conversations with nature
“Talking” with Nature can be in worded conversation or in simply engaging her with any of our senses. I am so delighted and grateful for the many avenues in which it happens.
Opportunity #1:
Driving through Yellowstone National Park in Montana, I was treated to one of the most beautiful and diverse wild places I have seen with my own eyes. One particular stretch in the higher elevations of the park had caught my eye, so I pulled over and stood at my car to take it in. Mountains rising from the ground across the road from my feet. Shrubs and a few trees, grass that was still green from spring, but the sun was starting to tease out the yellow in the blades. The picture I took in was far enough away that at first glance, I saw no wild creatures, just the beautiful landscape. I noticed how it felt incomplete without the wild ones present.
As I allowed my eyes to slow, to soften and take in more of this space, I first noticed two hawks flying very high over the mountains. Oh my goodness! How had I not noticed them before?! Encouraged, I softened even more and allowed my eyes to linger everywhere, inviting nature to reveal her hidden children. I began to notice other birds flying in and out of the shrubbery along the foothills of these mountains. And even smaller still, I began to take note of the dozens and dozens of butterflies flittering around the grasses! Oh wow! All this had been here the whole time, but my eyes, in their impatience, had been oblivious. It wasn’t until I slowed down, really slowed down, that this precious nature space opened up her world to me. It left me humbled, giddy, and so thankful. Since that time, I have done my best to slow down and take in Nature’s spaces around me. It is, like much of my life, a work in progress, but one I am ever thankful to continue to evolve.
This was one of my first lessons in awakening to the subtleness of conversation that is always happening with us and our nature kin. In the stories that follow, further opportunities present themselves. Nature is always very aware of us, and of our intent. I believe it is we who are learning to rejoin that conversation in consciously present ways...
Opportunity #2:
Overgrown grass stretching to the sky, caressing the sunlight so warm and delightful.
I worry that these lovely blades of grass may be getting a little unruly.
In my desire to tidy it up a bit, I begin to pull them and add them to the compost pile.
Remembering my discovery of ladybug nymphs among the grasses one spring not so long ago, I wonder if they may be hiding in here as well…..brief glance….nope. I see none. So, onward my plucking advances.
My mind flashes with pictures of ladybugs. My own promptings? or am I receiving something?
…I pause… look…nothing. Must be me.
More images and this time a feeling of “please stop!”
…pause again…glance around again…nothing. Weird, but noted.
Third knock on my mind’s door…”please stop!” accompanied by more images of ladybugs.
…Deep look into the grass…there they are! Holding on for dear life. Multiple ladybugs. I hadn’t stopped long enough to let my eyes adjust to their tiny presence.
Garden pruning in this area is definitely not happening until later in the summer at this point. I move on elsewhere with a reminder that I share this space with those whose tiny but important presence is here and trying to communicate with me.
Subtle was the voice of Nature, as she tried to get my attention. Soft was the plea to my ears and my mind, so much so that I was dismissing it quite easily. This was the perfect lesson about how communicating with others is often in the subtle nuances, and easily missed if one is not tuning in.
Opportunity #3:
As I was repairing the deck in our backyard, tiny mason bees kept buzzing around me quite intently, following me wherever I went on that deck. Not sure what they were trying to get me to understand, I asked them out loud, “What is it that you are wanting me to know? Is there something that I can do to help you?”.
The image of a house came as offering to my mind, and a feeling of intensity, of looking for it.
It took me a few moments to realize that this must be what they were communicating to me, as it was very persistent.
I went to the store and bought 2 mason bee houses and presented them to the bees. Within moments, they were busily moving in and out of those cylinders, placing their young inside and mudding up the holes. ‘Of, course!”, I thought. As the next days passed, I was able to watch them frequently as they not only filled those cylinders, but proceeded to fill every little space and hole they could find around the deck and garden!
Opportunity #4:
While assessing the growing family of plants in our beautiful space, I saw a Flowering Currant and a Rhododendron not only holding hands quite intimately, but they were entangled in a full-on hug at this point. Thinking that they would need some room to grow instead of crowding one another out, I began to prune away the entanglement. As I pruned, and even before I began, I felt a sense of friendship between these two and of wanting to hold one another in this manner that I had found them.
It felt as if they were quite happy and preferred to be left that way. As I looked at them, the word “network” came to mind, and I didn’t quite understand why that word was presenting. I figured it would make sense at some point, but for now, I would proceed in the only way I understood and that meant pruning to avoid a big mess that would be more difficult to tend later. At this point, my gut was giving me the sense of hesitancy and of needing to postpone my pruning until I understood better.
Well, in my novice gardener manner, and with my own desire for them to have space, I pruned them anyway. As I did so, I was met with images of critters moving between both shrubs via the limbs of each and it being a safer way to travel rather than having to go to the ground and risk being seen or caught. Again, the word, “network” filled my mind. After pruning some of the significant tangles, I decided to stop. I had realized that they know better than I do and if they truly felt they were better together, then I was going to find a balance with that and learn their wisdom. Once I stepped back and thought about these concepts in my mind, it made total sense. They were trying to help me understand how a hedge system and even the bigger trees function in this manner. This “network” was a very important part of safe travel for many creatures.
Opportunity #5:
I have been the recipient of my share of painful and heart-wrenching moments as well, when I did not heed my intuition to announce my yardwork, especially the work involving sharp scissors or grass cutting devices. I have accidentally injured and/or killed as I went about my tasks, assuming that all the creatures would simply move away from my space and be well. This is not always the case, and as I absent mindedly or hurriedly cut, pruned, cleared away…I was given the painful realization that Nature would like a heads up, if at all possible.
