Nature Tells Us: Destruction, Change, and Possibilities

Have you felt nervous or anxious recently?   I have!  It is sometimes hard to escape the negative rhetoric, violent actions, and blame that fills our news these days.  I have noticed at times that I have become impatient or suddenly angry for little or no reason.

Have you experienced this as well? 

Is there something rumbling under your surface?
(Photo:  Thermal Vents, Iceland - Larry Gardepie)

A friend suggested that I pay attention to what my body is telling me:  tightness in my stomach; becoming tired for no reason; stiff neck or headaches.  Nature offers hints of what is happening below the surface.

Living in California, we have learned to document the tremors that shake our world.  Iceland has thermal vents that reminds the people of the enormous energy below their homes.

Nature often warns us of destruction or change, but it also points towards possibilities and hope.

What obscures your view?
(Photo: Icelandic Scenery - Larry Gardepie)

What is troubling about the current political climate is what obscures what is really happening - externally and internally.

Examples:

• Dividing and blaming others. 
• Normalizing bad behavior and words.
• Accepting hate-filled motives and actions. 

If I judge these examples against how I was brought up, I know that my parents would never have tolerated this kind of environment in our home!

The question for all of us, then, might be:  why do we allow these words and actions to become the norm from those who represent us -- who enter our homes with their toxic words and actions?

Do you have wishes for your friends and family?
(Photo:  Dandelion Wishes Ready - Larry Gardepie)

Yes, nature hints at destruction, death, and change, but it also provides daily hope.  As children, we would find dandelions ready to seed, make a wish, blow, and allow the breeze to spread our wish-seeds.

What do you wish for these days?  How can you become the catalyst for positive change?  Where can you share your idea-seeds and allow growth and beauty? 
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting