Ordinary Collisions: Intersections of Nature & Culture

I read this passage yesterday, shared from an organization called Friends of the Forest: On the last day of August, the women knew to walk slowly. They knew the day was not an ordinary day. It was the eve of the turning — the last afternoon before September stepped forward with her cooler light and her shorter hours and her long amber shadows falling across the fields. And they knew that on such a day, an Ancient was waiting. She has no other name.

In 2008, I lived in the middle of St. Paul, one street north of University Avenue in the Hamline Midway neighborhood. There was no light rail yet, and I was working my first job as a health coach from an office in Bloomington (which meant commuting to the other side of the metro area). I’d been married for about a year, and my sister-in-law (who was also living in the twin cities) and I decided to go on a camping trip. And that camping trip destination?

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published August is a full rainbow ..color, scent, taste, texture, and sound expanding in all directions offering anyone willing to pay attention a vast array of the season's multitude of offerings, a spectrum of mindfulness ripe and ready to be noticed.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published Be like a tiger lily Emulate the movement found in stillness stemming straight from the kind of blossoming that invites a slowing down, a noticing, a reaching in any direction that brings life, a way of being in the world, unapologetically what you are informing every bit of growth.

Did I write the original version of this post three years ago? Yes. Am I posting a version of it again today because I don’t feel like coming up with something brand new? Also yes. 1 However, there’s something to be said for repetition and reinforcement, as well as returning to old work to see if it still resonates. I work in wellness, and wellness is all about alignment.

Right now I can hear an assortment of birds chirping, the wind rustling through some big pines, and a gentle lapping of waves over big rocks. I smell the earthy piney scent that permeates many northern woodlands near big lakes, and I feel the cool air moving in from across the water. Lake Superior is calm right now and hosting a few loons bobbing 20 feet off shore as a misty fog starts to roll in with the afternoon.

So often when things feel constricted, or there are changes happening that we don't agree with but can't control, it can feel like doors are slamming shut all around. When options feel limited, sometimes it’s the simplest questions that illuminate the path forward — and it’s not always the path we think of when we consider what’s next. Today, I invite you to allow for a new possibility, one that perhaps you’ve not yet considered. What else is possible?

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published 10 Truths About the Garden That May Be True About You, Too I. What you tend tends to grow, often meeting you somewhere between expending effort and letting go. II. That which is nourished and cultivated thrives with such care. III. That which is wild and allowed to wander keeps mystery alive, adding texture and depth to the story of the world. IV.

Go outside more than you think you should. Get intimate with what resides outside your front door, in the weedy patch between the two abandoned houses down the block, at the neighborhood park. Learn to love what’s out there and let it love you back. Bring little bits of it inside. Keep going back out. This series, which lasts six weeks in total, is intended to stimulate a sense of wonder and cultivate appreciation for the natural world.

here's to anti-optimizing and moving at the pace that works for you Somehow it’s already the end of the school year, and summer is just around the corner. My daughter attended the 8th grade formal on the St. Croix River stern wheelers a week ago, rehearsals for the summer musical have begun, and we turned off the heat (finally).