Many will happily relocate while work is being done, some will not. In my own experiences, many would have been spared if I had slowed down and taken notice as I worked, as to who was in there with me. When I go in with no notice, they have no way to get to safety. I have found that, more often than not, 24 hours notice is appreciated: sometimes less is fine. Sometimes more is required. If I am going to be mowing the yard or working amongst the plants, announcing it a day ahead of time gives them a chance to relocate for the day. If I am renovating a space that may result in someone losing their home, a few days to a week might be better, so that they have time to complete what is asked of them, especially if relocating their young are involved. They have the right to follow their own directive, of course, and some will. But in general, the more I have sought to engage with kindness and thoughtfulness, the better the outcome usually is, and the more who will survive and thrive.
Opportunity #6:
A few days ago, we went for a short hike at Silver Falls State Park. It is one of my favorite places to hike, as the rocks have a deep anchoring energy and hummm, the plants are soft with sunlight dappling through the tree branches, and the water feels like the life force that embews the whole canyon on a deep and rich level. It takes me so long to hike there because I am always stopping, cavorting with the plants, whispering to them, in awe of the light playing on the wood sorrel, or the birds chirping amongst the branches. The whole space there is alive and it’s magickal. Touching the massive stone behind some of the waterfalls whisks one away to sensations of times so ancient, there are no words, only presence and a deep deep connection to language that speaks only in sound and vibration.
On this particular day, our hike had arrived us to a place looking out over the canyon. At the edge of this lookout stood a big tree. As we stood with this tree and gazed over the canyon and across to the other side, I put my hand on this wise and sacred being, offering my love and appreciation. As I shared the silence of the afternoon with my tree friend, the birds and the gentle wind dancing along the canyon, I began to see images of many seasons passing and of this tree being witness to them. I was shown quiet and cold winters, vibrant and bustling summers, and the sense of flow as each moment blended into the next but in a way that honored each as both individual and collective.
As these images and sensations were filling me, I gazed across the canyon to spy a very large, yet dead, tree across the divide, and got the feeling that these two were good friends for many years. The feelings, thoughts and images that came to me were not of my own making. They could have easily felt like I was making them up, or that perhaps I was thinking about what this must have been like for the tree and therefore created the scenes playing out in my mind; but the more I learn to tune in to the subtle frequencies of our nature brothers and sisters, the more I am able to discern between my own thoughts and those of the kin I am connecting with. As I continue to build this relationship in my daily life, this time together definitely gave me some confirmation that we enjoyed a conscious and sacred connection. I am so thankful that this beautiful tree shared its memories and heart with me.
Opportunity #7:
Early one spring morning, while watering the garden, a lady hummingbird flew in to share space with me while she sat on the fence just a few feet away. She felt curious and inviting. As I would sprinkle the water onto the flowers, she would swoop down to take a run through the droplets, hover for a moment, and fly back to the fence.
She did this a few times and I began to catch on that she was genuinely appreciating the shower and the playfulness. I raised the water a little higher so she would not be so near the ground. She danced around in the water several times, before flying up to a higher branch above me where she just sat and watched for several minutes. Then off she went about her day.
Years earlier, as I was again watering the garden, a group of young Chickadees had come through and were perched on the branches above me. I gently and playfully raised the water into the branches above, mimicking a sprinkler. The little Chickadees would flutter and dance around the branches while the water danced over their little bodies. They would chirp and chirp and flutter in ways that made me imagine that they were having such a great time of it! Eventually, they flew off, but they returned for another day or so before I stopped seeing them. Such a treat to have playful time with these little birds!
…Learning how Nature speaks to us can be unique to how we each best receive communication. Some of us tune in with our ears, some hear finer frequencies that can bring more layers to what we are hearing. Some can visualize and see images. Some have an innate knowing or gut sense about things. Some feel physical sensations or emotions. We have access to all of these, but in the beginning, we may notice only one or two of them. The more we play with the interaction, the more we get to understand how we come to insights.
Personally, I have always seen things in my mind really well, and my intuition has always been fun to play with and fine tune. The other ones are developing as I can take notice and as I choose to practice.
Nature always hears us. Are we hearing them? Genuinely? With a desire to receive it, whatever comes? We can relearn how to receive their messages. It just takes practice and a sense of being open to exploring how it happens.
I, like many, can struggle to feel I am receiving the messages. I feel so lost in the connection. Or perhaps I am so busy in my DO-ing that I am not quiet in my mind or tuned in to receive them. Sometimes I feel like the bumbling gardener who is bumped from thing to thing as they guide me in my Do-ing because I just am not tuned in to their voice.
Can you still yourself enough to tune into how you are receiving? Sit with a tree, or a plant, or your pet, a fly on the window, the rain, the wind…anything that you draw a relationship to Nature with… and as you breathe, pay attention to each of your senses, to thoughts and ideas. Can you become aware of something beyond these senses, even, that may be happening? It is a significant slowing down at first, flowing more easily as time and competence builds.
The messages that Nature conveys can be very obvious and loud if the need arises, but so often they are incredibly subtle. And I wonder if that invites us to do our part to join the conversation earnestly and with genuine intent. The more we choose to be open to listening, not only will we be invited into the conversation, but we’ll be able to deepen that sacred conversation as well.
Who can you invite into conversation today? Or tonight? What might you learn from them? How might it color and deepen your understanding of this amazing world of ours? The invitation has always been available to us, and the depth of the conversation is completely up to us. I’m excited for where this can lead us. And how we can broaden the understanding of our interconnectedness.
Munay
Kimberly Logan
Harmonic Luminosity
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