Pure Absolute Joy

Lake Pohatan, Bent Creek Experimental Forest, Asheville, NC/Photo by Gaye Abbott

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the Wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” ~Chief Crowfoot

Walking with a friend at a local nature park we looked up the hill to see an unleashed black and white dog streaking towards us with what looked to me like a very big smile. Before he got to us he made a sudden turn towards the small creek just below to get a water fix, both drinking and enjoying.

When the owner caught up with him they both came over to say hello to us and we struck up a conversation. She remarked on how many people would have been very scared of a dog running full tilt towards them. Looking her in the eyes with a big smile on my face I said, “That was pure and absolute joy!”

A reminder this day from a being who was completely in the moment and connected with the earth and elements. In our conversation we found that this woman had lost everything in the recent hurricane here in Western N. Carolina, including her house, yet her attitude was one of gratitude for being alive – she and her faithful and water loving doggie Pohno.

When it was time to part ways we both put our hands out and then pulled each other into a loving hug even though we had never met before. On pulling back from each other, when the hug felt complete, I looked in her eyes and said, “I am so happy you are here.” Nothing else needed to be spoken.

The very next day my brother, who is currently challenged by metastatic cancer, sent me the video below. He had found something that for some moments in time took him into joy. Away from his daily struggle with a disease that has impacted his life greatly and towards sharing some joyful moments with his sister.

“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”

~Robin Wall Kimmerer

Pure doggie joy….and connection to nature. Bet you can’t help but laugh… watch to the very end. 🙂

Yes, nature and life itself can be harsh and teach us the most challenging of lessons. Our intimate connection with the earth these days is often blocked by our relationship to technology, current country and global strife, the fears and effects of “climate change”, and forgetfulness about natures organic processes that benefit us all. We forget to live with our senses, hearts and minds wide open.

Adversity and the exquisite vulnerability of being human is a reminder to extend compassion and kindness. To return to a conscious relationship with a natural world that gives us life. To participate fully in our lives even within the inevitable challenges.

What if we could “feel and sense” as a tree does, or a hawk, or even a river, mountain, salmon or firefly. We are created from all of that, forever connected and interconnected. There is great wisdom to be found there.

“Some movements have a slower bloom for collective awakening. Let’s not despair but continue to cultivate the right relations with our Mother Earth, with each other, and with all Sentient Life. Let’s cultivate balanced relationships between genders, ethnicities, and social groups. Let us honor and protect the wisdom of our animal kin, the trees and the mountains, the wise cetaceans who swim in the ocean, and the wisdom of the four billion-year history of Mother Earth, our home, which will long outlive this human experiment.” ~Sarah Drew

Enhancing an awareness of the labeling and imputed meaning we drape over everything and everyone, that continually traps us in a narrow and restricted experience of disconnect and discontent, is vitally important.

Then it is possible to recognize there is another way to live the moments we have left to us. A way using the language of the heart.

I invite you to step outside and take a full breath, commune with a tree, hike up a mountain, immerse in water, lay on the earth and dance with the clouds overhead….or take a running leap into a pile of leaves! I will see you there again, surely, eventually….

“Mother Earth is my employer. She pays me with clean air, clean water, clean food, clean land – and from that you have a clean spirit.” ~Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Lakota Elder

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“In today’s fast-paced world, so many of us have lost touch with Mother Nature. We’re constantly surrounded by technology, running from one responsibility to the next, rarely taking a moment to step outside and just breathe. The natural world, once central to our lives, has become something we visit occasionally rather than something we live within every day. But deep down, we’re still a part of it— no different from the trees, rivers, and animals.

Nature is the foundation of everything we are. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat— it all comes from the earth. By losing touch with this, we risk losing something essential in ourselves. It’s time to slow down, take a step back, and remember that we belong to the natural world just as much as it belongs to us. Reconnecting with it not only restores our sense of balance but also reminds us of our responsibility to care for the planet that sustains us.”

Featuring Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Lakota Elder.
Filmed in New York State, USA. by Reflections of Life

Nature Park, Weaverville, NC/Photography by Gaye Abbott 11/2024

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Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 11/15/24