Happy Earth Day!! It seems a little ridiculous to say I love the Earth. After all, without Earth where would this body live? What would this body eat? Where would this body find a beach to lay on or a garden to dig in? Perhaps there are a million other habitable planets where I could have incarnated, but for this lifetime, at least, Earth is where this body lives. And it’s a gorgeous planet! Even with frozen ears walking my daughter to school this morning (40°F here in Chi) it was hard to avoid the beauty of this place I call home: the newly flowering trees; the sun brilliantly illuminating and gently warming; a robin picking at a worm (I do hope those things don’t have well developed nervous systems – that robin was picking it off piece by piece – yikes!); our favorite red-winged blackbird singing it’s glorious song in it’s favorite tree; a duck with its head tucked under its wing standing by a mud “pond” left from a mound of melted snow; majestic swamp white oaks… And to top it all off, all those amazing humans making their way about.
We are Nature! When did we forget that? We talk about being in Nature, or observing Nature, or balancing the ecosystem, or protecting the Environment, but somehow these minds that have created so much separation have not only separated us from each other, but from the very stuff of that we are. Is a tree “in Nature”? Does Alex the bunny who lives in my backyard think he’s “in Nature”? No! He’s just part of the whole thing. Chicago’s motto is Urbs in Horto (the city in a garden) so we have lots of trees and green space. It’s so refreshing to walk outside, and see flowers and look at the sky, because there’s a sense of connection that comes almost automatically – a deep “ahh” – a coming home.
This Earth Day let’s celebrate ourselves as Nature with all its expansive amazingness. So when we care for our Earth, we’re caring for ourselves. And when we care for ourselves, we’re taking care of all of Nature.
Here’s an easy way to send some love to ourselves for 2 minutes.
Namaste ☺