Simply Wild: Esalen 2009

...how to stroll through the fields

"I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done."
~Mary Oliver

I appreciate how the thick fog keeps the coast mysterious... at times hiding the view and keeping our visual attention close... and at other times partially revealing the steep mountains meeting the sea letting our sight roam farther in the distance. This weekend the we dance in and out of the fog — getting above it, in it, and under it. Tell me... what else should we have done?

View: Photos
View as: Slideshow

Wildly,
Steven

Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Esalen 2009

Part of our group on Boranda Ridge high above the fog

Show Up: Choose to be present...

A simple enough sounding thing to do, a challenge in daily practice... yet deeply fulfilling when we can. Here is a poem that I shared one evening...

Lost
by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
Not trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Here is a link to photos: Big Sur Wilderness Experience Photos
Or view as: Slide Show

I hope your the "seeds" of our experience are finding roots and being nurtured towards growth.

Gratefully,
Steven

Sitting with Fire: Tassajara 2009

Coulter Pine seedling near Tassajara

What a remarkable journey this fire from last year has led us on. I continue to be amazed, in awe, and inspired by the variety and resilience of nature.

We went out hunting for Coulter Pine seedlings. On first look none of us were seeing any. Once we saw one, we suddenly saw many... How often do I not see that which is in front of me because of my own habits of attention? How enlivening when I do perceive something new and out of my habitual range!

To see a slide show of our group: Slideshow
To see the photos of our group: Photos