It’s been awhile, and the day after Earth Day to create a special reflection and send a little something for y’all! So grateful and joyful that you’re here to share in some poetry and some spiritual wellness practices! All are welcome, so share it with a forward, a share on social media, or any of the other myriad ways people share things these days.
Trying to be weekly-ish now. It’s a practice I am keeping for you loyal readers and subscribers! Each of you blesses me with someone to write for; it’s awesome! However, since I’ve found through a couple years of writing these that sometimes the creative juices flow like a waterfall, sometimes they are more of a faucet trickle. On the faucet trickle weeks, you’ll still have the reflection questions, but the writing might be briefer or in the form of a quote, a haiku, or a beautiful image to reflect upon.
Also, I’m curious if anyone interested in checking in on the spiritual practices for the week? I’m exploring this site’s chat and notes options, as well as some other spaces that could be blissful. Hit reply to this and let me know, or drop me a comment! I’d love to hear from y’all! If y’all want it, I’d like to try to make it happen.
Community is a powerful thing!
Mindfully,
Amber Brown
Part I: The Gift of Poetry, from me to you!
Now,
Every day that you are
on
this
earth
is another beautiful glorious
Earth Day
Planet Earth
Birthed you
Yes!
You!
Was it God, or the Divine or your Higher Power?
I’ll say it’s a
maybe, yet
Your foot-roots dive deep into Mama Earth
You earth-birthed baby of the universe
She birthed you,
Now
You’re full
Of questions
What lives will you impact?
What loves will you experience?
What passions will you pursue?
Nay, she says, what breaths will you take
Inhaling deeply the fresh spring breezes
Exhaling gently that which does not serve you
We are here to serve
Up
Madness and gladness
Sadness won’t have the last say
Even when the snow falls to the ground
It covers possibilities
You, earth child, have so many possibilities
Not just that which human-built society suggests
Planet earth may be of the divine we can touch
All
these
gifts
To behold -a museum for our souls
I grasped a branch the other day
At the end I found a bud
I wonder what it will be
Planet Earth is a gift
Ever unfurling
Like the tendrils of stardust that whip around the universe
Or maybe Planet Earth whips around them
I could “Google it”
Yet
I’d rather enjoy this planet
And all it offers
Ever unfolding
Like a napkin
In a fine
Restaurant
This planet earth-birthed farm-to-table restaurants
That your arm branches created
Nothing is just from you, earth-birthed child of the universe
How about arm to hand to mouth
One purple plucked clover, bud
One sunset orange tiger lily bud
One seemingly pesky
Earth-birthed dandelion, lying there
Envisioned by the earth as a cuppa tea, a dandy latte, salad fixin’s
Or
Just a dandelion
Mowed down so often, yet
Tufting it’s life out in the pockets of someone’s lawn
Or the pockets of a child
Once it reaches old-woman-white
It’s growth-inducing blossoms
Are carried on breezes to places
Not too
Far from home
I invite you to enjoy
All that you find in nature, sweet one
A tree in a city park
On a college campus
Nestled deep in a leafy forest
Or the fierce spirit of a lonesome cactus in the desert
I still remember the bright red tree in my front yard
The bright yellow leaves that swirled around me in an earth-birthed forest
The world is whirling around us
Will you be a whirligig in motion?
That can be fun
For awhile
yet, I hope you eventually
Rest long enough to notice
The bugs in a patch of grass
We are bugs in heaven’s grass
If heaven were a place on earth…
It would be…
Earth-birthed
All this cracked, dry ground growing cacti, sidewalk sprouting dandelions, whirligig swirling magic
Is the heaven we know
Now
Part II: A Spiritual Practice of Reflection
1. Listen! Find a song that reminds you of nature. Dance to it, sing it out loud, or just hum along.
2. Get out! Just be in nature. Go outside, wherever you can find some space – such as your porch, a park or your backyard. Find a place to observe nature. Don’t do anything but observe – your breath, your five senses and what they find outside. Some people have allergies, and that’s no fun – if this is you then maybe you could look out your window and try to notice three things you find beautiful about the scene.
3. Move! Talk a walk or roll or stroll in a natural space you find pleasant. Do the same exercise as yesterday, but enjoy doing the movement that is accessible to you and try to notice just one beautiful thing about your journey. Maybe try to pick up one piece of trash along the way – take part in making the world a more beautiful place for everyone to enjoy.
4. Create! Grab a cup of a warm or ice cold beverage – whatever suits your fancy – as well as a journal and your creative tool of choice (markers, colored pencils, writing utensils). Draw something that you saw on your journey this week. If writing is your creative outlet, set a timer and journal about your adventures for fifteen minutes. At the end take some deep breaths, and go back to your day knowing you took some time to yourself.
5. Take it in! Aromas are powerful! Try to find something that smells nice and is completely of nature – a pine branch, some essential oils. Take a nice deep inhale of it and truly notice the smell and how it affects you. Do you feel calm when smelling peppermint tea? Invigorated smelling a fresh orange? Take out your journal and draw the object or write about how it made you feel.
6. Reflect! Grab a cup of a warm or ice cold beverage – whatever suits your fancy – as well as a journal and your creative tools of choice. Take a couple deep breaths and bring to mind something in nature, on mama earth you are grateful for. Set a timer for a few to fifteen minutes and take some time to write or create something that reminds you of this thing you are grateful for in nature. Take some deep breaths when you are done, and thank yourself for taking time for yourself.
7. Just Be! On this last day, take time to just be. Pray or meditate or sit and focus on your breath - in and out. Do this for a few minutes or as long as it serves you to do so. At the end of it say something meaningful...for example...I am present, or I am love, I am enough or I am more than my labels. Take a few more deep breaths. Come back to the present and give yourself a hug - celebrate your wins this week! You are amazing, indeed.