Feeling the Change

Everyone I know has been touched by the events of the last few years, albeit quite differently. From internal and personal to broad and global, our planet and the creatures who live on it (humans included) are feeling the pressure of change.

“The Only Constant in Life Is Change.” - Heraclitus The quote above is well known, for sure. We usually think of it when life is feeling challenging and, after a short stretch of feeling frustrated or pitying our situation, we cycle up and think of something like this. When I first heard this quote, I thought it was saying, "well, life isn't easy, so you may as well get used to it." And, to some extent, this is true! Life isn't always easy. Sometimes those changes are uncomfortable or downright awful. Sometimes we may go years - or an entire lifetime - wondering why a change happened in the first place. Imagine, though, if that quote was taken with a lighter spin instead. If change is the only constant, that change is what keeps us moving forward. It's the unseen force that continues to propel us farther and farther along. Consider this: the Earth that we live upon and depend on is no stranger to change. Earth is a pro around change. She's in a constant state of cycles and flux, movement and adjustment. For her, there's another unwavering constant: faith. But not necessarily in the religious sense of the word: faith as in "having trust in something." If you see the earth as an inanimate object, then seeing faith from the Earth's perspective would be something like "this just is." In this case, faith, or trust in something, is restoring natural balance. Tectonic plates moving, mountains rising, oceans swirling, weather and climate forces... none of that seems particularly comfortable, but it happens in order to find balance within cycles. Nothing can stop that desire and momentum toward a balanced system - it's always moving (daresay because the cycles may never find a perfect balance in an imperfect world). When a plant dies, we might miss seeing its blossoms, but the seeds it leaves behind are there to grow strong. When wildfire sweeps a forest, we grieve the beauty and shade of the trees, yet the soil is now rich with nutrients for new growth among the charred trunks. And even as climate change makes our weather patterns different and extreme, it forces us to rethink how we live on - and with - the Earth. Similarly, if a person leaves a job, for example, they're making space in their life for the next great opportunity to come in. So as you feel the pull of change in your life, remember to trust. Relationships, jobs, geography, and more... trust that this is a pull forward in your life that is divinely intended to be on your path. You're going to be stronger, more resourceful, and find better balance - not perfect, but better. One day, you'll be able to look back at the challenges and say, "oh! Now I see why that happened."

I've updated my website for the first time in a long time. My desire with this is to begin more blogging about living life in a more Earth-connected way. That said, I want it to feel practical: no need to feel like you have a foundation in "earthy" things. You don't need a certain spiritual leaning or attachment to a practice of sorts. You can identify as "corporate," "earthy," "suburban parent," a whole lot of "I just don't know," all of the above, or none of it. My goal is to guide more people to feel connected to the environment around them, the earth they live on, and themselves (since it's all connected anyway). We're going to talk about animal signs, growing plants, elementals, earth changes, probably rocks, and all kinds of personal "tools" to bring you a bit of ease and connection in your everyday life. No pressure. I like to combine science and the woo-woo, practical with the intuitive. I don't completely know where this is headed yet, but now feels like the time to share the myriad of tools and practices I've gathered over the last 25+ years of deep study/practice with the earth and spirituality. We can feel the shifts happening on Earth because we are intimately tied to the planet. Now is a perfect time to feel in partnership with her. "... For the times they are a'changin'..." - Bob Dylan