#78 Wash Your Spirit Clean

Photo by Pablo Fierro on Unsplash

Around the 1860s about 95% of the Redwood Forests were cut down for lumber, to be used by ranchers, developers, and loggers. 

John Muir, a disrupter of that time, as well as a naturalist, author, philosopher, and early advocate for all things nature, saw this problem and took action.

As passionate as he was about preserving nature, he needed help. 

His beautiful essays, poems, and pictures of the Yosemite Valley caught the attention of President, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. 

When Roosevelt was 25, his mother and wife fell ill. They ended up dying on the same day. To this, he said, “The light has gone out of my life.”

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#12 Biomimicry

My fiancé and I were walking through Golden Gate Park on a cold and crisp Saturday afternoon. We walked through one of the ten lakes the park offers, each finely equipped with its own distinct character. On our way, we were pleasantly ambushed in unison by squirrels, ducks, finches, and a swimming raccoon. I’m not sure how the conversation started, but through the course of it, my better half brought up the term biomimicry.

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#11 Sawubona – A Zulu Greeting

Sawubona is a term the Zulu people of South Africa use as a greeting. However, it’s a term that has a much deeper meaning. Sawubona means not only do I see you but my ancestors see you, and together, we acknowledge and recognize one another; we are both present in this time and place as one.

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#4 Nature – Lessons Learned While Cleansing The Spirit

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” — John Muir

When I’m in around nature, I become centered. The rat race temporarily vanishes. Each moment spent amongst the trees has a big lesson behind it. In nature’s silence, I’m able to hear a tune that only the heart can decipher.

Everything is part of nature. Even the cities with all of the human innovation are part of nature. However, for this article, I am looking at nature in its originality. 

Mother nature selflessly takes everybody in, excludes no one, and keeps on giving.

Take a tree for example. A tree gives shade to all that grace its presence and not once does it ask for acknowledgment of any kind.

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