It's natural for our emotions and the circumstances of our lives to shift like the tides. Change and growth are at the centre of being a part of nature and letting its forces flow through us. Nature moves in cycles; in periods of growth and rest, day and night, summer and winter. These cycles create balance. If we pay close attention by being quiet in nature we can see these cycles reflected in ourselves in how we feel and how we live. We can notice that emotions we thought had been dealt with come around cyclically in hopes of being healed. Our mood and energy levels move with the seasons and the amount of sun rays that shine on our skin. When we start to see signs of springs arrival we intrinsically feel the vibrancy and sense of renewal that comes with this transition. This is all a part of our nature.
We are inseparable from nature despite the level of connection we may feel towards it. If we are open and observant we’ll find that nature often acts as a mirror, reflecting to us whatever we need to see. Every element of our natural world comes with a deeper message and symbolism, some of which we don’t consciously consider or understand when we interact with it. For example, a snowdrop could be the reminder you need that hard times will soon come to pass since they signal that spring is on its way - it's a sign that new life and rapid growth are just around the corner. Often these messages come intuitively, they are not something that requires deep thinking and interrogation, they just seem to make sense when they arrive. It can still be help to research the symbolism of a particular aspect of nature to unravel its significance if this is something we're drawn to.
A beautiful thing about recognising ourselves as a part of the interconnected web of nature is that it helps us to accept exactly where we are now. Where we are now is just a part of the cycles of rest, growth, and all that is in-between. Nature never stays in one spot forever. Knowing this can be a comfort in difficult times and simultaneously can bring anxiety if we favour our current circumstances and don’t want things to change. If we zoom out of our daily lives far enough we can see that each moment is like a grain of sand in a desert, constantly shifting with the winds, forming an ever-evolving landscape. The wind is a force that we can’t control and so we must move with it as freely as possible.
Embracing our nature can encourage us to be more accepting of our circumstances since we understand it as being a season of our lives. We accept our emotions as something that isn’t permanent and honour our instinct to create and form our most fulfilling lives. We follow our intuition more frequently by following what we feel pulled to do. When we want to rest we rest, when we are hungry we eat, when we feel like trying something new we try something new, we don’t need a reason, we just follow how we feel. Of course, our daily lives have a structure we can’t always stray from but when the moment is right we embrace our impulses more freely.
Following our instincts, intuition, feelings is the essence of creativity. We often think of creativity as painting or making music but it could be more helpful to understand creativity from mother nature’s perspective. Think of creativity as nature acting through us. Creativity is an instinct to create and manifest our ideas into physical form. Nature grows and creates constantly; trees create fruit, beavers build dams. These aspects of nature follow their impulse to create without question and in turn produce something which has a profound effect on all the life around it. Trees unknowingly produce fruit that sustains us. Beavers’ dams make streams and rivers change course and ultimately reconstruct our landscapes just out of their instinct to find food and protection. Just like the trees and the beavers, the wonderful thing about following our creative instinct is that the by-product often results in a wider positive impact. Whatever we feel pulled to create in our lives is creativity, our natural instinct which should be followed and welcomed. Ignoring this instinct can make us feel unfulfilled like the rivers of our lives (our creative force) have become are stagnant and therefore can no longer support life.
Our connection to nature is vital in our process of creating. Without an understanding that every action has an impact and that our lives are equal in importance to all parts of nature we create from our state of disconnection. This can result in practices, projects, companies and industries that don’t respect nature and in turn damage our natural environment and all the life which is supported by it. To create without a connection to nature is a potentially self-destructive act because damaging our environment degrades our wellbeing, habitat, resources, and future. Creating through a connection to nature means seeing ourselves as an interconnected aspect of all life on Earth.
If you look up at the treetops in a woodland or forest you’ll see the spaces which separate each tree from one another. This is most common with trees of the same species but generally trees don’t grow into each other’s spaces, they respect each others need for light and space. Ironically, the spaces that divide the trees create channels that mimic the form of the root systems which connect them underground. It’s a beautiful reminder that despite how separate they appear above the surface below they are connected and dependent on one another for survival. This demonstrates our connection to our planet and all life on it. Individually it may seem like we are separate, like one action doesn’t have an impact or meaning but we are actually deeply connected. We are dependent on each individual acting for the betterment of the whole. Knowing that nature is in our nature can help us create from a place of compassion, understanding, and bring forward a desire to do good things in the world that benefit all.
Connecting with nature can on