nature

Carl Jung and Mary Oliver on Touching Nature from the Inside and Outside

This morning we came across extraordinary words from Carl Jung. They describe a wholeness of experience that antidotes the very modern idea that we are each self-contained. Soon after, a Mary Oliver poem echoed it…

Van Gogh and Gary Snyder Teach “Tree Intensity of Mind”

Recently, the actual living trees that were the subject of van Gogh’s last painting in 1890 were discovered near the small French town where he lived. A photograph of the trees superimposed with the painting brings to life Gary Snyder’s idea of “tree intensity of mind”, and amplifies our own experience mightily.

Wild, Affirming Music from Wolves and Meredith Monk

This short video has no commentary…Just two wolves howling in response to howls from faraway. It seems like singing, music of strange beauty and harmony. Primal. Wild. We know of only one human who can sing like that…

How to Dispel Worry (Mary Oliver)

Worry and overwhelm are common emotions these days. This morning, we found two simple things that shifted us out of them.

Nature’s Ascent: An Opera Plays to an Audience of Plants, Penguins Visit Museums…

Among the many challenges the lockdown has brought, the ascent of nature has been among the unexpected gifts. Cultural institutions are embracing that view to shift and refresh their locked-down patrons.

This Artist of Gardens Will Change How You See

Piet Oudolf is an artist who uses plants as his medium. He changed how we see landscapes and the possibilities of our own gardens.

W.S. Merwin On Hope and What to Do On the Last Day of the World

In this short video, the renown poet and activist sepaks eloquently about hope and our interconnectedness, two themes so many are working to encompass.

An Incredibly Relaxing Walk through the Cherry Blossoms at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Garden Bathing)

Watching this perfectly shot video felt so much like we actually were ambling slowly through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that we felt palpably relaxed and dreamy. It is a balm for anyone craving nature.

Robert Macfarlane on Trees and Long Love

Over our transom came this moving piece from Underland: a Deep Time Journey by British naturalist Robert Macfarlane. We’ve written before about his remarkable ability to connect us to nature, landscape, heart…

How to be Clear: Walk the Wind with Natalie Diaz, Ada Limón, Theo Jansen

Uitwaaien is an untranslatable Dutch word for a simple, transformative practice you can do almost any time. I came to understand it more deeply through art and poetry that expands the meaning of “air”.

Gordon Hempton: Silence is the Presence of Everything

This lovely immersive video follows acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton to one of the quietest places on earth. It draws our awareness to just what it is we’re hearing, or not, and the unique, extraordinarily complex sounds of silence.

Powerful Questions About Personal Expression Sparked by W.S. Merwin’s Garden Time (Consider Journal)

At #Consider Journal, a remarkable post ranges from W.S. Merwin’s last book to the “cyclical effect of nature and art” to the bigger question of how our expression might come to resonate in bigger ways.

Rejuvenating Staycation: Go Forest Bathing…

When I need an essential retreat to refresh and restore balance but I don’t want to travel, I go…forest bathing. Not sure it’s for you? Here’s a virtual forest bath you can take right now.

Manifestations of Gold: Forest Sculpture, Poem, Graffiti, a Dusting Found on Leaves

After I started working with gold, melting, rolling, forging the 22-karat coins I bought years ago, I started to see other forms of treasure, including Karin van der Molen’s beautiful sculpture…

Sylvia Plimack Mangold’s Trees with W.S. Merwin Haiku, Time Disappears

Sylvia Plimack Mangold’s trees are amazingly wonderful depictions of the treeness. As we looked, we thought of this haiku by W.S. Merwin…

Lessons in Stillness and Quiet, with Mitch Epstein’s Astonishing Trees

At first, we only visited the New York Times “Lessons in Stillness from One of the Quiestest Places on Earth” because we wanted to see Mitch Epstein’s remarkable photographs of trees. But then, the story called us…

Tiny Blossoms Knocked Off a Flower Make Unexpected Arrangements

Blossoms that might in one way seem broken or damaged can transform into something of startling beauty…

Reading W.S. Merwin’s ‘Rain Light’ in Dappled Sunlight, We Were Amazed to Learn What ‘Dappled’ Is

When we stumbled on this lovely way to read Rain Light by W.S. Merwin, it took our breath away for a moment as we rode on the New York City subway…Then we read Edward Tufte’s explanation of what “dappled” is…

Call of the Forest “a Way of Thinking About Trees and the Planet You Have Never Thought Before”

In “Call of the Forest, the Forgotten Wisdom of Trees”, botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger guides us into “the essentials of what a tree is all about”, something she says most people have missed, and that will change our view of the planet we inhabit.

Oliver Sack’s On Meeting an Orangutan at the Toronto Zoo

One of the most remarkable stories in the late Oliver Sacks’ posthumously published book is about Sacks’ unexpected meeting with an orangutan while visiting the zoo. It describes Sacks “”a brilliant singularity”: his ability for showing us the big fat gifts to be found in the everyday. Perfection in 274 words.

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