A Recipe For Feeling Seen
Thanksgiving, Reciprocity & Other Ramblings
Recently, I had a stark moment where I just didn’t feel seen within a group I expected to feel seen within… Has this happened to you? Do you know the feeling?
Later, as I was processing those feelings, I picked up James Crews’ newest book of poetry, Unlocking the Heart, and I opened randomly to the poem, ‘The World Loves You Back’ -
It was exactly the reminder that I needed to hear.
That I/You/We are all seen for exactly who we are by the animate earth around us.
That we aren’t alone.
In today’s meditation class, we explore the significance of belonging and being actively engaged in one’s environment. We delve into the idea of reciprocal relationships with the animate earth and our meditation practices, with an emphasis on the importance of active participation.
Join me for a poem, discussion and guided meditation inviting us into reciprocal breathing with the forest around us.
**Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support of this episode. And, thank you to Acoustic Ecologist Gordon Hempton for the use of today’s soundscape.
A Meditation: To See & Be Seen; Breathing With the Trees
by Meryl Arnett
TBR: The Serviceberry
I’m confident I don’t have to wax poetic about Robin Wall Kimmerer to you, do I? You probably love her writing as much as I do. I read Braiding Sweetgrass every spring, and I planted a Serviceberry tree in my front yard in homage to an essay she wrote for Emergence Magazine in 2022. And now, she has a new book out by the same name!
As Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and ecological systems to reimagine currencies of exchange?
-Emergence Magazine, 2022
Feels like a perfect pre-holiday read to me… 🥰
*all of the content shared in my podcasts, newsletters & meditations is written by me {Meryl Arnett}. If you catch a mistake or typo, I hope it makes you smile knowing a real person is behind every word published 💛