I love working with people in nature. Seeing the joy on the face of a child when they discover a brightly coloured caterpillar, or an adult who’s always been afraid of moths staring silently in awe at the hawk moth they have been brave enough to hold on their palm. It is always a privilege to be able to facilitate these moments of realisation, of connection, of simple joy in an encounter with another being. To stand back and watch a new relationship form.
But there is also a growing feeling in me, one of sadness, hopelessness even, at the growing disconnect with so many other people and nature. The ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude of people visiting natural places. The disrespect, disregard and lack of reciprocity with which many people seem to treat the other beings around them.
And don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s always the people at fault. Lack of awareness, lack of means, lack of handed down respect for the natural world are often to blame. Many individuals are open to a re-aligning with nature, they just don’t know where to begin.
Increasingly I feel the need to speak for nature, to shout out where it can’t, to whisper to those who need it, nature is there for you. You just need to be there for it, too.
The smallest thing is enough. A slow mindful walk, a wildflower patch in your garden, a few seeds in a window box. Making a bug hotel or a tiny garden pond with your children. Opening the window to hear the bird song. We can gain so much from nature. It can gain so much from our being attentive to its needs.
Ecocentric, not egocentric. Non-dualistic – being one with nature and equal with all things around you. One interconnected whole. A part, rather than apart. Try it sometime. When was the last time you really looked at a tree, a flower, a bird, a rock, a snail? And I mean really looked. Tiny details, the way it moves, sways in the breeze. Shape, form, colour, light, shade. Really, just look. You’ll be surprised what you really see.
Moving on I feel a stronger and stronger urge to move from working with nature, to, well, working with nature. It can bring us so much, and we can bring so much to it if we really try to understand and listen to what it needs. Indigenous people still listen, take cues from the creatures, the rocks, the weather. We have lost much of this in our modern technology-filled world.
Gaining a little bit back, playing my part, in the smallest way. That is my aim and the path I follow, from here on…
Stones and Feathers 