I’m listening to a deeply wise and interesting talk by Robin Wall Kimmerer from last week. She’s the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, which as been mentioned to me by no fewer than 10 people and that I have not read yet. Yes, yes, I know I must. I hasn’t been time…but it appears to be time now.
Anyway, in this talk, she was speaking about being a natural born botanist and enrolling in forestry school to learn about the relationships between plants and people. To understand how some plants look so incredibly beautiful together. How they thrive together.
Her forestry teacher was stunned and told her if she wanted to learn about beauty and relationship, she should have enrolled in art school.
(She persisted in forestry school and then deepened her botany education.)
This story she shared helped me see myself so clearly in an area that was unclear.
See, for a very long time, I was deeply confused about why I loved animals but didn’t want to be a veterinarian. I was so confused about my choices to stay small in business in order to keep relationship with my clients front and center. (Not that you cannot do that with a big business, but *I* cannot seem to figure that puzzle out)
Hearing Robin speak about her desire to more deeply understand nature, their relationships with each other, and why and how she was stunned by the beauty…I suddenly understood!
I am here to care, deeply.
For myself (finally).
For Nature (finally).
For the animals (always).
For my clients (always).
Why?
Because I value this slow, deep knowing. I value TIME spent together. We are in a relationship. Honor and respect matter deeply to me.
She also speaks of the More Than Human World as being our RELATIVES…not our RESOURCES. (Also, humans are not resources, either).
I feel this deeply in my bones. I am drawn deepen in even further.
This also helps me realize why I am so drawn to Forest Bathing. That practice is about gratitude, relationship, seeing and being seen, about honoring, and reciprocity with the More Than Human World.
(This is exactly the same as I feel about my human clients. About my pets. About my garden plants. About the trees in my yard. About my hubby. About my family. About myself.)
“What if we speak of the living world as our relatives, as kin, not as COMMODITIES.”
As Robin Wall Kimmerer shares: “Let’s stop turning the world into things.”
Warmly,
Angie
PS: Interested in coming Forest Bathing with me? Lots of opportunities in 2024! https://angiestegall.com/forest-bathing-experiences/