‘‘One of the great tragedies of our human existence is that we have tamed our wildness and called it beauty.

We keep the raw and untamed parts of ourselves repressed through fear that they will be rejected and judged by others.

We conform, follow the status quo, please others by withholding our hearts’ truth, and do all that we can to fit ourselves into a box within the normalcies of society.

Not only do we tame our own wildness, but we then go on to manicure the landscape, stripping it of its true nature.

We engineer the weather, disrupt entire ecosystems for our own capital gain, plant perfectly symmetrical rows of trees to replace what we have destroyed, rid our lawns of weeds and wildflowers, and choose to take walks in manufactured woodlands and gardens instead of visiting truly wild spaces where chaos and unpredictability reign.

We have lost our respect and reverence for Mother Nature entirely.

Is it any wonder she fights back?

She is yearning to get our attention.

She is longing to be witnessed in her wildest moments.

She is trying to reclaim what is rightfully hers.’’

Excerpt from Reverence, originally published in the Finding Light Journal, 8th January, 2023.