The power of Belonging & Awe this Earth Day and every day

"Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond."

- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

In colonial and capitalist ways, we are taught to manufacture purpose and identity. Belonging has become a function of consumption rather than a result of mutual respect and reciprocity. 

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”― Arundhati Roy. I feel this is true. And so is the fact that many communities have already long been living our shared solutions.

Over the last year and a bit, planes and cars and feet have taken me to spend time with Knowledge Holders across many Land, Sea and Sky Countries. From the bracken water on Bundjalung Jagun to where the river meets the sea in los Territorios de los Arhuaco, Kogi and Wiwa Peoples; from the towering redwoods of the La Jolla, Rincon, Pauma, Pala and Luiseño Peoples in California to the autumnal maples of Iya Valley in Japan. Across millennia and miles, a steady drip of eternal truths continue to ring true ~ It, we, all come back to community and Country. Being All One, we are tied in a fabric of reciprocity with our greatest Mother. This relationship hangs in the air whether we human kin are tending to our responsibilities or not. When we dominate or exploit her, we do it to ourselves too. When we steal from the children of tomorrow in greed, it us who lose a part of ourselves. Accordingly, just like any being or relationship we neglect, our mama Earth is sick and needs us to remember Her - and our ourselves - now.

To remember ourselves, we need to experience ourselves. To remember belonging, we need to experience each other. And to experience, we need to take action, not just think thoughts. 

Philosopher Alan Watts has a great quote about this;

“The same is true for people who think all the time... the constant chit chat of symbols and images and talk and words inside your skull... If you do that all the time, you will find that you have nothing to think about except thinking. Just as you have to stop talking to hear what others have to say; you have to stop thinking to find out what life is about. The moment you stop thinking, you will come into immediate contact with what Korzybski , so delightfully called, ‘The unspeakable world’. The most ordinary sights and sounds and smells, the texture of shadows on the floor in front of you.”

Hope... rage... radical hope. Sacred Rage. Who am I to tell you what should drive you to action? What matters is that in our heart, our cells, our skin, we know what it feels like to be in a state of love with our own family. How can we love someone we don't know? 

Everyday I am remembered into the family of beings, the family where we are all One, by a simple practice. It's simple, but it requires commitment. 

Here's a little example of what serves me*: 

//

Stop. Become still. Become quiet.

Quiet my mind. Open my heart.

Turn on my senses....

And feel awe. 

At the tiniest threads of life coming into being, and going too, in this very moment.

// 

So this Earth Day (and every day, really) the Dr Bronner's family and I encourage you to embrace the power of awe!

Let's go outside with open hands, open ears, open eyes, open hearts. Nose and mouth ready to notice scents as they surprise. To taste the fruits of an earth who writes love letters to you everyday in the inks of sugar, sap and sunlight. To dive into the acoustic lake of forests and falling water. To float awhile in the pool of momentary happenings that is this one precious life... 

Let's not forget the power of a puddle jump! 

A few ways I love to experience belonging that you might also like this Earth Day:

• For one day, commit to silence and stillness for first light and last light. When the sun meets the figures in our neighbourhood and brings the day into being, we be there. Breathe into the truth that together we are all becoming New, just in this one moment. Then at dusk, put down our obsession with what's next. We can say thank you to this Earth for another day by offering back our attention and stillness. 
• 
  Buy something from a local grower and cook it. Eat it with a friend or someone we love. Seon Buddhist nun and chef of Korean Cuisine Jeong Kwan says, "what we are really eating is the act of sharing". And my friend Ruperto says;
• If you don't already, connect with the original Custodians and Owners of the land on which you love. Listen with an open mind to the tapestry of care and reciprocity that has continued here since Time Immemorial. 
• Plant some food - at home in a pot, make a garden bed, at your children's school... it doesn't matter. From resilience experts to doctors, so many people are saying one of the best things we can do for ourselves and the planet is get our hands into soil and be part of growing what we eat. 
• Volunteer - collective care and joy! There's nothing like standing shoulder to shoulder at a kitchen bench or garden bed next to someone and doing a task together. Working together is such a great way to let go of differences and remember who we all are inside. And have a laugh! I volunteer with The Returning, a powerful First Nations corporation. Within it, a group of us women cook locally-sourced, nourishing and culturally care-full meals for post-partum mums once a fortnight. I love getting to a small part of that sooo much. 
• Last but not least, visit our closest Community Garden. Community Gardens are such a rad, and sometimes unknown, way to be part of growing food without needing to know everything or do it all yourself. The whole point is to share the load and the gifts! You can find your closes Community Garden on the Community Gardens Australia website here - communitygarden.org.au

*From Buddhist guides to Aunt Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Bauman respected teacher of Dadirri; from every Original Custodian I have walked with in deep listening on their Country, to each child I have played with through to the wisdom of each drop of Water ~ I carry on the unlearnings and learnings never forgetting these generous teachers and their lineages. All knowledges are theirs, not mine.