Early snow.
So many leaves still in the midst of autumn.
From radiant yellows to deep red, russet, and orange
really, the leaves were just getting started.
Then, big wet flakes drifted down.
All day long.
Until seven inches blanketed the ground.
Now brightly colored leaves sit atop the snow
while most of their companions are still aloft,
waiting for their time to release
and make their way to ground.
It’s striking. And beautiful.
Even as it feels somehow off.
Something deep inside says this doesn’t look quite right.
As if ‘right’ were a word we could assign to Wildness.
And yet, many things aren’t right with our natural world
as our warming planet thrashes and changes
faster than species and habitat can adapt.
I feel as torn as those leaves sitting atop the snow.
Concerned to my core for this planet we call home.
And captivated by the heart-stopping beauty
of those very same leaves.
We live in too much paradox
more than human hearts are designed to hold.
The sense of foreboding and uncertainty
sit alongside the beauty and enchantment we feel
when we consider how intricately connected we are to this Wild world.
What’s left for our big brains and heavy hearts to do
but dare to let ourselves feel it all.
To let ourselves love with abandon
the natural world that surrounds us,
whether that’s a determined weed in the crack of a sidewalk
or a mountain range with deep blue sky.
And I mean really love it.
Take it in, until our knees buckle
with awe and appreciation and compassion.
It is from this place that we will play our part
in healing the brokenness of our little world spinning blue.
This is not merely an intellectual exercise.
To make the changes necessary,
it takes a whole-hearted desire
to right what has gone awry.
We won’t hold to changes and new ways of being
if they come strictly from a place of shoulds and shame.
Healing our planet takes courage.
It means unlocking our hearts and taking in this world
until we are crazy with love for this place
that teems with life.
Until our choices aren’t even choices,
rather a direction that we crave
unable to imagine any other way,
no matter the sacrifice.
Call out the poets, the scientists, the political leaders.
Call out the children, the city dwellers, the inventors and entrepreneurs.
There are so many more of us than you think.
I mean really, who do you know that wants to live
on a world that is struggling to support life,
where clean water grows scarce
and extinction is an achingly regular occurrence.
Where habitats and open space disappear
under the weight of us?
I truly believe most of us want to live
in harmony with the planet.
What we need are bold ideas, wisdom, and direction.
And right now, it’s go time.
It’s all hands, hearts, and minds on deck.
We will get where we need to go
when we shift the balance.
When we free our minds and
open our hearts that we’ve tried
so hard to protect from waves of despair.
Bringing our myriad talents together.
we can dare to imagine and think differently.
When we embrace this world we share,
without reservation,
we will see a planet full of people at peace
rejoicing in being able to live, finally, in kinship with
this wondrous Wild world.
