LOVING MAMA EARTH

Art by Merikalabbe

When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. 
Wendell Berry

Existential fear and anxiety suck. And that's where I go when I think about climate change. There's a herd of raging butterflies kung-fu fighting in my chest, and a bottomless pit of quicksand in my belly. It's a guarantee for a sleepless night and utter misery. Climate change is so scary it's literally unthinkable, but I can't stop thinking about it! The problem is, from this place of terror and paralysis, I'm useless. I'm useless to myself and others.

And there's so much to do!

When I am stuck in my thoughts and emotions, I get nowhere.

When I am present on the earth herself, well that's another story.

This year my bodily relationship with Mama Earth has changed, it's deepened and seeped into my world of sensations and well-being. I feel supported by, connected to, grateful for and in a crazily satisfyingly loving relationship with, well, the ground! 

I don't know how to talk about it without sounding new-agey, which I utterly and fully refuse to be. All I know is that when I put my awareness into the earth, damn, I feel Her! When I reach down for support or nourishment, it's there. Automatically. Effortlessly. Unconditionally. 
My thinking mind can't grasp this, but my body knows itself to be inseparable from the body of the earth.

We are made of the elements; the waters and fluids in our body, the winds our breath, etc...and without this earth, we would not exist. We are in a symbiotic relationship and when I relate body to body, there is calm and ease and trust. When I relate through my thinking self, there's panic.

Now if feeling the Earth was enough, that would be lovely. But it's not. But from this feeling trusting place, I am grounded enough to take action. To make calls, donate what I can, sign petitions and learn more about what can be done. 

Am I making a dent? Probably not. Do I have to do something? Absolutely. I refuse to stand by silently, in fear while my son inherits a home that will collapse under his feet. From this body to body, inseparable, symbiotic relationship, we can keep on keeping on! I invite you, during this delicious spring season, to make a relationship with Mama Earth. Get your ass in the grass, your feet in the dirt, your heartbeat synched to hers. She's waiting and ready.