Mother Nature's nourishment

“We are part of the earth
and the earth is part of us”

Chief Seattle

Over the past few days, we have had heavy snowfall here in Flanders. It is something we are not used to, and I notice that I myself tend to panic.

“I'll have to cycle through that later!” or “Will the trains be running tonight?” are thoughts that flash through my mind. In that same mindset, it's easy to immediately dismiss the whole winter as stupid, cold, undesirable, or harsh, simply because it's not going the way I would like it to. That's why—and also because the short, gray days have had a big impact on me—I started reading the book How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz. Leibowitz has researched winter mindsets and explains in the book how our mindset can change everything. We can complain and whine about the same situation, or we can see the beauty in it. Of course, this is not only true about winter, but about everything in life.

For several years now, I have made it a habit to go for a walk almost every day. Those walks are incredibly important to me. They are my moment to connect with my body (and thus get out of my head!), my breathing, and the earth. I find that I need to do this in nature as much as possible. That's not easy, knowing that I live in a big city. Until a few months ago, I lived more on the outskirts, and there was a beautiful fort where I went for a walk every day. That did me so much good! If you do it every day, you also grow with the seasons. At the end of August, I noticed that the leaves, acorns, and chestnuts were already falling from the trees, even though the calendar said it was still the height of summer. Or in the spring, I suddenly saw the local swan paddling around with five tiny cygnets following her. It was sad, but part of nature, that a month later only three cygnets could be seen. I was glad to see Mother Nature providing for them.

When I moved to the city three months ago, I hated leaving “my fort” behind. There are two parks near my new apartment, but I didn't find them good enough. But as Kari Leibowitz writes in her book: I can either complain about it, or I can try to discover the good in it. She gives the tip to look at nature every day and ask yourself what emotions it evokes. It's interesting that she doesn't say to go out into nature, but rather to look at and experience the nature that is already there more consciously. So I don't have to live in the Rocky Mountains to enjoy nature, nor do I have to go to the Pyrenees every year. I just have to open my eyes in my everyday surroundings and feel what it does to me. Because nature is also present in the city: the trees in the streets, the fluffy white clouds in the sky, the crisp snow on hedges and parked bicycles, the sun shining, the plants in my apartment. The most interesting part is what comes after observing: feeling. How does this nature affect me? What emotions does it evoke? What do I feel?

Sometimes I take my cell phone with me on my walks and take pictures. These are some of the photos I have taken over the last two months, since I moved to the city...

So much happens inside me when I find myself surrounded by these beautiful natural phenomena. What I feel most of all is awe. Awe for creation, for the wonders of nature. At such moments, I can't help but feel (not know, but feel) that there are forces much greater than myself. For me, that is God, but everyone calls it something different. It is an experience that I consider very soothing, very healing for my soul. That is why I seek it out as much as possible, in all kinds of different ways. By having lots of plants in my apartments, taking cuttings from them, and watching those cuttings successfully grow into new ‘mother plants’. By enjoying the rain pattering against the windows (instead of worrying that I'll have to cycle through it later!). By consciously walking, breathing, being.

Chief Seattle—apparently a chief of an Indian tribe in the 18th century—said that we are part of the earth and the earth is part of us. I feel like I don't even realize how true this is, how deep it goes. What I do realize is how much I need the earth. I need the spiritual (and physical!) nourishment that the earth gives me. The feeling of awe and wonder, and the experience of forces greater than myself. I need the earth, and it needs me too. That is why I try every day to consciously experience my surroundings, so that their grandeur can heal me more and more. Because my soul needs it.

Nathalie