Home: it can mean so many different things to each of us. Home is a place we live much of the time, or a family that raised us, or an escape from work, or a nest of love and care, or a dream and a hope, or right here in this breath, or under that tree, or with this particular night sky. We make homes, places we feel rooted, connected, and loved and places we cherish, nurture, and love boldly in. But all of our homes are on this single planet, which is another way of thinking about our home, a place we belong just by being here, a place that is ours to care for and a place that nurtures and sustains us.
One way we can nurture loving this planet that is our home is to be attentive to reasons for awe, laughter, joy, contentment, and thanksgiving wherever we are. I find this easiest to nurture outside. Rolling down the path, up the hills, over past the neighbors, under the trees, alongside the waters is one of my joys. Moving through this place that I make home reconnects me with each breath and push of my wheels to this web of being. Every day that I go out, I seek out one more reason to give thanks for this place and to cherish and nurture it. One day that might be the resilient weeds in the sidewalk cracks, persisting and making a place to be. Another day that might be the cardinals tapping outside my door to see what treats are going out to the feeder station today. On yet another day it may the be the sound of rain or the feel of warmth from the sun or a breeze that wakes me up and focuses my attention. Inside, I might spend some moments in awe as the thunderstorm passes or feel the minute changes in daylight as the earth spins on its axis around our sun even though there is a heavy snowstorm.
I belong to these places I learn moment by moment; they are part of me. No matter where I go, they remain part of me. And each one who makes their home here is part of this place, too, belonging here. Sadly, we are living in a time of great climactic change, where the world that has been so favorable for human development is changing and will continue to change dramatically. How dramatically depends in great part of on our daily choices, through laws we pass and policies we pursue, in consumer choices, and in whether we can work together globally to address these changes. But it is hard to stay motivated to act when that action is based in fear. Fear felt day after day becomes, eventually, background noise; we adapt to these new normals of anxiety. But when we love and cherish something or someone, these ecosystems and place in which we live, then our hearts are renewed to keep acting. The fear stays is fresher because we have respite from it, in being nurtured by and in delighting in this planet, and we also know very much what we’re struggling and risking for. Tending our communities of people and of place, of trees and waterways, of birds and of fungi, of flowers and of fantastic landscapes, we can nurture a beloved future for this earth, our home. Each day how we live answers the question: how do we nurture life? How are we acting from loving and open hearts to care for this planet, our home?
In this new year, as at any moment, may we start where we are, whether at home or away, breathing in and breathing out. May we touch the earth, or the snow, or the bark of a tree, or the salt water. May we feel both the soft darkness of night and the warm light of day. And in this breathing and being right here and right now, may we find our hearts opening with gladness for here, for this earth, this air, this night, this day, this place where we belong just by being. This is our earth, our home, something to cherish, protect, nurture, give thanks for, dream for, and tend with all the other hopes and dreams we embody.
From dust to dust, we belong to this earth and in that belonging have cares, responsibilities, delights, awe, and thanksgiving. Loving this Earth, loving this place begins first with attention to and awareness of the here and a heart open to care, wonder, and nurture.
