Having the joy and privilege to trek in vast wildlands is a
full emotion experience. One moment, I am riding high beholding with gratitude all
the beauty around me, and then suddenly I am overcome with sadness pondering
the mindless actions of humans damaging the natural world. In awareness, I
offer gratitude for all the beauty that abounds and in the same moment I
surrender to what is here and now. I must not lose sight that this earth
training ground was set up on a free will basis and the drama beats on. If I
judge it, I will be adding to the drama of huffing and puffing with anger and
frustration complaining about how things ‘should’ be different than they are…
and what good does that do, except create judgmental separation and add to the
collective unconscious!
This year’s Ren & Ran gypsy traveling has come to a
close. Back at home base in enchanted New Mexico where sunshiny days, bird
symphonies, coyote howls, raven caws, critter crawls, and golden cottonwoods are
alive with Autumn glory. What a welcome!
This current chapter of my life invites me to dig in, listen
deeply, and love earnestly. There is learning and growth in each moment. My greatest
calling is honoring spirit, loving earth, living my joy, remaining open and
authentic, and showing up to what unfolds before me. Here’s my unfurling
self-discovery.
Prior to meeting my John Muir-alike wilderness man Ran who
invited me to live in the vast open lands of the southwest, I lived the
proportion of my life’s daylight hours inside-bound. Even living off-grid now,
I am one who can be oh so contently occupied in my cozy, warm, ‘Wren nest loft’
reading, writing, and creating. Such is
the life of a visionary artist overflowing with inspiration. Hours slip away
before it even occurs to me to take a break. Arrr….. not a healthy, balanced choice.
Are you familiar with the saying, “we are human beings not
human doings?” Well…. I am applying those words of wisdom, and this is what I
sense. More often than not at home base as I tend to my home business tasks and
indoor daily groove, I am forgetting, postponing, and overriding that a daily
connection in nature is where I tap into miraculous discovery, heart happiness,
soul gratitude, balanced well-being and nourishment.
Living in homes are grand and certainly serve a practical
and enjoyable function, and yet the more time I spend traveling in a 5x8 ft. teeny
pop-up camper and living off-grid in 135 sq. ft. tiny house (210 sq. ft with
loft) with my partner the meaning of home is changing for me. A simple set-up is refreshing. I prefer to
make every small cubby of space count over the so-called luxury of having lots
of inside space with plenty of room for accumulation.
The space in my life that I am welcoming more and more is
the natural world that sets me free to explore wilderness in any direction
without being bombarded by extensive population and pollution, excessive
commercialism, and dependency technology.
Looking at the word HOMECOMING, I recognize in me a newness
emerging. In coming home, I am growing roots beyond my preoccupation with the
lovely structure that houses me. As I tap into loving earth, I am cultivating a
relationship with the land that sustains me. Suddenly I’m paying attention to sustainability,
solar energy, wind direction, soil erosion, animal tracks and critter scat,
raven calls, community ant tunnels, changing climate, and more. In living
closer with the land, I am appreciating the gift of earth in new ways. In
growing respect for all that has been given, received, resourced, consumed and
taken for granted, my heartfelt aim is to live more fully awake inwardly and
outwardly.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, I practiced a good deal of
meditation living from the heart up. My feet and legs were visible, but not
rooted in my heart-centered being. Expanding
my inner world in lotus position with open heart and eyes closed was my modus
operandi. Inasmuch as I was attuned with the starry soul world, I was barely
grounded in the physical world.
My greatest form of meditation now is time on the land and
under the skies. I recognize the potential pitfall of being a full-time
homebody. Too much time caged indoors behind walls, windows, and doors cuts us
off from fully appreciating the true richness, vitality, health and well-being
of the great outdoors! Through quality time spent in nature we are more in
touch with, impassioned about, and motivated to tend to the importance of
caring for our fellow lifeforms with whom we share this beloved earth.
More deeply rooted in my body and growing a deeper
partnership with honoring the earth, I am discovering more and more ways to
take a stand for what I want to see more of in the world. Constantly
identifying what I choose to participate in and what I don’t, I am not only
loving the earth with my heart, but also cultivating a practical responsibility
for this land that I love.
Recognizing that every choice I make and every dollar I
spend has a direct impact on the world and the earth is causing me to constantly
assess the quality of my lifestyle choices. When is enough… enough? Am I
accumulating more stuff? Am I adding to pollution by driving a car more often
than I really need to? Do I really want
to support corporate institutions instead of supporting local small businesses?
Do I really want to live beyond my means
on credit card debt? Do I really want to shop at stores that keep sweat labor
factories in business? Do I really want to support homebuilding, eating food,
and growing a garden filled with toxic chemicals? In what ways can I live more consciously
and sustainably? Am I living my life (or is my life running me) on mindless
routine and habit? Am I living awake and
fully present to each moment through observation, inquiry, and rightful action?
One thing’s for sure, this world we live in, and the earth
we stand upon, is shifting in every way possible. Clearly, human impact and imprint is
dramatically affecting all kingdoms and species of present and future
generations. In honoring and witnessing this truth, more than ever, I am
stepping up and stepping out to live as consciously, lightly, simply, and
sustainably as possible. Along with, I am practicing unconditional acceptance. The
more fully I am able to unconditionally accept all parts of myself the more I am
able to deepen my relationship to the world, earth, and all its inhabitants in
sacred kinship. However the earth continues its evolution and consciousness
revolution, it seems to me in this ripple of earth time that my personal
commitment to practicing unconditional acceptance and living my joy is the
greatest stand I can take and contribution I can make.
As I walk the path of being human, I stretch my roots into
the soil, and expand my spirit to higher ground where the great eagle flies. With
feet in earth and arms outstretched, I am reminded of one of my clay sculpture
creations entitled Heaven & Earth are
One through Me. As I grow in balanced acknowledgement and working relationship
with both of these currents flowing through all that exists, in respect for all
life, I sense a magic hum within, below, above, and all around me.
In the spirit of self-awareness and rooted responsibility, I
rest in the resonance of oneness where we are walking each other home.
