Yield and step into the flow of nature.
Life seems to fail us because we do not make new space for ourselves. … life is a continuum of things being ‘broke’. Unless you are willing to take a new stance, walk a new path, find a new answer, develop a new character, build a new body, express in new terms, and see through new eyes, everything will remain the same. … Nature moves down two pathways. One assures equal balance on the planet. The other leads to a natural development and advancement of all living things. Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime! Flow with the Power of Nature – March, 2007)
Spring! The earth spins and the season of new growth begins here in the northern hemisphere. Half of the globe is springing into newness and light. The other half ‘falling’ into the season of harvest with the darkness of winter just beyond.
But no matter the season, life has changed drastically for all of us. We have the power to decide how that change will emerge. As nature moves down her two pathways, balance and advancement, will we step into her flow, listen deeply to her voice, reflect on her cries, and pivot to create new ways to live on our precious planet? Or, will we simply pause, rest, entertain ourselves in the hope that life will soon return to ‘normal’? Which will I choose?
Do we have the courage to challenge the thinking of scientific materialism that has taken us further and further from nature, our mother? Do I?
Are we willing to be honest with ourselves about the destruction we each cause in our daily participation in a culture that values science and the material world over spirit, not understanding that the two are not separate? Am I?
Might we examine the life we call ‘normal’ knowing (even complaining about) the stresses that it creates in our bodies, our relationships, and all of life? Might I?
Our children who haven’t yet lost their connection to nature are asking and, rightfully, demanding. From Greta Thunberg, to the Sunrise Movement (www.sunrisemovement.org), to your own children and grandchildren as voiced by this young person’s question to ‘mom’ over breakfast posted by a colleague yesterday on Facebook:
Mom, we’re doing our part and staying home from school, not seeing our friends, not going outside. We are doing this even though Coronavirus won’t kill us. We’re doing this to help the adults and the older people to live longer and healthier lives. So, when this is all over, will they repay us by making changes to save the environment? So that we will be able to live longer, healthier lives when we are their age?
Because, you know, that seems fair to me.
How will we respond? How will I?
Will we simply hit the ‘play’ button when this pause is over and scramble to return to life as it was or as close to that as we can make it? Or will we use this time to think deeply and pivot to creating a culture and systems that recognize and use both spirit and science/material things, that honor the ways of nature and acknowledges that we will not control her? Will we boldly demand a culture and systems that respect ALL life?
As I watch the snow fall in the woods out my window my heart knows that these are questions. And, as history has shown us time after time, a ‘war’ on the problem is not the answer.
Use this time wisely. Rest. Take extraordinary care of yourself and those you love. Hold those whose choices you loath in light and love for they too are on a journey of learning just as each of us. Muster the courage and willingness to think deeply and honestly about your life. Build upon that courage to pivot to walk through life anew.
The calendar says ‘Spring’. Mother Nature says ‘not yet’.