The earth has music for those who listen. – George Santayana
Nature and creativity are doorways to the sacred. They can help us connect to the deeper parts of ourselves, the knowing of our hearts and souls. They can assist us in being more present in the moment and give us access to expanded capacities of intuition, inspiration and imagination.
Connecting to the natural world opens us to our own creative gifts, allowing us to bring forth new possibilities and solutions for our own lives and our troubled world.
The ongoing tragedies and stresses in the world, combined with instant access to these events through the news and social media, can leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. Our psyches and nervous systems overwhelmed.
Spending time in nature as well as creative play can be a balm for heart and soul and help us ground our lives in an expanded sense of self. They relax our body, bring us more into the moment where we can breathe more deeply and release our worry about the future. They can increase our sense of well being allowing us to connect to a sense of peace.
Here’s a bit of inspiration from Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver from her poem Praying in her book Thirst. She explains how to connect to nature and creativity wherever your are and how the deeper threads of knowing can find you in the process.
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in the lot, or a few
small stones: just
pay attention, then patch
A few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak. . .
It doesn’t have to be a poem or even words. You can draw or doodle or dance or sing or cook what comes to you. The key is to reclaim your child-like sense of wonder where you are playing with creation free of any expectations. Relax and have fun. Who knows what inspiration might come.