We are not in charge

During a 24 hour period this past week, I had the chance to feel three earthquake tremors here in North Granby, Connecticut. Most recently, I experienced the coolness of an eclipse.

I love the way Nature has a way of reminding me that humans are not in charge. As a human, I love to separate myself from the natural world and delude myself into thinking that the I can somehow outsmart Nature or believe that Nature’s rules don’t apply to me. 

What I also love is the way the magnificence, the raw power of these natural events, fuels my desire to be on the side of Nature. I guess that is also a very human tendency—wanting to be allied with the most powerful forces! Nature is definitely that most powerful force!

For me, these awesome natural events are incredibly motivating. I may only be a bit player on Nature’s team, but even a bit player like myself can take steps to become a better teammate. 

Over the last couple of decades I’ve discovered there is incredibly joy in becoming a better teammate—from composting to gardening, to going solar and thrift shopping. The fun is that there will always something more I can do to soften my footprint—it’s a different creative activity—being more fulfilled with less! How’s that for a brain bender! LOL!

Or maybe, as Nature’s teammate, I am being fulfilled with more—more delicious food because it comes straight from the garden, more inspirations for my art, more birds and more flowers and more fascinating bugs, more creatures in my yard. Because I do think my favorite activity as one of Nature’s bit players so far has been introducing more native plants into our yard. We are only a couple of years in, but Nature has rewarded us with crazy cool co-inhabitants, warblers we haven’t seen before, more hummingbirds, beautifully colored insects like the golden digger in addition to the beautiful flowers and delicious fruit. Humbled and honored to be on Nature’s team!

The calligraphy piece above is a celebration of a golden digger that I found on my rose milkweed last summer. I’m excited to see what this new growing season brings!

9 April 2024