At Play in the World: Nature II & The Holographic Hike

Photo: Mountain trail in Spring. Montana (2018). Copyright SJPhotography

At Play in the World: Nature II & The Holographic Hike (includes guided meditation)

This is the second in the series “At Play in the World: Nature.” To view the first installment titled, “At Play in the World: Nature I” click on the link here or in the credits below.

Yesterday, I went hiking on my favorite trail. There is a comforting familiarity there that fills me with a sense of healing, peace, and loving acceptance whenever I step onto the trail. Nature’s unwavering consistency, resilience, and authenticity bids me a ceaseless welcome each time I return. The trees, rocks, and boulders stand resolute in dedicated presence. They remain unswerving in their devotion to being there, and undeterred by loneliness, or sadness. Never feeling sorry for themselves or victimized by life, weather, or the decay of time – always beacons of what it means to be present, available, and solidly where they are supposed to be with calm acceptance. The swaying grasses and countless wildflowers, whether met with winds gusting, rain, snow, or storms embrace everything with unyielding delight. Everything happening without regret. No worries for what is rising, falling, changing, still, chaotic, remaining, or dying – an exquisite dance of existence. Fires, storms, or the passage of time are not a vengeful wrath or expressions of anger or punishment, coming to exact judgment or harm or bring lessons for some mysterious reason or another. It is merely the unspoken symphony of life itself. The natural ebb and flow of our vast universe. A divine movement happening without reasons, causes, or judgment. I take great care to move into this flow with every step I take – for the human world and its artificial expectations drain me – and so I move instead towards what is natural and authentic.

Nature's playground invites curiosity, where hearts open and boundaries expand. In the embrace of the wild, compassion and kindness flourish.