May this imagery and poem feed your soul, as it does mine:
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
What is your antidote for despair? Let me know in the Comments below. And please share the Wendell Berry poem and graphic I created below. Use the hashtag #HeartspokenLife. It will pass the peace on to others.
Your Life List: Have You Written It?
I used to see herons when I lived on the east coast. And this post reminds me of a thought I often have – if animals feel grief. I am sure they do, though wild things, maybe not so much. Or do they? Nature, the outside world, animals and birds and even bugs in the wild, give me pleasure and a restful feeling. Except for the silly woodpecker who was trying to drill on my BFF’s metal roof this morning. Since living in North Dakota, I haven’t been out in the wild much – there aren’t any great forests up here – but I do love to watch the snow fall, the birds coming back after spring has sprung, the ducks and geese flying about, the pheasants challenging me at the side of the road.
I find myself often falling into anthropomorphic assumptions about animals, but definitely animals and birds exhibit grief behaviors—some more than others. I remember back in the sixties a record that came out with music and messages to play for your plants to make them happier and healthier. So at least there is someone out there who thinks plants, at least, have feelings. I have heard energy healers whom I respected speak of the language of trees and the wisdom they apart if you are attuned to them. I love believing there is way more out there than we can even grasp.