We all need to take the time to reconnect
Dirty feet, tousled hair, twigs and leaves still stuck on our backs as we got back into the truck after a day of hunting morels. We were covered in salty sweat and both had ridiculous ear-to-ear grins. “Can you believe we actually live here?” was asked more than once on this perfect Sunday afternoon.
Mine and Grant’s relationship came to be because of our passion for craft beer, foraging, pizza and bluegrass. Anytime we are around or doing one of these four things, we feel peaceful and blissed out.
Living in Libby has reminded us how important it is to really, truly live in an authentic way. Not just walk around and go through the motions of life, but to simmer in each moment as it arises. We live in a place of constant teachings and reminders. We can enter the woods for solitude and know that if we listen deeply we have the opportunity to learn something huge. We know that if we ask questions we will get new and interesting answers. We know that the mountains can be a metaphor for vastness, and they can remind us everyday that what we think are big, huge, ugly problems actually might not be that bad.
Spending time outside reminds me of so many things and yesterday I had this thought:
Plants emerge naturally after winter. They don’t even have to think about it. We need to get back to that. Reconnecting. We are highly civilized, thinking beings — and for a reason. It’s a gift. Yet, we’ve gone so far on the tipping scale of over-thinking that we’ve lost instinct, unity, grace, surrender and intuition. We need a balance to become what we were put here for.
Sunday afternoon was an especially beautiful one. I remember the serenity that washed over me, while the water from the creek skipped and bounced off the rocks below. I felt at peace and at home. I’ve always felt like this in nature and more so when in solitude.
Sunday afternoon, I felt connected to the simplistic, effortless beauty that is earth and life. I am often not in-tune with nature even though I love it so much. I think about myself first, and I unintentionally cause more damage to this place we call home.
It’s difficult not to have an impact in a negative way when it takes such little effort. I want to leave fruitful seeds along the way, but I find it is much easier to do so when I have a true appreciation for earth’s natural ability to sustain life. It just knows what to do, and we make it so hard for earth to keep doing it with such grace and ease.
I stood there, relatively motionless, with sun pouring onto my bare thighs when it dawned on me — this is no different than our interactions with others.
Things could be much simpler if we all listened. Succumbed. If we just opened ourselves to the beauty that lay in front of us. But we don’t, typically. Mostly, we trample. We chop down ideas, spray poison all over naturally grown love, and what’s worse, usually we feel very little remorse. Not unlike how we treat the only home we’ll ever have.
Acting with surrender, instead of defensiveness, allows us to be truly human and to have emotional depth and intimacy with others that is actually beneficial not only to ourselves but those around us. What a novel idea! Because, of course, it makes perfect sense. We, as a human race, tend to do things in the most backwards, convoluted ways as possible. I like these moments of “getting it,” that I achieve when I step into the woods.
It’s nice to be reminded of what is important in life. Not stomping on others allows for growth. Intra and inter-personal growth, in turn, leads way to caring, sensitive human beings, who want to think about more than just their Netflix or the jerk that cut them off at the last light.
We all need more of this in our lives. We need to step outside and reconnect with nature, to see her for what she is — beautiful and our home. Then we just might come back refreshed and with a renewed sense of wanting to act with love.
Today, I celebrate my ability to understand, to see what is real, and my desire to care for it, nurture it, and most importantly, encourage its development and growth. Sending you so much love.
Danielle Spillman is a local certified yoga teacher, health enthusiast, and writer. You can find more of her musings at www.findyourlightyoga.com.