nature

Once upon a time, a coach I was working with told me I could be another Tony Robbins.  I said, no. I had no desire to be the person who I would have to become to do that.  He didn’t understand, and not long after that told me he couldn’t work with me anymore. Well, [...]

While walking one morning, I had a magical experience. As I turned the corner onto the next street, the world went silent. Not nature. The world. I made no sound. My feet were silent. My breath was silent. It was if the person I call me wasn’t there. I was a camera moving through the [...]

Standing in the middle of cornstalks over eight feet high, I was feeling quite content. It was the end of the corn’s growing season, and I was removing all the cornstalks that had already produced corn. I wanted the remaining stalks to have more light, air, and nutrients so they could complete what they started. [...]

Sometimes I take my computer into our living room to write in our comfy chairs that look out onto our front lawn. The change of scenery sometimes helps my imagination kick in, or my resistance to let go, as I attempt to finish a chapter in a book or write the next blog. Sometimes I [...]

To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious. — Samuel Butler In front of me, the clouds swirled patterns of multiple shades of gray like a watercolor on canvas. Behind me, wisps of gray were taking over the white clouds in the blue sky. Around my feet the [...]

At our resent Shift Gathering Retreat, Del had the members of the group sit outside for about fifty minutes every day. Their task was to be still in nature, and to note what they saw, felt, smelled, and touched. In addition, they were to notice where they were sitting within the bigger landscape. Each person [...]

So sayeth the birds, animals, insects, and plants of nature. All nature not only knows this truth, but also lives it. We are different. We may know this truth, but we rarely live it. Instead, we pride ourselves on being able to do anything, and everything. When we are young, it’s good to know we [...]

One night I dreamed about a mouse. That’s all I remembered about the dream – a mouse telling me, “One thing at a time.” Del, with his years of nature and American Indian study, shared the meaning of mouse with me. It turns out that one thing at a time is exactly what a mouse [...]

This morning, I heard the cheerful call of the chickadee, and the “pretty, pretty, pretty” song of the cardinal. It was the sound of spring. Ten minutes later, I heard the sound of hail hitting the roof. It was the sound of winter. It’s warm today; it’s 29 degrees. It’s warm today because last week, [...]

When one of our granddaughters was little, Del and I would sit with her while she took a bath. She had a bathtub full of little yellow duckies and her favorite game was lining them all up on the edge of the tub. Once she had them in place, Del would point behind her and [...]