Esalen Office Gets Wild in Big Sur
Once a year I get the office crew from Esalen out of the office and into rarely visited parts of Big Sur.
Thanks to the Esalen office staff for all that you do!
Gratefully,
Steven
Love,
Steven
Nature & Contemplation at Esalen"It is not happiness that makes us grateful, it is gratefulness that makes us happy."Brother David Steidl-Rast
In every moment of our lives we are supported by natural systems both seen and unseen. Yet, in our culture, many of us are cut off from the natural world. We have little contact with wild nature, little idea of where we live, and little notion of what directly sustains our daily life. Esalen, surrounded and sustained by wild natural systems, is an ideal place to learn more about our sense of place, of nature, and of belonging to this earth.This week was personally powerful for me. To be able to share in more depth the place I care for so deeply with all of you that showed up so fully is special. Coming together to understand our belonging to earth we found belonging in self and community as well. Our journey into the burned area is still vivid in my body and mind. The smell of burnt plants and soil, the color and texture of the abundant charcoal skeletons, the green sprouts emerging everywhere, all live with me. Spending my birthday deep in Big Creek in the waters on a sunny clear day is a present I will remember.
Every yearHow wonder to be back in the wilds of Big Sur with a group... and in places that did not burn. How deeply I appreciated the aliveness of these mountains and sea, and of our time together. Thanks to each one of you for a wonderful weekend!
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this:
the fires and the black river of loss
whose other side is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
To love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones
knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
from part of Mary Oliver's "In Black Water Woods"
"Every body needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul." ~John MuirTo all you that dared to walk on the wild side. May Nature continue to heal you... cheer you (we sure laughed a lot)... and give strength to body and soul. I finish the week filled with gratitude and appreciation for how diverse people can come together and support each other so beautifully along the path.
The clear pool at the center changes everything.May the Way of Nature be with you...
There are no edges to my loving now.
I've heard it said there's a window that opens
from one mind to another,
but if there's no wall, there's no need
for fitting the window, or the latch.
Open Secret Versions of Rumi by John Moyne & Coleman Barks
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. 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? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
~ Mary Oliver from The Summer Day