I’m so happy to be here: the very first day of our month of (gently) connecting with nature. Your short suggested daily practices during June are here.
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Either way, I hope you can snuggle up a little closer to our astonishing, generative, wise and gorgeous Earth this month. Bring on the first poem! 🌳
Woods
I part the out thrusting branches
and come in beneath
the blessed and blessing trees.
Though I am silent
there is singing around me.
Though I am dark
there is vision around me.
Though I am heavy
there is flight around me.
~ Wendell Berry
We begin here, beneath the blessed and blessing trees.
I hope you’ll meet a tree on your travels today and pause beneath it.
Look up through a kaleidoscope of leaves to the sky.
Be curious about how many years it has stood and what it has seen.
Wonder at who makes their home in it - the insects that are born, live and die in it, the squirrels and birds passing through.
Maybe you’ll touch your fingers to its skin and thank it for offering us all colour, oxygen and wind-song.
Maybe, when no-one is looking, you’ll even embrace it.
Now, if you haven’t already, I’ll invite you to read Berry’s poem out loud. Dear Earth will be listening. I can almost see her smiling.
Go gently,
Satya 💚
Featured piece: Lizzie at
. I know Lizzie In Real Life and she had mentioned many times over the years that she’d wanted to start sharing her writing online. When she did finally start sharing it I was delighted to discover that she writes exquisitely - if you don’t believe me, discover her for yourself below.
I'm a little bit behind in reading my many emails, so I picked your first 3 posts so I could do my Earth blessings first before tackling the more mundane stuff. Thank you for your faithfulness to our Mother Earth and for doing this for us and for her. <3
My husband and I walked along the lake by our house this morning. As I did, I was marveling at the majestic cottonwoods and said, “Imagine what these trees have seen throughout their long lives.” You and I must have been in the same mood!