GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 3: “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”― Thich Nhat Hanh
Maybe one of my favorite mentors and a source of inspiration and devotion for me since I was about 14 or 15 years old. I remember his work during Vietnam up until the time he was exiled to another country for his views and work against the war. It is hard to find a hero in the culture in which I have lived so many years. He is certainly one. I am grateful for every sangha and event that I was blessed to attend and sit in his presence and learn from a master of peace and love.
Today I meditated on this quote for a long time. I want to truly embrace this form of gratitude. I am always mindful for the blessings of the natural world where I am so at home and where I would rather be than the most beautiful buildings in the world. My bare feet have put in a great number of miles of meditative walking on this marble. I am grateful for her love and support for each step and each breath. I am grateful for the beautiful sunshine, the fogs, the dark nights filled with stars, the cloudy days and the rainy days as well.
I am grateful for the times I have laid down in a forest, on a beach, on grass, or wherever I have listened to hear the heartbeat of the Earth and all she has to teach me and for what I have been allowed to do for her healing.
I am grateful for every bird and animal I have encountered in their lovely world. May I never do anything to harm or foul it in any way. May I refrain from all harsh lifestyles that abuse her assets or her abundance. May I refrain from pouring any kind of chemicals into her waters or on her soils. May I never have to make amends for any damage I may have caused this beautiful land that I am allowed to walk on and love. May I always do what I can to heal the damages done by others by healing and allowing life to flourish in its own way on this land.
I am grateful for every tree I have ever met; most of whom I have hugged deeply and hard, to hear and feel the rhythm of each heartbeat and align myself with the source of my deeply needed and appreciated oxygen. May we breathe together forever my tall friends. I have planted, in gratitude and love, over 500 trees so far in this lifetime. May there be many more.
May I never use more resources than are necessary for me to live. May I dwell in tiny homes and in tiny ways that I never throw, into the face of the Universal Power, anything toxic in exchange for the Paradise into which I am born and have my being. May I continue to be a good steward for my place, for my life, for others who are never mindful of the gifts of God they destroy and abuse. May I teach, as I walk in love and gratitude, another way.
May I love, in every bite, the gifts of the food I can grow in my gardens. May I feed others in need and may we all thrive on what we are blessed to receive. May I merit the nourishment of the sun, the work, the water and the soil that go into each bite. May I never feel myself to be disconnected from the Source of all these blessings…and so another day of Gratitude is put out into the Universe to teach me and to heal all that I have done that was not mindful or loving and in alignment with this writing.
Dolphin Hug 