Monday Morning Meditation

There is something that doesn't feel right about beginning my day in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I know that this will be how my days will be started for the next several months, there will even be days that I'll be inside next to the fireplace. I'd much rather be sweating in the sunshine than being cozy by the fire. 

And yet, I have a good life.
It is beautiful here. In a month the trees will be vibrant in their autumn colors. Migrating birds and butterflies will be heading southward and others will be making their warm winter shelters. We don't usually get much snow in Southwest MO, it never stays too long, but it is pretty when it covers the field and hills. And it's not too bad since I don't have to go anywhere and can stay home while others battle the conditions and associated traffic.

I'm staying positive about life and where I am even though it doesn't always seem to be the best fit. 
Early in our marriage, we visited Jamaica in January. It was my first exposure to the ocean. I remember feeling the pulsing energy of the ocean and I think it was probably the first time I felt connected to the earth. Maybe that's why I still feel drawn to the energy of the ocean.
However, I have learned to also sense the steady hum of energy that comes from the land. I don't know if it is a magnetic field kind of energy or something else, but I feel it. I like walking barefoot on the grass and feel like that is a centering kind of connection to the earth. Even the wind has its own energy, whether in a gentle breeze, a deep breath, or a forceful storm. 

Even though I rarely get to experience the pulsing energy of the ocean from my home in Highlandville MO, it is comforting to know that the effects of that energy are still felt here in the Midwest. 
The energy of the ocean changes the temperature and energy of the atmosphere. The temperature of the atmosphere changes the winds and the weather on the land, even hundreds of miles from the ocean. The rainfall, snowfall, melting ice from glaciers and the Arctic ice impact the temperatures in the ocean and the cycle continues.

I wish I would have been more aware of the earth's energy earlier in life. I've read that everyone should spend twenty minutes per day in nature -- unless you're too busy. Then you should spend an hour!
There really is a calming, revitalizing kind of energy from walking in the woods, floating on the water, or just breathing in the fresh, clean air of a natural habitat.

I hope you get to spend some time in nature today -- even if it just means taking off your shoes and socks and standing quietly in the grass for fifteen or twenty minutes. If you connect to the energy of the earth, you have connected to me, as well.
We are connected.
We are one.

John