Many of us look outside ourselves to find beauty in the world. We travel to parks or the sea or to far-flung places like the Grand Canyon or the English countryside. John Muir was a naturalist who devoted his life to saving our nation's wilderness. He expressed the concept of embodying nature within. Meditation can help us in this effort.
John Muir bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir
John Muir Quotes, The Sierra Club: https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/favorite_quotations.aspx
Pictures of England: https://www.picturesofengland.com/Countryside
14 Finding Beauty Within
Hello and welcome to Uplifted. My name is Meg Luther Lindholm. And I welcome you on this journey from adversity towards new insights for a better life. Today’s step on the journey is called Finding Beauty within.
Many of us travel long distances to explore the wonders of nature. I remember a trip I took one summer during college that immersed me in the beauty of the English countryside. I spent the prior year living on a diet of noodles and carrots – putting every extra penny towards plane and train tickets and cheap beds in youth hostels. I have never regretted my determination to realize one of the best experiences of my life. My travels were a revelation. I seriously considered ditching my striving American way of life for a life raising sheep in the English countryside. I had never felt such a deep love of the color green until I saw so many shades of it. Light green, dark green, lush and vibrant green, yellow-green and deep forest green all gliding past me as I traveled across the English countryside.
But besides being a feast for the eyes, nature can also take root within us. I remember a daily ritual when I lived for a time in Southern California. I would leave the house in the late afternoon light and walk out to a set of rocky bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There at the edge of the continent I looked out at a magnificent canvas of orange and red spread out across the sky. I’d watch the colors deepen and darken as the fiery sun descended and then slipped below the horizon. The red afterglow of the sunset was like the glowing embers of a dying day. And in the pale twilight the earth felt calm and serene. I was not just taking in the view through my eyes. I was also feeling the light and sky inside me. My whole being felt absorbed into the beauty surrounding me and nothing else mattered.
The American naturalist John Muir devoted himself to preserving the natural beauty of the American west. And he wrote poetically about how nature can live both outside and inside us. In today’s world he might be leading meditation retreats in the woods.
Describing this external and internal experience of nature he wrote: “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
Muir also said: “The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”
Muir wanted us to know how vital and important nature is both to our bodies and spirits. But I want to take that idea a step further. Because we don’t actually need to be in nature to feel its embrace. We can conjure views of beauty through meditation.
Do you want to try it? Try closing your eyes if you can. Try envisioning something beautiful. Perhaps in your mind you see red tulips or the wide expanse of ocean opening to the sky. Imagine waves rolling onto the shore. Or imagine tree branches swaying in the wind dropping autumn leaves gently across your path.
As you picture an image of nature see if you start to feel calmer, lighter, more peaceful. We don’t need to go anywhere to experience the feeling of well-being that nature offers. We can access that feeling any moment of the day or night by seeing and feeling nature inside us.
Thank you for joining me on this step of the Uplifted journey. I’m Meg Luther Lindholm. You can find this podcast at Upliftedpodcast.com or wherever you find your podcasts. You can also subscribe to the Uplifted blog on Substack. You’ll find a link on the Uplifted website. And if you like what you hear I would so appreciate your sharing it with your circles. Until next time, take care of yourself and each other.