Sunday Letter: Inner and Outer Callings

The bird was so insistent in his blaring calls that mirrored the noise in my head. He was so loud that I could no longer ignore my inner chatter. I accepted his invitation to be available to the beautiful noise outside of me and found a path to quiet the chaotic messages within me.

I thanked the bird for the startling invitation, rolled out my yoga mat on the deck, and listened. My breathing slowed and deepened. I was no longer aware of my inner chatter and wholly focused on the environment around me. Then, the calls ceased. As if by magic, the bird called me back to myself.

Callings from nature are all around us daily but often go unnoticed. Our inner turbulence and conflicts can mute nature’s cry, and only when we seek a connection can she break through and provide the care we need.

~ Summer 2021

The sounds of the natural world can be a threshold into our inner landscape. Find a few moments today, and go outside and listen. What do you notice in the layers of sounds around you? What do you discover as you travel through your experience layer by layer? What words come to mind?

Capture them in a notebook and let them rest until they can reveal the answers you seek.

Be well,

Kathy

Recommended:

Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year, Fiona Waters (Editor)

Sing a Song of Seasons is a lavishly illustrated collection of 366 nature poems -- one for every day of the year. Filled with familiar favorites and new discoveries written by a wide variety of poets, including William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, John Updike, Langston Hughes, N. M. Bodecker, Okamoto Kanoko, and many more, this is the perfect book for children (and grown-ups!) to share at the beginning or the end of the day. Bookshop.org

Kathy Donchak

Kathy Donchak

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Writing Circle Morning Note: Happily Unfinished

Sunday Letter: Let Nature Be Your Teacher