Happy Earth Day!

Peace of the Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound,

In fear of what my life and my children's life may be,

I go and lie down

where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water

and the great heron feeds,

I come into the peace of the wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I come into the presence of still water,

And I feel above me the day-blind stars,

waiting with their light.

For a time I rest in the grace of the world,

and am free.

~Wendell Berry

Nature and animals have been the loves of my life as long as I can remember, and Earth Day has been a big deal to me since I was 8 years old ~ the year of the first Earth Day ~ when I did a science fair project about water, air and land pollution. While I, like many, do my best to live mindfully and celebrate Nature, the Earth, and our fellow Earthlings of all species each and every day, I feel a special thrum of energy on Earth Day. Maybe because it feels like more of us are becoming conscious on this day of the personal and far-reaching consequences of our choices and behaviors, and more inspired and dedicated to shifting our actions and attitudes toward more mindfulness, more gentleness, more simplicity, more compassion.

As special as this day is to me and as much as I wanted to share about it in a post, my computer and my life had other ideas. I wasn't satisfied with the state of the post I'd been trying to work on, so instead I decided to keep it simple by sharing this beautiful poem and favorite graphic. Given that I'll have far less time (and possibly no relief from my computer issues) as Spring turns to Summer, I plan to keep my blog from going dormant by doing more such simple posts as time permits: a thoughtful quote, a lovely poem, a favorite story, an appropriate image, an occasional cartoon ~ plucked from my vast and beloved collection. :-) And I won't wait till the 41st Earth Day to share some of the thoughts I wasn't able to publish today. In fact, I have big plans for Arbor Day, so here's hoping the gremlins take a vacation between now and then! ;-)

Meanwhile, may you enjoy a beautiful, compassionate, meaningful and inspired Earth Day! I'm going to listen to Jennifer Berezan's glorious Praises for the World and then head outside to commune with the sunshine, the Earth, and the "wild things!" :-)