Five Invisible Ways you are Already Woven

In my last post, I used the metaphor of weaving to think about how houses are interconnected with their places, and invited you to think about how your home relates to its land and ecology.  Here I want to offer a few more, really simple ways that we as people are woven into the web of our homes and places.  These are so universal and constant that you don’t have to think about them – in fact, we lose out by not realizing they are happening to us all the time.  Bringing them to mind and into focus can deepen your sense of belonging, wherever you are.  It becomes increasingly clear that you are fitted perfectly into the world with every step, with every breath.   And knowing that you belong reduces stress, helping you find clarity for all the choices you make.  

These things are so basic to our experience that they operate beneath our conscious awareness – they are elemental.  It’s easy to forget the profundity of our enmeshment in the basic, natural elements of life.  The interesting thing is what happens to our sense of ourselves and the world once we take a moment to realize how woven into nature and place we really are.   

1.   For instance, the Air: 

Let’s start investigating our sense of self and of the world with the breath. It surrounds us, holding us in the closest of embraces while we live.  And every time we breathe in, we are taking in the gifts of the green plants and trees that themselves have breathed in CO2 and have breathed out Oxygen.  Every single breath we take is an exchange, a literal weaving together of us and the living world around us.  Try thinking about this sometime each day as you take in a big lungful, and let the gift of the air become more “real” to you.  Notice the leaves and mist drifting on the breeze, making it visible. 

2.   Then there’s Water: 

Besides air, water is the thing we can least do without.  Air surrounds us, but water fills our bodies and keeps them going.  And where does it come from?  All around!  The rain that falls is being drunk by the plants and animals (including us people), then evaporating back up into the sky, condensing as clouds, and raining or misting back down again.  This cycle is always in action.  Think about where the water in your glass came from – was it last in a well, your gutters, a reservoir?  How did it get there?  The water in the aquifer our town depends on fell as rain 1000 years ago!  Where will that water go next?  Imagine its onward shapeshifting path through your body, the soil, clouds, oceans, whales.  Water connects us all.  Astonishing.

3.    And how about the Sun?: 

Sunlight doesn't just charge up solar panels, obviously, but powers all of life.  Everything we see is fundamentally a transformation of Sun energy into matter.  Its heat creates the weather too, impelling the motion of the waters through temperature changes in land, sea, and air.  Sunlight stored in the bodies of trees (or, in the case of oil, ancient plants and plankton) releases heat to warm us in winter.  Food, warmth, energy, light!  Life!  Recalling this everyday miracle by thanking the Sun when you sit down to eat can build over time into a really mind-blowing feeling of appreciation and connection. 

4.     Not to forget the Earth itself!: 

The soil of Earth wove together the sunlight and water to produce that food.  Earth nourishes and rebuilds your physical self every day, and not just at mealtime.  You may have read that families with pet dogs have healthier kids.  Why?  Because they eat dirt (well, not on purpose, but they have robust microbiomes that fight infection because they “come in contact with” dirt).  And nature also supports your wellness in mind and spirit.  A ton of research in the last decades has illustrated the myriad health-giving elements of our connection to nature, something to prioritize as our busy lives become increasingly screen-bound.  Take time to go outside, to smell the scent of the Earth, to let its larger harmonies put your life into perspective. 

5.    We are woven into the Big Cycles:  

No matter how much time we spend indoors, we are still part of that larger harmony of Nature.  The cycles of day and night, the Moon and its pull on our water-filled bodies, the wheel of the seasons -- our hormones respond to all of it and our mood and energy levels register the changes.  Notice how you feel as the seasons move and how you might more consciously ride their waves of growth and rest. 

Of course, these elements that I've pulled into separate threads are completely interwoven in our beings.  Breath, blood, nervous system, bones -- they work together, usually beneath the level of our awareness (which is for the most part a useful thing).  It may be, though, that by remembering air, water, fire and earth as they weave you into the world each day, you will see the whole fabric of life in brighter colors.  And see yourself as larger than you were, at home in that shimmering web of nature.   Let your sense of wonder reawaken in everyday miracles. 

Written by Karen, Homeowner