In Closing

Before I go, I want to share an excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Love Letter to the Earth:

At this very moment, the Earth is above you, below you, all around you, and even inside you. The Earth is everywhere. You may be used to thinking of the Earth as only the ground beneath your feet. But the water, the sea, the sky, and everything around us comes from the Earth. Everything outside us and everything inside us comes from the Earth. We often forget that the planet we are living on has given us all the elements that make up our bodies. The water in our flesh, our bones, and all the microscopic cells inside our bodies all come from the Earth and are part of the Earth. The Earth is not the environment we live in. We are the Earth and we are always carrying her within us.

Realizing this, we can see that the Earth is truly alive. We are a living, breathing manifestation of this beautiful and generous planet. Knowing this, we can begin to transform our relationship to the Earth. We can begin to walk differently and to care for her differently. We will fall completely in love with the Earth. When we are in love with someone or something, there is no separation between ourselves and the person or thing we love. We do whatever we can for them and this brings us great joy and nourishment. That is the relationship each of us can have with the Earth. That is the relationship each of us must have with the Earth if the Earth is to survive, and if we are to survive as well.

Wherever we go next, let’s take time to enjoy the beauty and wonder of life all around. It is marvelous. Let’s sit under a tree for a while, watch a butterfly feed on a flower, and enjoy the antics of a bat at sunset. Let’s pause, take a deep breath, and feel the Sun’s warmth on our face. To be born on Earth—the only planet we know of with life—and to be able to participate in this crazy thing we call consciousness is one of the most improbable events of all time. We won the galactic lottery, my friend.