You Are an Essential Part of a Beautiful Landscape

Do you sometimes feel like a small blade of grass, insignificant and lost in the grand landscape of life? Well, you are the landscape, beautifully essential to it all. Let me explain.

I live in an awe-inspiring landscape. I often look out my window across the valley to the mountains beyond and take a deep breath of gratitude for the amazing sunsets, the artistry of the storm cloud formations, the rainbows that paint the sky, and the Elk who migrate through my back yard.

One fall evening, the sun was bathing everything in a special golden light, and I ran out to take photos with my cellphone.  I missed the fullness of the blanketing light, but as shadows lengthened, I saw that the last rays of the sun highlighted the tips of the taller blades of grass near the pasture fence line. So, I snapped a few photos of the grass tips, wondering how they would turn out, and feeling a little sad that I hadn't been quick enough to get a great photo of the entire landscape.

As a facilitator of equine-assisted workshops with themes of mindfulness, self-awareness, and being present, I thought: “Well Sheri, will you practice what you preach and put away your phone and just be present with this experience as it is right now?”  I paused, closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, a slow breath out, and I grounded my energy through my body, down to my feet, and into the earth. As I opened my eyes, I became keenly aware of one particular blade of grass. It had matured so that its tip was frayed out like a fan. And, as the sun sunk lower, the fan was crowned with golden light.

I hope I can convey not just words, but the feeling I had of deep connection with that single blade of grass in that moment. Catching just the smallest ray of the setting sun, the tip of that blade of grass was so beautiful. I took another slow deep breath, focused on my heart and the gratitude I felt for that blade of grass at that moment, and relaxed my body from the inside out. I attuned all of my senses to that single blade of grass and listened for the sound of the stillness that was within it.  

In that state of awareness, I began to feel the story of that blade of grass. It was not particularly tall or special, now was it a prominent part of the landscape. In fact, on any other day or from any other perspective, I may not have noticed it at all. I had probably walked over that grassy area a dozen times on my way to the pasture. Had I ever stepped on it? I wondered. Had the deer that regularly visited my lawn ever nibbled on it?  Certainly, the snow last winter had buried it so that in the Spring it had to reset and begin growing all over again. And, this year, when I mowed the grass in that area, I had missed that spot of the lawn and that blade of grass had finally been able to reach maturity so that its tip now had a fan that could be crowned by one ray of sunlight at this particular moment.  

I looked out at the view beyond. The grass of the pastures in the valley below were also bathed in golden light, the trees on the mountain side contrasted with the sage bushes offered various shades of green, while the rock formations added brown highlights to the view. I realized the landscape wouldn’t be so beautiful without each blade of grass and each tree, bush, and stone that was now within my gaze.

Looking back at the blade of grass near my feet, I began to deeply appreciate this single and quite ordinary blade of grass. Like all the other blade of grass in the valley below, it was essential to the full view. I felt a deepening gratitude for all it had been through to be there that day. I was no longer just looking at that blade of grass, I was seeing it, really seeing it. I was mindful of its story and yet experiencing it as it was right then in the breath of that particular shining moment. And, in being fully present with that blade of grass, I was experiencing the awe and wonder of the entire landscape.  

I hope this blog will inspire you to see yourself (as I saw that blade of grass), deeply.  I invite you to listen to the sound of the stillness within you, to breathe, ground your energy into the earth, and be mindful of your own story. Feel gratitude for your whole self and all it took for you to be here, right now, just as you are in this moment. If you do this and really see and feel your own heartbeat, breath, and body, you will experience the awe and wonder of your own being connected to the entire landscape of life. And in the stillness of the now, you will experience - you.

You are wonderfully and beautifully made, and an essential part of everything that is.

With love and gratitude,

Sheri

I invite you to come be with the horses as they graze in the landscape near my home. Learn from them how to feel the peace and presence of grazing with your own self as you ground and connect with the landscape within and surrounding you. Click on the Browse Services button below. Learn more about all the workshops offered and consider booking a Peace & Presence workshop to deepen your connection to the peace that is within you. Come be touched by a horse and experience the awe and wonder of YOU.

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