I'm sitting here in a.
.
.
State Park.
Having a small campfire.
With a small microphone,
Sipping some tea.
There's nobody else around.
The campsites are very dispersed.
It's over 100,
000 acres.
And so I'm alone in nature.
It's been a while.
Since I've really been alone in nature.
And I want to offer this recording as a portal for you,
Wherever you are,
Whatever happened with you today.
Whatever's happening in your world,
Whatever's happening in your body,
In your heart.
In your mind.
I just want to offer you a.
.
.
A glimpse of something,
Perhaps a reminder of something.
That feeling of.
Actually being.
Alone in nature.
Now initially for me,
And I say this with mild embarrassment,
But here we are,
And I don't imagine I'm alone.
But initially,
For me,
This comes with a certain amount of discomfort.
A certain amount of restlessness.
Certain amount of unease.
To drive out into a place that I don't know,
Lose cell service.
That moment of losing self-service really highlights a layer that we live in constantly.
Yeah,
Feeling a break there is.
.
.
It's really quite something.
It's not the same thing as putting the phone in airplane mode.
And the willingness to stick with that slight uneasiness,
The willingness to include the feeling of the nature around.
To actually feel outside of my personal sphere,
My personal agitation,
My personal restlessness.
And start to listen.
To the trees.
To the hum of the earth beneath thine bare feet.
To feel the warmth of the fire.
And to allow that restlessness in me.
That movement.
To be met.
By nature.
To be met by something other than man's creations,
Human's creations.
Other than technology,
Other than concepts and ideas.
Other than social dynamics,
Other than therapy.
Or the gym,
Or work.
To get my feet back into something more fundamental.
To open my ears again.
And to feel the thing in me that is completely at home here.
Can you feel the part of you?
That belongs to nature.
That longs for nature.
That is one with nature.
And you feel that somewhere inside.
And can you breathe into it?
Gently,
Easily,
Respectfully.
It is its own force.
It is not for us to rule,
Although we sure think we can.
It's not for us to dominate or control or become the dictator of.
It is a gift within us.
That if we are sensitive and we are respectful.
We can align ourselves with.
We can listen to.
We can be moved by.
And I believe that there is much of what the human spirit longs for.
That really can only be met by this nature within.
And this nature without.
But we have many layers that we tend to have to go through about.
The need for productivity,
The usefulness of that,
The possible hazards or weakness of getting wrapped up in that.
Perhaps we feel naive for entertaining such things.
Or other people's voices in our head tell us we're naive.
To care,
To be sensitive.
To remember what we know.
To know for ourselves rather than just.
.
.
Repeat what we've been told.
Actually touch.
Nature within your own body.
Your own heart,
Your own soul.
And let it be enough for a moment.
Let it be respected for a moment.
Let it be listened to.
And I believe that as we really start.
.
.
To listen to that.
The love that it is starts to pour into us,
Perhaps gently and slowly and subtly.
But it's like an endless spring.
That does not mean that life hasn't been hard and that we don't feel that,
Feel that weight,
Feel those pains.
It doesn't mean that everything is.
.
.
Very,
Very lovely.
No more struggles.
But it gives us the breath,
It gives us the wind that we need to carry on and not lose ourselves in the madness.
Of the world.
It gives us a center.
It gives us strength in our hearts.
And with enough time,
It begins to clarify our minds and free our bodies.
If only we can rest with it.
Listen to it.
And align with it.
