We only borrow the earth.

When we were born into this world, we were born with an instinct to survive, just as every creature on this planet does. We were not born with an instinct for greed or power, but simply to take only what we need. We are not born into fear; we are born into curiosity, wonder, and awe. We have full self-awareness and an understanding of how everything is connected and supports a biodiversity of life, as we are entangled in the pulsing energy of intentions and actions of everything that exists.

As life progresses, we are programmed into a different perception of "wealth, success, and abundance." We fill our lives with overstimulating, artificial distractions, which, in turn, remove us from our basic intuition and instinct. When this happens, we begin to feel unsafe within our bodies and tune out of self-awareness. We try to fill the gap with more material stuff, money, airtime, and the newest fads, but still, that void exists! Grab quicker, grab faster, shout louder, flash your money, yet you feel hollow. You feel alone in a room of people, your digestive system starts to suffer, your sleep becomes disruptive, you fall into bad habits or maybe addictions, and all you can focus on is the power and the status which becomes your identity. In the meantime, the essence of you is drowning under all the pressure.

You may wonder where I am going with this?

I am going back to our truth. The mouse that takes the fallen blackberry for a meal. He doesn't climb the shrub to reap it from all its fruit. The kestrel hovering over its prey will shift territories with seasons not to exhaust the populations. The tree canopies rarely touch. This crown shyness reduces the risk of infections and infestations being passed on while allowing enough light to all. Nature understands the concept of borrowing the earth. It takes only what it needs and has never lost that connection to all. When we lose our connection to nature, we lose the concept of borrowing and living in harmony as a complex biodiversity, like the rhizomes and roots in the soil.

We all know this, I am not here to preach, but I am here to gently remind you of your complex, multi-layered, healthy, freeing, fearless connections as nature, self-awareness, and animal instinct, which hold limitless joy and opportunities when you allow that innate connection. This is my path, and my life's work and purpose. I could not walk away from this way of life if I tried! But I am not the only one. There are many inspirational, deeply connected, intuitive folk who are rooted in nature who have never swayed from their path. They were told they were weird, odd, introverted through their lives, but the draw to hold that connection to the natural world was way stronger than any other influence. We sit with trees and smile at flowers, we talk to the bees and lie on the ground. We crave the feeling of the water on our bare feet and the sun on our face. We dance in the rain and sit in awe under the stars. We welcome the seasons and sit in stillness to observe the change. We grow, we forage, we show gratitude for our food and where it came from. We tell stories, we sing to water, write poetry, and produce art that touches others with our expression of deep love and ancestral wisdom passed on through the land. To us, all land is sacred. The land does not have invisible boundaries, to us we would show the common daisy the same love and respect as the rare, wild gladioli. We are nature therapists, storytellers, foragers, folklorists, historians, intuitives, mystics, herbalists, arborists, commoners, gypsies, botanists. We can feel the imminent rain, we are aware of the fox watching from the thick bracken, we connect with the ancient barrows, wells, tree etchings, and charcoal pits. We pulse and breathe with the land. We pass on our knowledge, our passion, and observations. Not through greed, power, ego, or control, but through love, for well-being. For passion, and to observe our innate knowledge ripple out as we show others where that switch is on their plug, back in as nature. Nervous systems rest, health improves, moods improve, diet improves, connections to others improve, self-awareness improves, curiosity and thirst for knowledge heighten as reconnections to the land are reignited through the way showers.

So why is it we are being forced off the land? Why is it we are being told to pay, or not permitted once paying, to allow these connections to happen quickly and joyously for the sake of all? Why am I being contacted by the earth borrowers in utter despair of losing their business or giving up their right to actively common the land after generations, and their wisdom of the land being lost under the hoggin of another cycle path because of control, greed, and ego? We are almost a millennium on from encroachment villages being created by the true and authentic earth borrowers due to the greed, control, and ego of power-hungry elites, and yet you still haven't learned. We don't need your permission to share the land with others that want to learn from us, we only need the permission from the trees and the animals, but sadly, you have forgotten how to hear the response as you continue to try and fill your void.

When someone shines their light that brightly, it cannot be extinguished. I found a way to continue my quest, and you will too. However downtrodden and frustrated you feel, remember the universe has your back. You are not alone, and Mother Nature is the most powerful being, who pulses, purges, evolves, and adapts to grow, shine, and present her full abundance, while render the weak, fearful, and detrimental extinct. Trust, express, stay true, and look to her for your guidance, and she will always light your true path and possibilities.