Thursday, October 26, 2023
How much do you love nature? You can’t beat it. A quiet rustle of wind on your face, a warm ray of sun on your bare skin, or a cooing bird flying overhead – what more could you ask for? I love the peace and serenity of nature. I love her abundance, her changing seasons, and her surprises that lurk around every corner of the microcosm and the macrocosm. I love how the sunlight reflects on water. I love nature’s vast and varied textures and colors. Sometimes, the way the sun shines here in Florida, it makes the leaves on vegetation look like cartoons, animated jewels that shimmer from within.
Nature is restorative. It grounds you and roots you in being. Nature stops the overthinking, and calms the renegade mind. The lushness of the trees and plants make the vista so stately. Just being next to a tree gives you a sense of awe. The ground is lovingly pavilioned by outstretched branches, and the grass all around is girded in shade and dappled in twinkling sunlight.
How can you not love nature? Yes, nature is the great restorer and the greatest gift. But here’s something that doesn’t dwell in our collective consciousness. Like a towering tree or a resplendent mountain range, so too are you as “natural.” There is no nature versus human. Humans are nature and are natural. Why do we not include humans in our affinity, love, and preference for nature? Oh that we could see how we create separateness in the mind, while nature is outstretching her love to all. We destroy and pollute ourselves when we divide. Creature and environment are one. We love some, but not all. If you really loved nature, you’d include yourself, everything, and everybody. So I ask again – how much do you really love nature? Enough to include what it all encompasses?