Private Sessions

I was fourteen when I read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. I was mesmerized, fascinated, and completely lost in his words. I began researching “transcendentalism” and reading anything I could about nature, the environment, and self-reliance. There was no Internet then. I had to walk to the library and spend hours going through encyclopedias and books. I then read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature and Self-Reliance. I dreamed of being able to witness nature the way these two men did. I wanted to be in the woods, walk through God’s landscape and find myself. I repeated Thoreau’s quote for years as a mantra, “Dreams are the touchstones of our character.”Now thirty years later I live on Walden Pond. This place is more than I could have dreamed of as a child. I have the backdrop of nature everywhere outside my home. It’s remarkable. Mornings are special here. To awaken to the sound of the country is breathtaking. The sacrifices made to get here are never far away but have been worth it every minute. There are no regrets for this simple life.This early morning I hiked up Bearwallow Mountain here in Gerton. I wanted to catch the sun rising above the mountains. It is always humbling to get to the top and witness the vast ocean of mountains peaking through the early fog. I feel small up there. I sat on my boulder, took out my journal and wrote every so often stopping to heat up my fingers. It was a cold morning, even for May. This is the place where I feel closest to the Divine, in the center of me. I began my private consultation. I said my prayers and disconnected my busy mind. It’s amazing the things that come up when I empty the mind of its clutter. The Beloved speaks loud and clear.I stared out to the forest realizing we are all branches from the same tree. The connection is evident up there. There are cows everywhere grazing on the summit. They live with each other in harmony. But, everything in nature lives in harmony. Things flow, flourish and fall to their respective destiny. It’s remarkable. If we could take a little bit of the wisdom from nature we would be so peacefully happy.Moments of impact make the sum of our experiences. Each day that I let go, surrender to the NOW, is a moment of great impact. Everything becomes a surprise. Every person who enters my space is a gift. Up there, on that mountain Spirit allows to answer in these private sessions. The Great Mystery sits, holds me and allows me to just be still while the cold wind blows, the dew sits on the rocks, the animals feed their young ones, and the trees dance to the sunrise.May you find a little place in nature to meet with the Divine and find that you are one of the same!“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I have not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau