Last night when I sat down to write a blog post I had a few false starts. They all came too much from the head and withered before they could really become much. When my time for writing was nearly up, I opened a blank document and wrote the words you see below. Today I was tempted to edit it, craft it, shape it into something more palatable. I will resist that temptation and instead share it as it came to me.

We are adrift when we divorce ourselves, even emotionally, from the land. We are a house of cards when we view ourselves as separate from our bodies. As long as we hate our bodies we will destroy the land and ultimately ourselves. It is time to let go of self loathing. It is not useful. We are incarnate beings, blessed with bodies that are amazing systems of energy, life, form and spirit. This life is about understanding what it means to live bound up in this system. Our bodies, much though we strive to deny it, are linked deeply to the land. If it fails, if we destroy it, we also destroy ourselves, and not only on an individual level, but as a species. Can we truly value ourselves so little? Can we really fail to value the living, breathing, growing land on which we live?

It is time to stop lashing out as broken, frightened creatures, intent on inflicting pain in order to stop our own. It is time to stop dulling our senses and to wake up and see what we are killing. It may not be what you think. Killing does not make living hurt less. It only dulls the joy that is available.

Instead, sit still and breathe. Listen. Can you hear a bird sing? Can you see a tree? Do you feel the life coming into abundance around you?  I know it’s scary. I know we have been taught to believe that anything that cycles is not true. If it were it would not leave us. This lie will cripple you if you let it. The setting of the sun does not negate the bright light of day. It moves in a natural rhythm that you know deep in your bones and your DNA. The sun sets. The moon rises. The moon sets. The sun rises. No one has abandoned you nor left you alone to die. Reject that lie.