Communion

Penny Muller

Apr 13, 20224 min read

Perhaps we are happiest and healthiest when we are in a state of peaceful movement.

The sky was darkening this afternoon and it looked like rain was coming. I had a thought of doing some more work, but I was being called outside - rain or no rain - to commune with the island. So, I put my shoes on and took my umbrella, and off I went. This calling from nature that I have been experiencing lately is a little surprising to me. I have spent so much of my life in my head, and maybe even more so, in my heart, forgetting to notice my physical surroundings a lot of the time. Since being on the island, this has changed. I will stop anything I am doing to look closely at an insect, bird or flower, and I find myself staring at the sky and the clouds, fascinated by the shapes and colours and the play of light between and around them. Rather than walking with earphones, I listen to the chorus of the birds, and I am now aware of a wonderful array of sights and sounds and scents that might previously have gone unnoticed.

This afternoon, although it was grey, there was beauty in the sky and in its mysterious, foreboding energy. Cockatoos and lorikeets flew quickly from tree to tree. The elusive curlews stood shyly in the shadows. The tiny dots in the photo below are a row of ducks bathing by the water's edge. Two days ago, I also went for a walk. It was the most beautiful, sunny day you could imagine. I couldn't believe the blueness of the sky, so I had to capture it. Hundreds of tiny crabs were scampering over the sand and fish leapt in the water. On another recent sparkling morning, I found a beach near a secluded glade and wandered around without my shoes, taking photos of everything I saw. When I got home, I made a little poem and a video: Communion, which I have shared below.

I was listening to a conversation this morning about the importance of balancing our connection with spirit with our connection with nature and our physical selves. I understand the debate, but I also feel that it is difficult to separate the two things. As mentioned in a previous blog post, nature is a portal to spiritual connection. For me, this is because nature is a creation of source and a reflection of source, and so cannot be separated from it. We, also, are a creation of source and a reflection of source; so we are part of source, and therefore we are also part of nature and it is part of us. We are one and the same, so it is only natural that we find peace and wellbeing in being with nature. And, that we will feel a connection to our higher selves and to pure love energy while spending time in the natural world.

When we tune-in to nature, we are reminded that there is a larger plan. Our small, everyday problems seem to fade in importance when we view them from a broader perspective. Nature is purposeful and focused on what is most pertinent in the moment. For me, nature can melt problems away while at the same time magnifying emotions. It's an odd juxtaposition. Definitely, though, nature makes me feel more alive, probably because it is so completely alive. There is so much movement, yet so much peace. And, in writing this, I have just had a thought; that this is how we, perhaps, should live - in a perpetual state of peaceful, purposeful movement and flow. By purposeful, I don't mean that we should always be busy doing, but that we should be intentional in our choice to create, to rest or to commune.

I was saying to someone the other day that I would like to cultivate an ability to move between activities while remaining in a peaceful state. What I am meaning is that I would like to be able to feel creative all the time, so I can do paid work and write a song on the same day, effortlessly moving from work mode to creative mode whenever I like. From experience, this requires a flow state (see Csikszentmihalyi: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Biography (verywellmind.com)), and I believe this is most possible when stress is absent. I need to have a very clear and peaceful mind to be creative. Many people find that they have their best ideas when they are in this peaceful state, and also while they are moving - walking or running. During my short walk this afternoon, I had so many thoughts come to me that the only dilemma is how to possibly have time to bring them all to fruition. And, in saying this, to be in a flow state, we must also release attachment to time, believing that it is abundant, and let go of the 'shoulds', most of which are not as important as we might believe them to be.

Perhaps the most important 'should' is to be connected with nature and therefore with source, and to live in a perpetual state of understanding and embodying our humanity and our divinity at the same time. Perhaps the most important 'should' is that we express our humanity and our divinity through our creativity - healing and inspiring ourselves and the world as we do so. The rose does not bloom because it should, but because it is designed to do so. It is a divine expression of source, fashioned from love, as we are. It doesn't hide its beauty, and neither should we. We don't have to earn the right to commune with nature and the universe, to release attachment and stress, to prioritize our wellbeing, and to create and to express. We were born to live this way. We were always meant to be healthy, peaceful and joyful!