Earth Day Musings

We are currently out of Los Angeles and headed up the west coast, camped out in one of my favorite places in the world, Redwoods National Park (brrr), and finally made it to Seattle last night to stay with some  friends. From here we will make our way to the Methow Valley, where a part of my heart lives permanently, to join up with a group of buddies for the annual Sunflower Relay.

Well, last night I couldn't sleep. I tried all of the tricks (prepped my sleep with adaptogens, did some visualization meditation, counted my breaths, counted numbers and alphabets). Nothing worked and so I simply lay there in the dark, feeling as if each beat of my heart was the loudest sound in the house. In this Witching Hour, my mind drifted to the idea of perfection and how I am always doing instead of being. How much my mind is often filled with what I have left to accomplish or to prove. But as this was hardly productive, I started to reflect on my day in the trees and soon I was I gifted memories of the prior day, each thought a gentle wave of happiness:

• The night before, being able to look up at the sky and see more stars than I had in years, snuggled by a mist that hugged my body to the ground like the heavy trim of a cosmic robe.

• That next morning, running around silly with my husband and pup on a seldomly traveled path, hearing nothing but the morning birds and the wind moving though a forest that has been here since the Jurassic Age

• Taking in the landscape and recognizing trees that were still there from 2 years ago that had likely been there for hundreds of years before I was born.

Before long, listening to the gentle breathing sounds of my family, I felt grace, peace and happiness for my life and I finally drifted off to sleep.

Happy Earth Day

• click here for more facts and conservation efforts to protect Redwood National Park

• click here for information about conservation in the Methow Valley