The Quote:
“It doesn’t have to be Perfect, it just has to start”. Angelia Trinidad
The Action:
For a number of years, I taught a winter avalanche training program called the Snow Samurai. The concept behind the idea was to “think like snow”. The question might arise as to what does think like snow mean?
It means that when we are in situations in life, or in the snow, that we need to think in the context of what the situation is telling us, as compared to what we want the situation to be. For example. Often when working with people in the avalanche industry I hear the discussions, and the agendas being decided as the what the humans want to do, as compared to what the snow, and the conditions are telling us what we can do.
As a species we have gotten to a place in our lives where we have become conditioned to dictating the terms of engagement, the exception to that might be the pandemic that we are presently experiencing. It seems that the solution is to adapt and change our behaviour to what is, there is a contagious virus. As compared to what we want the situation to be.
When I was teaching the Snow Samurai course, I would often reference a sentiment that I have felt deeply all of my life. That as a species we have chosen to no longer dance the primal dance connected to the rhythms and patterns of Nature. No longer do we keep step to the melodic pulse of the seasons, the cycles of the moon and the wisdom of the stars. We have become puppets dancing to the strings of our shadow selves. Seduced by the twin sirens of materialism and greed, whispering to our souls.
It is time to rise again. To slay the dragons and the demons of our false childhood beliefs. To align ourselves once more with the cosmos, the truth of the land, and the yearning in our hearts. It is time to wipe the mists of delusion from our eyes and wash away the grime of our misguided culture to begin anew.
The lessons that were deeply embedded within me teaching the Snow Samurai way of looking at our winter landscapes were, to expect nothing, and be prepared for everything. Meaning to let go of my agenda, and to adapt with humility and respect to the agenda of the snow. Equally important lessons were to communicate and listen with an open heart to the whispering from within, and the voices, smiles and concerns of those that I was with. We could always come back again if that was to be our destiny.
The Book:
To Speak for the Trees. Diana Beresford-Kroeger. “My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to A Healing Vision of The Forest”.
I learned and I grew from reading this book. How the Celtic/ Druid philosophy of origin in Ireland was an integrated and respectful alignment with Nature, and the cycles of the environment. How when the English arrived in Ireland this relationship was severed through persecution, and intolerance, setting the stage for our present-day relationship with Nature.
How trees and the forest have many of the answers to what ails our present-day society and the crisis of climate change, if we only learn to listen again, and act on that awareness. For anyone interested in the healing properties of a diversity of plants and trees this book is a virtual treasure trove of insight and practical applications.
The book is a delicate balance of personal life story, and an incredibly rich resource of Celtic and natural healing remedies for us and the planet. 5/5