Hope in the Wild

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There are certain places, people, and experiences that change you fundamentally as a person. I’ve found that spending time in places that feel connected to something much greater than our human-made world make it impossible to give up on the world…in fact despite all the news, they’ll make you believe in it.

Whatever moves you, whatever makes you shine–be it sunset on a tropical beach with your toes dug into the sand or a storm coming in over an alpine lake or a meadow alive with bees and butterflies or a cloudy day in the mountains–hold it close.

 

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I find that the wilder and quieter the place, the more we become who we really are. Instead of spending so much of the day turning off, tired and a bit overstimulated, we begin to open up: layers slowly sliding off, awareness of our permeability emerging, a welcoming in of the world that surrounds every one of our cells.

A swish of feathers awakens you to the presence of a spotted owl, and a smaller splash, more energetic than the sound of rapids, reveals a pair of river otters rolling together in the waves. Senses that you didn’t know existed begin to reveal themselves.

These are power places–the places were you take off your shoes and climb atop a downed log, its bark softer than carpet beneath your feet, and almost feel as if you, too could draw all of your strength from its body, the same way as the delicate spruce saplings surrounding you.

Sunlight comes through in dappled ribbons. Mist settles in your hair, tiny droplets nested lightly on your strands.

There is a world here, far removed from noise and bustle and fixed shapes and lines of the modern world that feels like home. It is, I realize, where we came from. And as I lift my face to the rain and dig my toes into the humus at my feet, where I am most happy to be.

 

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This is our brain on nature…this is our soul at its root, vibrating in a connection with the universe in a way that we do not usually feel, especially in our routine spaces.

Give me the ever-changing sea, and the growth and decay of the forests, the wind in the wildflowers, the birth of spring salamanders….this world is forever beautiful and magical, if only we find the strength to continue to breathe life and love into it.

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