“We walk, always, within enlivened mystery.” Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Rooted
Charise’s Turn:
I’ve been reading a lot of fiction lately. My sofa beckons to me––to get comfortable and settle, the same way my lap appeals to our cat. A couple of weeks ago, I experienced a retina tear, evidenced by bizarre eye floaters. The tear was treated with laser. In the precarious seventy-two hours afterward, I was forbidden to read anything. Emails piled up, social media was ignored, current book (The Cold Millions) neglected. Coincidently, it was our weekend to be in the mountains, where my husband and I disappear from the city on a semi-regular basis. Many of my poems have been sourced from that setting.
Something happens when nature becomes your 'book'––its pages filled with novel finds. My fascination landed on mushroom patterns, a splayed branch in the pond, a herd of ferns, whatever was right in front of me, beside me. While I’ve noticed the play of nature every time we are in these mountains, this time I lingered. This time it was immersive. I allowed myself to experience the vulnerable, changeable quality of living, within myself and in the world. And a rush of beingness stirred in my body, akin to strength.
Get Fired Up:
Immerse yourself in a natural setting, with a sense of belonging to this earth. Behold what’s there, as it is, and notice what is happening in your being.
“Wonder and enchantment require us to disengage from culturally constructed norms of rationality for adult humans and allow ourselves to be affected by the astonishing world that enfolds us always.” Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Rooted
