#267: Post-Earth Day Community Share

As Earth Day passed this year, I was (especially) in the mindset of thinking about the planet, the beauties of nature, and what can be done to help at an individual level. So I decided to reach out to a handful of community members afterwards to hear their own thoughts and appreciations as well. I received a few anti pet peeves and some great photos also. Here it is below! It makes me happy to continue spreading the spirit of Earth Day this month too :)

Happy Friday everyone!

- Amanda

POST-EARTH DAY/NATURE THOUGHTS

My favorite thing about nature is that I am a part of it 🥰. It's a cliche, but the more I look at the anxieties I have about being, "enough," the more I realize I've bought into the myth of being a, "separate self." Lately, in my guided meditations, I've been inviting people to consider the four natural elements within their bodies—the earth of their bones and tissue, the water of their blood, the fire of their nerve endings and beating hearts, and the air of their breath. Remembering all the elements are alive inside of me, I'm able to tap into a borderless sense belonging that can allow my unique gifts to fully blossom. By spreading this idea to my corporate clients, my hope is that we can see the planet less as a resource, and more as a part of ourselves to be cared for. On a slightly more tangible note, I love taking long hikes and am currently digging a wading pool in the creek that runs through our backyard.

Picture attached :)

- Kurt Peloquin

I was on a run one morning and noticed the sun. I watched it rise between Manhattan skyscrapers, and thought to myself, in so many ways, how it represents our lives. Each day a different rise. Sometimes bright, powerful rays. Sometimes broken between buildings, sometimes lost in clouds or fog. My Earth Day anti-pet peeve is the humility Earth gives us, wrapped in little gifts of green and gold.

(Photo from that morning attached)

- Christina Posa

In a square mile of an urban neighborhood, we cultivate 3 plots of land. One is our home. Another is the community garden we started on city-owned property 11 years ago. Another is an empty lot of grass where a house was torn down that we bought last year. Here are some statistics:

All 3 plots add up to less than 1 acre of land
20 trees total

3 dogwoods
1 apple
4 Paw Paws
4 Oaks
1 Maple
3 Magnolias
1 Mulberry
3 Redbuds

11 vegetable/fruit beds (Over the years we have grown Corn, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Okra, Eggplant, squash, tomatoes, asparagus, berries, watermelon, cantelope, spinach, lettuce, brussel sprouts, garlic, carrots, turnips, beets, beans, peas, cabbage, and more)
4 Compost bins
5 rain barrels
1 solar energy system
2 public works of art
2 pavilions and 1 porch
Hundreds of kids (and adults) who have learned about the land they live on

It’s not a huge farm or some exotic nature preserve, but it’s enough for our family and neighbors to commit to and contribute to cultivating the Earth. I am grateful for these places, as they bring Earth Day out of the abstraction of the media/mind/idea and into the reality of my immediate senses. I can touch, taste, smell, see and hear the Earth in these places. They are real and related to me every day.

- Tim Vogt

My anti pet peeve: Looking at buildings and knowing that they can be carbon neutral … just with the right effort … seeing a city that is in tune with nature and not abusing nature. Or when a mosquito bites.. knowing that this is just part of nature… and not to be taken personal.:-)

- Matthias Hollwich

The night sky. I have a deep love for moonless, clear dark skies where the Milky Way seizes your imagination. There’s turning away from the Moon and Sun during a total solar eclipse to watch stars you’d expect a half year from now appear in the darkness as the wind from the sudden temperature change swirls about. Those half dozen dependable meteor showers and the once in many lifetimes meteor storm with thousands of meteors per hour. And that ultimate wonder that we can make sense of this even as new mysteries present themselves.

The daytime sky is neat too.. this is from the end of our driveway when I was 15. (photo attached)

- Steve Crandall

When you’ve got nothing nothing nothing in your garden for days and then you wake up one day to a cute little row of sprouted beans.

- Jaime Posa

I love the oxygen high after an arduous yet beautiful hike. It's rewarding to look down at my Fitbit to check step count, then look back up at the captivating mountain that was just conquered. (Photo attached)

- Amanda Posa

I find being barefoot in grass, soil, or sand for 5-10 minutes centers me like nothing else. As though I’m plugging directly into the Earth, to resynchronize my rhythm with hers.

- Corey Loftus