Heaven on Earth is how I described the Oregon Coast when I first met it at age 11 on a family road trip. And how I felt during my three years of college in Portland. And what has called me the last three consecutive Junes. This year I managed a 36-hour vacation, 12 hours of it driving my daughter to a music camp on the Oregon Coast.
What do you do when you have a 24-hour vacation in an entire year and you are in Heaven? You practice joy! Five hours beach walking and 4 hours mud slogging through old growth rain forest, and I bow to my knees with gratitude for life bringing me there.
Two hours into my beach walk, my eyes were drawn to things out of place - pieces of plastic. So I returned to my lodging, got a bag and started picking up every bit of plastic I could find that crossed my path. One of my slides below represents everything inside my bag, retrieved from just one pair of eyes observing for an hour. Each time I bent down I said to Father Ocean, "Forgive us, we know not what we do." There were a few dilemmas - like the plastic water bottle that had become habitat for gooseneck barnacles. Do I pick it up and kill the living creatures? I let that and the tire habitat stay. Do you think if each and every one of us who tread on a beach made it our practice to pick up plastic we could make a difference? See 5 Gyres for more information.
More and more I recognize Heaven on Earth exists everywhere around us, but we often find it a challenge to focus our attention there - even when we are surrounded by it. Practicing conscious nature connection makes me want to wake up and greet friends everywhere around me and I see reflected back to me what is inside my soul.
What do you do when you have a 24-hour vacation in an entire year and you are in Heaven? You practice joy! Five hours beach walking and 4 hours mud slogging through old growth rain forest, and I bow to my knees with gratitude for life bringing me there.
Two hours into my beach walk, my eyes were drawn to things out of place - pieces of plastic. So I returned to my lodging, got a bag and started picking up every bit of plastic I could find that crossed my path. One of my slides below represents everything inside my bag, retrieved from just one pair of eyes observing for an hour. Each time I bent down I said to Father Ocean, "Forgive us, we know not what we do." There were a few dilemmas - like the plastic water bottle that had become habitat for gooseneck barnacles. Do I pick it up and kill the living creatures? I let that and the tire habitat stay. Do you think if each and every one of us who tread on a beach made it our practice to pick up plastic we could make a difference? See 5 Gyres for more information.
More and more I recognize Heaven on Earth exists everywhere around us, but we often find it a challenge to focus our attention there - even when we are surrounded by it. Practicing conscious nature connection makes me want to wake up and greet friends everywhere around me and I see reflected back to me what is inside my soul.
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