You may notice apparent changes within and around you. This may lead to winter, requiring trust and faith that new beginnings are upon you. You light a fire, surround yourself with loved ones and grab a coat while you wait patiently for spring to arrive, and then do it all over again.

Understanding this connection between myself and this continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth enables me to find peace in the very things I seek to control. 

My agony is my spiritual avenue – author unknown 

It’s amazing the freedom you experience when you let go of control and begin living within the natural world. There is so much to learn about suffering and healing from mother nature. One of my favorite tools to use with my clients is my Earth Magic oracle cards. I use these cards to assist both myself and others in staying connected to every aspect of life. One of my personal favorites, wind, has been a topic of discussion in many sessions lately. Has the wind ever drawn you in? [Think, ‘shopping bag blowing in the wind from the movie, American Beauty’]. Wind can be sensual, playful, and wicked. It stirs ours senses – giving the trees a voice, while caressing and tickling are faces, and tossing debris. It reminds us we are alive. To listen to what is begging to be activated.

It is when we tune in more intimately to these seemingly ordinary earthly elements that we can truly begin to experience how magical life is. Let the wind activate your senses and carry your body towards feeling more alive; embrace the purifying qualities of rain and the unexpected creation that results from erupting volcanos; ponder the vastness of the ocean and what lies beneath. We are part of this. In the words of Rumi, “This being human is a guest house”, be grateful for all that arrives. When we feel lost and afraid, even the smallest sliver of gratitude can make way for light to enter. Even if it only touches the surface for a moment, we have that moment. 

Love for one and love for all

Looking back, I’ve always been a child of the earth – climbing trees, making mud pies, and painting rocks. I’d sit on the dock and sing Mariah Carey songs that would be carried across the lake; pretending to be an ice skater while gliding across a mountain of sand and rocks. Now as an adult, when I join in nature, I can tap into that childlike wonder and awe – bliss, simplicity, and imagination. It’s a place where anything is possible. The more I unite with it, the more I’ve been able to love more completely and fully. I invite you to disconnect from a reality that is saturated with discord, scarcity, and divisiveness and reconnect with the simple truth that we are on a rock swirling through the infinite. We don’t know how long we’ll have or what comes next, so we might as well learn how to embrace it. For me, that’s staying rooted with nature. What helps you keep solid ground when life gets rocky? 

Blissfully,

Jess

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