Yosemite gave me the best birthday gift: a reminder that all the things that keep us small - gnawing anxiety, fear, the general malaise of isolation - are just temporary.
That our human scales of time and space are only one way to experience the Earth.
That a glacial pace, and roots, and underground communication, can bear beauty beyond our comprehension- we who often value nothing beyond going faster, rootless, bullhorning every thought.
We who have feet think roots are a burden, not realizing the connections we're missing. The sequoias know better. The granite shows us another way, too. There's so much beautiful writing about places like this. I bought so many books at the Yosemite bookstore. And then went back to the Yosemite Conservancy website to buy more. (I'll skip buying clothes but I'll never skip a book that belongs in my home.) I'm feeling a kinship with John Muir, Rue Mapp, and all the people who find their voices, their silence, their community with nature and in nature - and it could be all of us! There are so many who have come before who passionately argue for the truth that nature is for *everyone.* That is, healing is for everyone. I'll be adding my own nature writing on my website regularly. It's a practice I need to do for me. But I'll be looking for stories to share beyond my own. Nature connects us. And to survive, we need to connect.
