What if we expanded our sense of community to truly include all living beings? Included their perspectives, needs, and gifts? What would be the state of our environment then?
~ Susan Eirich
Band-bellied Owls, Ecuador – photo by Martin Grossman, bigstockphoto.com
When I Am Among the Trees
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come into the world to do this,
to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”
~ Mary Oliver
Oak Forest in Summer – photo by JanBussan, bigstockphoto.com
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects for Western culture is to accept that we are totally dependent on the earth for all our needs.
~ Mary Jane Rust
Forest Path – hoto by Mikhail Dudarev, bigstockphoto.com
…sacredness is inherent in the very essence of life and the multiple patterns of its arising. Sacredness is the radiant expansion of the heart, the devotion to life that rises in contemplation of the inexhaustible mystery that is unity in diversity, the One manifesting through the whole of creation.
~ Eleanor O’Hanlon
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia – photo by 209444248, bigstockphoto.com
There are no more ancient bookends than sunrise and sunset. For millennia we have lived between their cycles. We have come to internalize their rhythm. Unconsciously we are aware of them even if we do not see them. My ancestors taught that it was important to acknowledge these daily transformations: the promise of a new beginning and the invitation to a deep rest. Hope and peace. We live in the balance between sunrise and sunset. We live between expectation and fulfillment. I will greet the sun when I first see it and I will embrace the night when it comes quietly to claim me. I will search for wisdom between the bookends of time.
~ Steven Charleston
Arizona Sunset – photo by Glen Loftis, bigstockphoto.com
In honor of the life and work of James Lovelock:
Life and the material environment evolved tightly coupled together as a single entity. In other words, what we have is…a scenario, not a static place into which organisms fit themselves. The environment itself cannot realistically be viewed as a place but must more properly be viewed as an organism—a living field which itself adapts to changes or even initiates them.
~ James Lovelock
Sunset, Na Pali Coast, Hawaii – photo by Backyard Productions, bigstockphoto.com
“You know why trees smell the way they do?“ Murphy asked, looking up from her hammering. “Sap?” Logan guessed. “Chlorophyll?” Murphy shook her head. “Stars. Trees breathe in starlight year after year, and it goes deep into their bones. So when you cut a tree open, you smell a hundred years worth of light. Ancient starlight that took millions of years to reach earth. That’s why trees smell so beautiful and old.”
~ Frances O’Roark Dowell
Forest Path – photo by lostbear, bigstockphoto.com
People often ask me what is the most effective technique for transforming their life. It is a little embarrassing that after years and years of research and experimentation, I have to say that the best answer is – just be a little kinder.
~ Aldous Huxley
Summer, Loch Vernachar, Scotland – photo by naumoid, bigstockphoto.com
The world is magic, not a little bit, one-hundred percent. Every atom, from one end of the cosmos to the other, is magic, magic, magic.
~ Terence McKenna
Celestial Magic – photo by Ronnachai, bigstockphoto.com
If others are not free, then in a very real way we cannot be completely free or at peace either, just as we cannot be completely healthy in an unhealthy world.
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
Water Lily – photo by Mihairomeob, bigstockphoto.com
May you recognize in your life the presence,
power, and light of your soul.
May you realize that you are never alone,
that your soul in its brightness and belonging
connects you intimately with the rhythm of
the universe.
May you have respect for your individuality
and difference.
May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
that you have a special destiny here,
that behind the façade of your life,
there is something beautiful and eternal happening.
~ John O’Donohue
Sunrise – photo by Dzmitrock, bigstockphoto.com
Still as sleeping water, quiet as snow on snow: within each of us is a sacred center. It exists at the very core of our consciousness. It is what gives us self-awareness. No matter how intense the struggles around us may be, there is always a steady and serene center within us. It is the place of our connection to the infinite. Rest and renew in this holy space whenever you can. It will always be there, waiting for you.
~ Steven Charleston
Erawan Cascade, Erawan Falls National Park, Thailand – photo by tupikov, bigstockphoto.com
There are many things to be grateful “for” but, as I ripen with the seasons of life, the many reasons blend into a sacred mystery. And, most deeply, I realize that living gratefully is its own blessing.
~ Michael Mahoney
Summer Double Rainbow – photo by Anton Petrus, bigstockphoto.com
Today you have a choice. You can choose between anger and love, division and unity, frustration and hope, selfishness and giving, turning away and showing up. Choose kindness and the choice is simple. It’s hard to regret being kind.
~ Rachel Maria Martin
Lotus – photo by Ange DiBenedetto
Our separation from each other is an optical illusion…When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected. The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separateness.
~ Albert Einstein
Adriatic Sea, Croatia – photo by Zoom Team, bigstockphoto.com
