804th Week: Celebrating Our Beautiful Planet
A daily practice that has emerged for me over the years is to post an inspirational quotation and photo of nature each day on the Devadana Sanctuary Facebook page and also on the Devadana Sanctuary side of my Portal to Multidimensional Living, www.portaltomdl.com. As a result of this practice, I have found myself looking through thousands of photographs of this amazing planet each and every morning. More than once, I have found myself moved to tears by the stunning beauty and creativity of nature and have found that this has become a powerful and sacred morning practice.
One of the things I have noticed over these years is how much more aware I am of the intricacies, creativity, and stunning diversity that are part of Nature’s Intelligence. I capitalize those words because I think of Nature as a living Intelligence, one that informs and lives in, through, and as each and every one of us.
For this week’s practice, I invite you to spend a bit of time each day looking at photos of nature, of our planet earth. As you do, notice what happens in your body, emotions, and state of mind as you take in the colors, shapes, textures, expressions of our natural world. Notice what it’s like to allow yourself to be touched by the expansive creativity that is all around us: the number and variety of life forms, the creative adaptation of species to their environments, the stunning beauty of natural landscapes. Think of this as a kind of “soul food”, as well as a way to remind yourself that you are looking at the home that gave birth to you.
Even if you are fortunate enough to live in a natural setting–in the country or by the shore—add into your practice looking at photographs of areas of the earth that aren’t familiar to you. Expand your sense of the diversity, the variety of expressions of beauty, that are natural as expressions of the intelligence and creativity of our home planet.
Whatever your spiritual beliefs and practices, the fact is that our physical being arises from nature. We are physically built of the same “stuff” as every other life form on the planet, so this week’s practice is a way to deepen an awareness of relatedness to our home, to all our earth kin, to nature itself, especially for those of us who live in urban settings.
As you explore this practice, also notice how you feel about your body, your own living representative of Nature’s Intelligence and creativity. Notice how it feels when you take time to experience and express gratitude to this Intelligence as it lives in your body and in the world around you.
And, as always, please remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion. Curiosity reaches out into the environment, opening to impressions and discoveries, whereas fear constricts and draws in. Also remember to pat gently on the head any judgments that may arise, allowing them to move on through.
