Originally published for Ethel Studio on June 7, 2023
As Ethel Studio comes to a close later this month, I have some final words to leave you with. I’ve perhaps been too reserved over the years about these topics, and now is a great time to leave you with something to ponder and go forth with. I feel like I have so much to say, but finding the exact words can be challenging, so here's some non-linear writing to get what I can out....
Meditation is such a powerful and important tool, and it was receiving the benefits of this practice that inspired me to found Ethel Studio to help others benefit from meditation too. It’s also been an important daily practice to help me traverse the wild ride of entrepreneurship. But over the years I’ve found that meditation isn't for everyone, and that we each have our own journey to discover and evolving techniques and tools to best serve us at a given time in our lives. For me, it's actually being outside, interacting with Earth outdoors that has transformed me, inspired me, and continues to heal me the most. I've been gradually developing a relationship with the Earth, and more recently a deeper conversation with her, through so many facets: walking on Earth's surface, sleeping outside, slowing down, walking through streams, sipping herbal teas, watching birds, listening to trees and rocks, gazing at the moon.....
I wonder how I can help others access this place as well....
It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that we must return to our true nature. So much about the world we live in and how we operate goes against what is natural to us – inside and out – and I mean this in many ways. From the built environments we live in, to the internet’s virtual environments we “live” in, to the foods we eat and polluted air we all breathe together, to the oppressive systems that keep us in hierarchies with massive disparities. It’s no surprise humans continue to make decisions that perpetuate harm and worsen climate change as we go farther and farther away from our own nature. I don’t think we need to entirely cast aside society and go be survivalists in the woods (although I’m not opposed to the idea), but I want to bring more awareness to this, as I know there are others out there talking about similar things. There’s so much in the wellness world that is actually trying to simulate “natural” states for our body and mind- which is so necessary - but how can we do this on an even larger scale and for the collective?
Living outside for two months while hiking the Arizona Trail gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to be in better relationship with Earth and natural cycles. I got to feel the sunrise and sunset, the shifting temperatures and weather patterns each day. I got to drink straight from streams (after filtering) and I saw way more plants and animals and rocks than any human-made structures. It felt so refreshing! Like a returning home.
I wonder how else we can all get closer to Earth and our own inner nature? How can we do this to enact positive change in our communities and in the world? These are imperative and urgent questions. I don’t mean this as just quaint little journaling prompts - this is actually really big stuff. I’m becoming increasingly afraid of what the future holds, and we need big transformation ASAP.