October 10, 2023
Grizzlies, and Nature and Aurora, Oh My!
By Amba Gale
It has been time for rest. For the deep Sabbath that comes from leaving one world and entering another.
I’ve been working nonstop for many moons. While I love my work, I’m passionate about my work, and I am blessed and privileged to be present to the transformation of lives that come from people deeply engaging in my work, it was time for rest.
The need for it, the necessity of it, was rolling over me like a tsunami.
And rest I took.
Eight months ago, Don and I booked a trip to The Yukon, where, last week, we stayed in a resort with 12 glorious others from different parts of the World (Australia, the BC, South Carolina, Texas, Ontario.) And I do mean “glorious others.” The camaraderie, the companionship, the spirit of communion, and the sheer glory of being up late at night, cameras in hand, bonfire and hot chocolate by our side, while we waited for the Aurora to make its appearance after a great dinner, and wonderful tours through the Lakes and Rivers of the Yukon in the day, were nothing short of awe-inspiring.
I recently read a beautiful quote by Parker Palmer, who I think was channeling, Emerson, Thorough, and Muir! I find it so applicable to these times, and I invite you to allow it to open space for you in your own journey:
“In the wilderness, I sense the wholeness hidden ‘in all things.’ It is in the taste of wild berries, the scent of sunbaked pine, the sight of the Northern Lights, the sound of water lapping the shore, signs of a bedrock integrity that is eternal and beyond all doubt. And when I return to a human world that is transient and riddled with disbelief, I have new eyes for the wholeness hidden in me and my kind and a new heart for loving even our imperfections.”
I indeed “have new eyes for the wholeness hidden in me” and a “new heart for loving even our imperfections.”
May I bring my gratefulness for the extraordinary and for the Now
into this ever-shifting, transient world.
May you bring a listening for new surprises to imbue your ordinary with a deep knowing of the extraordinary.
May we sense the wholeness hidden in all things.
