WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Life Is Magic
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
Alan Watts
Alone in the beauty and magic of the natural world. An ordinary beauty that nourishes and expands breath weaving magic through all of the senses. Alone but not lonely.
Big Laurel Creek, Western N. Carolina/Photography by Gaye Abbott/10/2023
We are fed by beauty and especially that of nature. How often do we simply take our natural surroundings for granted. Forgetting that this part of us can be an elixir for despair and heartache in a world gone crazy. A remembrance of wholeness and interconnection…..not separation.
Not as a “prescription” taken to ward off the symptoms of brokenness we see all around us, and at times within us, but a way to return back to the source and ground ourselves in a landing back to the earth. To an anchoring to something that is as much a part of us as we are of it. A pathway to reconnect with the heart and soul of creation beyond the strife and challenges of being human.
From this connection and ordinary beauty we touch back into our lives and remember the magic that brought us into embodiment.
“Special instinctive natural magic – that is what life is” says Harry Owen now of South Africa, originally born in a harsh urban environment outside of Liverpool, UK, in the short Green Renaissance video below.
“When out in nature, we often feel so small, dwarfed by the grand sweep of the stars, the oceans, and the mountains. And yet we are still part of it all – connected to the miracle of the first flower to emerge from the soil, awed by the iridescent flash of wings in mid-flight, the feeling of a raindrop rolling down the face, or the spiralling song of a bird up above.
Nature can be a wonderful friend, a source of true healing and inspiration. It is full of enduring beauty, wonder, and mystery — a place that nourishes us physically and spiritually every single day.
In nature, we can know that, as small and short-lived as we are, we still belong to the universe. We are part of the everlasting grandeur and mystery. And our lives are inseparable from the world’s many different natural spectacles, breathtaking occurrences, and unforgettable magic moments.
“Magic, magic, magic – I am part of magic. What more could I ask for?” – Harry Owen
Filmed in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Featuring Harry Owen.
Both poems which Harry reads during this film, are written by him. If you would like to know more about Harry and the books which he has published, visit his website – harryowen.co.za
“ORDINARY BEAUTY” will be a series of short weekly blog posts through the end of this year on finding and witnessing ordinary beauty through the experience and wisdom of elderhood. Stay tuned!
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Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 10/28/23