Walking with the Beauty of the Divine: A Poem to Express our Connection with Mother Earth

With open senses, I meander through,

A garden of variety, so carefully tended to.

Tamed and trimmed, the plants and trees are beautiful and yet contained.

In the space their glory may shine,

With the spirit of the divine.

Effortless and beautiful in their own right,

They shine humbly in God's light.

Am I too that beautiful?

The caresses of cattail grasses and velvet leaves envelop me with warmth and comfort,

The bubbling and babbling of a stream of coy fish filled with mothers and daughters,

Some branches are tangled, some stems are thorned, and others, they are adorned,

with lavishly colored flowers, ornamental fruit, and cones.

The low roar of waves enveloping the sandy shores below washes over me and nurtures me as familiar and unknown as the life bearing waters of our mothers,

Holding the mystery and majesty of all life,

Filled with dreams, fears, monsters, and awesome might-

The wilderness,

Magnificence in its own right.

Unchartered, like my depths, wild and divine.

From Behind the Silk Screen; Seeing Me for Me. A Poem of Reclaiming Our Authentic Selves.

From behind a silk screen,

I see with my own eyes,

A scene taking place,

with me in disguise.

I watch me,

Shielding my feelings from true expression,

An actor playing a role,

That no longer gives the impression,

Of an accurate reflection,

Of the me that is me,

The me that's inside that only I can see.

For as I evade me true expression,

It goes in to hide,

And colors my world,

A blind projection on passerbys.

So, I come face to face with a face I have long ignored,

And see I can no longer allow myself to be lured,

Into a lull of a water-downed me,

Appeasing those around me because I think it will please.

I know the origin goes back years to date,

Generation after generation perpetuating its fate.

In this moment I know,

Only the truth will set me free,

And I drop the false face,

And let me see me for me.

Here I am, I have arrived. A Poem of Transformation.

I sink down low, into the Earth,

I am embraced by her warmth, by her security,

I am cradled in her womb.

I accept myself, I trust myself,

I stop acting and start being,

down, down to the Earth,

Where I am enveloped by her warmth, her comfort, her security, her nourishment,

humbled and conscious.

I let go of all blame and see the truth-

see myself in the truth.

My tears flood the gates that have held my heart captive,

and my love comes bursting forth,

my fears have lost their place to hide.

I realize my worth.

A worth immeasurable by any standard currency.

The fires of my anguish are cooled and extinguished by my tears,

and I get down on my knees.

I am no longer guilty.

The chains of my bondage vanish into thin air,

and the calming sounds of moving water calm my soul.

I thank all that is good, I thank the Spirit that guides us.

I let the sun warm and nourish my body, kiss my exposed skin ,

and warm the fabric of my clothing

Here I dwell in a place that embraces each part of me,

I seek answers in all ways that speak to my heart.

Here I am, I have arrived.

Tasting the sweetness of life

We can learn from sitting in the company of the trees how to be rooted, flexible, and strong. We can learn from observing the ocean tides how to go with the flow of life and allow our experiences and emotions to move through us without resistance or struggle. We can learn from the stillness and expansiveness of air to allow our minds to be free and open. We can learn from other animals how to be wild and true to our own nature. We can learn from the untamed wilderness, of our own inner untamed wilderness. We can learn from the sea moss that lives on the tree branches that dip into ocean during high tide that we are a part of a web of interconnected life, and that we need others in order to survive and thrive in the world. We can learn through observing a fruit bearing plant that we are all born to fulfill a purpose, and that with space to grow, caring attention, a forgiving environment, water, and the proper nutrients we will bear the fruits of our labor. We can learn from spending time with a family pet of the inherent need in all of us to receive love and affection, and the capacity within all of us to give and receive love unconditionally. We can learn from the yards and gardens of our neighbors of our desire to create beauty and wilderness all around us and tend to others with care and attention. We can learn from the birds of our freedom to move and sing aloud our true song. We can learn so much if we just open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts to the consciousness of each living and non-living thing all around us. If only we could stop for a moment to step outside the flow of our own thoughts to be in communion with all that surrounds us in each moment, could we taste the sweetness of what it is to be alive in this world. Each moment is a gift and an opportunity to love and engage more fully with the world, and to see ourselves and others as a loving God would see.

Ode to living

At the end of the day we can only try and live our lives the best way that we can, treat others and ourselves with loving kindness and respect, put our hearts into what we do to earn a living, and make peace with our lives. We remember who we are, where we have come from, and give thanks to those that have guided us along the way. We acknowledge the lessons from our more painful experiences, and grow stronger and wiser from having done so. We embrace whole-heartedly who we are so that we may live our lives to our fullest potential, and commit to being a bit kinder and gentler everyday, allowing our hearts to open more fully to the experience of living, with all of its pains and joys. We love even though eventually we will all lose. We experience the pain of letting go and realize that nothing is ever truly ours to keep. We learn from the trees and remember our humility and stay down to earth, grounded, and rooted, and realize that we are nothing more and nothing less than ourselves. We remember our connection to one another and share in the experience of being human. We allow ourselves to be touched and transformed by the lives of those around us, but we do not allow ourselves to be engulfed and lost in the lives of those around us. We remain grounded in our own experiences of who we are, where we have have come from, where we are now, and where we are going. We stay awake to our experiences and love ourselves and others with a heart that is wide open to give and receive. We live our lives with meaning and purpose.

The power of reaching out to others

When we're feeling down, stressed, or anxious, the tendency for many of us is to isolate, to retreat into our shells, for fear of being rejected, condemned, or misunderstood... If only we could remember to reach out to a friend or family member, we would quickly realize that we are not alone, that we are never alone. Then would we remember that we are all connected through our common experience of being human, and that all of us at some point feel insecure, depressed, anxious, lonely, angry, frustrated, or stressed. And rather than judge and condemn ourselves for feeling a particular way, perhaps we can be a friend to ourselves, and treat ourselves with the kind, loving, compassion, and respect that we would treat a loved one in need of some tlc! So, reach out to a loved one, or open yourself to an honest encounter with someone new and expand your web of connection and be reminded of your humanness! Sometimes all we need to brighten our horizons and lift our spirits is connection with another human being, paired with a bit of honest and true dialogue.

Tasting the fruits of Orange County, California: coming into contact and connection with the natural world in a place I least expected.

It began with a feeling of melancholy for the wilderness I'd left behind in Northern California, a wilderness of open spaces, raging rivers, bubbling creeks, and wild flowers. This hunger for the natural lead to the rise of a desire to connect to the place that I am in now, a place where I least expected to feel the embrace of mother nature, in the suburbs of Orange County, California.

When I take time time to take notice, I see that the neighborhood streets are lined with trees, plants, and flowers living in harmony with one another, planted with care, patience, and an inherent desire for the natural. The streets are alive with the breath of life, their inhabitants singing joyous tunes heard over the faint hum of cars buzzing and humming in the distance. Musical melodies announcing the birth of blooms and new life, awaken my senses to the scents of Spring. I dizzy in the intoxicating perfumes of jasmine, honeysuckle, and rose buds. The sounds of paradise reverberate through the song of the wild parrots, as I step out into the tamed wilderness and meander through the streets in awe and reverence. With awareness, we can open ourselves to a connection with nature even in the most populated of places, and in fact we will find that it nourishes our souls and reminds us of our connection to the greater natural world. All we have to do is take the time to take notice and appreciate the life even amidst the concrete jungles we may find ourselves in.