Week 15: The Slowing Of The Land

We are linked in our humanity the way the earth holds a tree, so that tree can hold a nest, so that nest can hold a bird, so that bird can drop a seed that will in time give birth to the next tree.

• Week 15: The Slowing Of The Land
• The Book of the soul - 52 paths to living what matters by Mark Nepo

When you think about the time it takes to grow things, you recognize the time and patience that goes into the process. How the ground needs to be nurtured, planted and watered. How each seed needs the right balance of nutrients, water, sun to grow. And all of this doesn’t happen overnight. There is a slowing of the land that allows each development to take its turn in helping that seed become something more.

I look at life the same way, so often we want things instantly, awaiting the email, text. But life is about those slower moments, the ones you cherish with a loved one. Spring generates the return of nature, slowly the landscape changes from the dull brown to a lush green. Not all at once, but a gradual reveal.

I must remind myself, that change is the same way. We can create new habits, follow them purposely, and still not notice a transformation. From the words of Mark Nepo, “how everything we love and want requires this slowing, until what matters takes hold of us, enough that we will break its roots so it can feed us.” It is the nurturing that happens with time.