Week 8:  3/22/2021

The tree outside my window at work has become a dear friend in this past year since I have awakened to the possibilities offered in the present moment. Eckhart Tolle recommends, “Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.”  So, I have been doing just that lately, slowing down to notice nature all throughout each day, especially when my mind gets busy with worry about life or stress about tasks.  I stop, take a breath, and notice something in nature.  It has not changed the circumstances in my life, but it has been amazing me!

One thing I’ve realized from this newfound shift - nature is everywhere - from the skyline to the blades of grass; I  had simply not been paying attention.  Additionally I'm grateful to find it everywhere in spite of the sad fact that humans bull doze nature for their worldly possessions.  I have always appreciated the nature of Florida’s beaches and other coasts I have visited, feeling the sun soak into my skin and the soft white sand play beneath my toes.  There were moments of appreciation throughout my life.  However most of my life on a daily basis, I could easily find myself annoyed with the bird singing too early, grossed out by one animal dining on another, or merely oblivious to the beauty before my eyes each moment.  I chose to let negative emotions like these remain a fixed part of my thinking each day.  It sounds as simple as the present moment, yet our human minds make life so complicated and challenging.  Nature has the power to help us move away from the troubles of our worried minds and remind us how abundant the universe is.

Again it does not alter the circumstances; it just reminds us where we belong in this universe.  For years, I have taught in classrooms with windows, which I have always appreciated because of the sunshine.  Never before this year have I really stopped to look at the nature right next to me during every class.  I first began noticing the abundance within the tree outside my window recently, but I was surprised to see the abundance of other life living with the tree that went unnoticed before.  There is so much to it: the moss sprouting from branches, the lizards and squirrels frolicking all around, the birds swinging in and out.  The bark alone is worth studying as a bas relief statue of magnificence.  As still as it sits outside my window, it is just bursting with life!

The transformation:  When I left for spring break the tree was mostly brown.  The sparse leaves were the only color variation.  Few branches had remaining leaves; many branches were bare. Some leaves were dark and brown dangling off the branches, yet I could still see the faintest hint of tiny green buds ready to sprout holding tight to the branches.When I returned from spring break, it was green, green, green!  Thick green leaves sprouted on almost every branch.  Individual leaves all huddled together created a sense of unity for my tree friend.  Amid the obvious changes, the bark stood unphased, and the moss remained attached. It is now a comforting aspect of my daily life.

I would venture to guess that not one of my students, nor anyone else, even noticed a difference in my new tree friend.  The only reason I did is because I was suffering and looking for answers.  One of my most respected teachers, Eckhart Tolle, gave me an answer as simple as the present moment in his bestseller, The Power of Now.  Retreat from your busy mind, no matter what crazy shenanigans it's up to, and focus on the moment you are living right now.  

Since that is often a feat of internal strength that only comes easily to people like Eckhart Tolle, one of my favorite ways to be here now is to pay attention to nature, literally. Nature has the power to ease our troubled minds.  Since I have taken the time to look at the tree outside my window at work, I have learned that growth is happening slowly each moment, even when we don’t notice it.  It can remind us to have patience with ourselves and the journey that is our lives.  There is abundance all around us each moment whether we choose to notice it or not. Nature can be the place for you to find it in your own life and begin to take your rightful place slowly and purposefully in the “Circle of Life,” the universe and all its natural glory, instead of your mind and all its damaging worry.