10.22.24 Perspective & Poetry
Hi friend,
Last week, we took an extra day for a quick trip up the coast.
As always, nature delivered.
Contemplating the vastness of the universe with Jason once Gabby was snoozing was a total highlight for me. We craned our necks to look up at the stars, we checked out our shadows that were cast by the brightness of the moon, and we talked about big things - the sustainability of our planet, our time here and how it makes us want to make the most of it. We wondered about the possibility of other life; what it might look like, being humbled by the fact that our sun is just one of so many stars.
We hugged big trees and listened to the wisdom that they have to share. The ancient coastal redwoods never cease to amaze me. Their sheer size, the journeys that they’ve been through, how they have intertwined with one another, or been hollowed out through the storms that life brings. We gazed at the roots, exposed from their fall, which is always an invitation to check in with our own. To more firmly plant ourselves in the here and now.
We visited the ocean, strained to see it through the fog, and then smiled as the light revealed the blues and greens and teals, and the water sparkled with sunlight. We tasted Olallieberries, growing naturally by the sea cliffs. We just slowed everything down.
This whole trip was less than 48 hours, yet I felt so refreshed when we got home. (Don’t let me fool you, sleeping in a tent with an almost five-year-old is not the best night of sleep of my life, but my soul is refreshed.)
I remember that most of what we feel is urgent, can actually wait a beat. That the intensity of a moment will inevitably pass. In short, I'm reminded to hold things lightly. This is my consistent message when I tune into nature.
Hold things lightly.
I want to share a poem I first wrote two years ago, on a short trip in Bodega Bay.
Falling asleep last weekend, farther up the coast, cuddled up in the redwoods, it returned to me.
Poems always visit me in this way, a quick lightning bolt of words, streaming all at once, demanding attention until they are written down.
It was fun to receive them again. To look back at the first weekend that inspired them, and feel them full again two years later.
Hold Things Lightly
I love a quick trip
a day or two
then home again.
Time enough
to breathe in deep
to laugh hard and smile big
to see the oceans expanse
and remember
how my life is both
everything
and just a speck.
To watch the sun rise
and the animals emerge
cawing and chirping hello
An invitation
to begin again
and again
and again.
The fast spin, so rich in color
here and then gone
laughs gently as I try to grasp.
No, no, it whispers
Hold it lightly.
The main leadership lesson here: regularly get perspective through time in nature - helps shift the way we view every day problems, increases our ability to respond thoughtfully and is incredibly balancing for the nervous system.
Lots of love,
Jess
