Becoming aware

I was out in my yard on a warmish winter day, a corner quarter-acre lot in the city, sending out good vibes to the land around and under me. I sat next to a young oak sapling we planted two years previous when a squirrel came overhead on a far reaching branch of a silver maple tree. The squirrel started chattering away as if to tell me I was in their space. I was getting a good tongue lashing. I said hello to the squirrel and it responded by dropping poop right next to me and chattering more. It seemed even louder to me. 

I took no offense but acknowledged it as a gift since the squirrel really couldn’t offer much else. I’m not sure I took the gesture as  the squirrel intended but that’s how I took it nevertheless. Then I leaned back on my elbows to look at the squirrel without craning my neck any longer and starting singing a gentle song. The squirrel stopped the chatter and went right into a rhythmic, quiet chirp. I thought it sounded melodic. So, we sang together. I kept singing and the squirrel kept singing. That went on for a few minutes and then I stopped my song. The squirrel promptly turned away and ran along branches to another tree and I lost track of her/him.

As John O’Donohue wrote in Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, our approach matters. “What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation…. When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”

How do you approach nature? What is in your mind or awareness when you are on the beach, in the woods or a meadow? Are you focusing on the beings before you, plants and animals? Are you using most of your senses to observe (smell, sight, touch, sound)?

Try this: Arrange a little time in nature alone. Focus on the sights, the smells and sounds of what’s around you. Observe your surroundings through as many senses as possible. Let your fingers touch the plants near you, provided they are safe for you to touch. Offer gratitude for your ability to spend time with them and for them to spend time with you. Our relationships with nature are indeed reciprocal.

Another exercise: Take a walk in nature and look at it all through the eyes of a complete foreigner to this planet, as if you are an alien just landed. Or if you prefer, as if you are on an alien planet seeing what exists for the first time there. What looks odd to you? What invites you to come closer? What do you think of this planet? What would you like to learn more about?