“Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe. I thought I would experience a deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration.
“I was absolutely wrong. The strongest feeling, that dominated everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced.
“I understood, in the clearest possible way, that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting so starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet.
“This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I did my share in popularizing the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will stay our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable.”
— William Shatner, actor
I wonder, gentle reader, if you began to look at YOURSELF this way, what would happen?
Instead of looking OUTSIDE yourself for things to explore, adventures to conquer, or even for others who could possibly give you what you are searching for…
What if you saw yourself as your home? As a welcoming warmth that is always with you?
How might that alter your (inner) world view?
Your skin is the land.
Your lungs are the trees.
Your very cells are the waters.
Your heart is the animal.
Your gut is the wetland.
You ARE the Earth.
As one goes, so goes you.
Warmly,
Angie