Why Nature :: Spirit?
This vibrant and precious Earth is our only home in the whole universe. Cherishing Earth means finding our way past the ideas and systems that teach us to exploit land and water and forests and animals.
At Nature :: Spirit we talk about reshaping values—moving ourselves and our societies toward loving instead of just using. For only love and cherishing can help us turn in more life-giving directions.
To talk about values is to talk about spirituality—the less visible sides of life. The parts that make life worth living. At Nature :: Spirit we find spirituality in many everyday activities—in connection, in trusting the flow of life, including the mysteries within ourselves, in stretching our imaginations to envision hopeful futures. We seek to move toward values that support life, not erode it.
The Earth loves us too.
The Earth is endlessly creative and has given us everything we need to live. In a human family, this is the very definition of love. It’s not just that we love the Earth; it’s that the Earth loves us. As Robin Wall Kimmerer says,
Knowing that you love the Earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the Earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street to a sacred bond. —From Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
Building a hopeful future requires one big thing of us: allowing the love that brought us into being to pass through us back to the Earth family. It means undoing our current systems of exploiting and replacing them with more humane—loving—ones. Rejecting the old habit of objectifying land, water, animals and air and sky and learning to listen to and reverence them instead. Becoming humble in relation to our fellow travelers—soil and trees and stars. Learning to cherish the only home we have.
Finding new habits of heart.
So at Nature :: Spirit we challenge old systems and ways of thinking that taught us to exert power over others, both human and more-than-human. Unlearning these habits forms the bedrock of nature spirituality. We might also build on mindful or meditative practices that cultivate an open heart.
Most of all, Nature :: Spirit is a place where we can celebrate life in all its abundance and diversity on this vibrant and precious Earth. In short episodes—around 20–25 scripted minutes—we enter together into contemplating and practicing changes that can align us more closely with the Great Heart of nature.
I wrote some books about this.
My own journey toward cherishing the Earth took place step by step over many years. I’ve been a seeker and a scholar most of my life, and you can read more in my two books, Kissed by a Fox: And Other Stories of Friendship in Nature and Tamed by a Bear: Coming Home to Nature-Spirit-Self, both published by Counterpoint Press. Kissed by a Fox won the WILLA Award in Creative Nonfiction.
Join a community of Earth lovers.
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We’re growing a community of people who revel in and reverence the natural world. Please join us!
