“The Spirit of the Land is not sad. Even though we may be on the path to destruction, the Land is not sad. This is the way of death and life and death and life. Do we grieve the loss of dinosaurs? There will again be life, even if it is not human life. There will again be beauty. This is the Way. This is how Creator works.”
I wrote that in March, last year, 2024. I have been grieving the changes for longer than that – changes like the current long drought that hurts apple orchards, maple trees, and forests. I watch my beloved Pond, as the water levels drop further than they did in the last drought of 2020. One day recently, I sat by the pond, so quietly that Muskrat and Duck ignored my presence. My heart filled with gratitude that Pond is still Pond, even when the water is low.
But that does not stop the grief, not my grief. The other night I sat there again, listening, watching, meditating, in the stillness. That night, it seemed like Pond, the Wild, the Land, were all telling me that this is what Shift looks like. This is the face of Change.
(See the usual water level, just below the birch on the far side.)
And the grief welled up in tears. I don’t want Shift. I want Same. I want a full pond, full of water. I want the companionship of my Other than Human Friends. I want Dragonflies and Frogs. I want birdsong. I even want mosquitos to feed them. I want to sit here with Pond when I am 85.
I am afraid for the future. And I grieve. But the Land is not sad. This Land has lived through the loss of dinosaurs and virgin forests. This Land remains, and will remain, long after I am gone.
Dream Bringer’s Studio 