There is no separation, you are part of me

As I sit here writing this I can look outside and see clear blue skies, the Bluebells are growing, the Daffodils are in flower, and the Willow is budding. Spring is knocking on the door and, as I do every year, I give thanks to the turning seasons we have here in the UK.

I watched the new science program by Professor Brian Cox last night during which he tried to show the life cycle of the Universe. It was an amazing program that illustrated what lots of us already know – that to have life there needs to be change. The Universe is on its own journey through its own seasons and it is only during this time in its existence that life is possible, not just here on Earth but anywhere in the Universe. I found that incredibly inspiring – not just how lucky I am that, of all of the creatures in the Universe I could have been, I am a Human Being, but now that I have even been born at all! In countless years from now the Universe will have passed the point where life is possible. These ideas push my spiritual beliefs and make me look at what that means for the Green Man, for this beautiful and precious Earth. That’s a topic for another blog post in the future though, because what is currently on my mind is not the end of the Universe, but where we are right now, deep in the life of it!

The feeling I have inside at this point of the year is almost indescribable. I am not a fan of the Winter but I am deeply grateful that we have that dark time for without it, there would not be this moment when life is just about to burst back once more. Every year my life has this renewal, a rebirth with the year. I too have retreated into the darkness over the Winter, and like the plants, trees and animals I am a part of this rebirth.

I also watched Countrytracks last night during which the presenter went to a lonely island off the western isles of Scotland. She said, “No one lives here, but there’s lots of wildlife.” I had to laugh as within that comment she illustrated what many humans honestly feel, that they are separate from nature and are not Wildlife. But it is obvious to me when I go outside at this time of year that I am Wildlife – I am feeling the same as the bird, the waking insect, the opening leaf and flower, and it’s wonderful! Even in what appears to many as a ‘mundane’ reality I can encourage this same sense of renewal and leave behind those things I no longer need, knowing that they’ve fed and nourished me (even if sometimes it doesn’t feel that way!) during my dark time, because now is the time for my rebirth. Let’s face it, the energy that feeds plants and trees comes from waste, I’m pretty sure I’m the same too! There is no separation, I am Wildlife, a part of the life of this planet, of this Universe.

So I give thanks for my life, for who I am, where I live, what I have in my life, and the wonders of nature that surround me, and are within me!

10 responses to “There is no separation, you are part of me”

  1. Nice reminder Damh, beautifully worded.

    Yes, how important it is to sustain some connection to wild life to remind us that our ancestors started off as wildlife before being farmers and more recently urban industrialists.

    One of my own profound lessons was watching my dog fetch a stick on a beach in winter. The rock pools had frozen over and the stick landed on some ice over a rock pool.

    My dog put one paw over the ice to reach for the stick. Not enough, so he used two paws. Not enough, so he used three legs and paws, but no way was that fourth leg and paw ever going to let go of its contact with the beach.

    I think if we ever feel low, depressed, anxious, and disconnected, its because we have allowed that fourth paw to disconnect from our wildlife instincts.

    I must admit, I love winter and its process of regeneration but as you say winter builds up the momentum for an even more wonderful experience right now.

    I’ll join you in a toast and reverence for spring and its wildness. Many thanks for this Damh.

  2. Thanks, Damh. I really enjoyed reading your words. I feel as if I am coming alive too. Looking out at the orchard, I can see the daffs in bud beneath the apple trees which are just starting to bud and will soon hide their mistletoe attire.
    Many Blessings

  3. Hello Dave!
    I watched a bit of that Brian Cox program too, and really enjoyed the fact that fundamentally we thought the same – that we are the conciousness of the universe experiencing itself subjectively – the same as Bill Hicks 🙂 but he describes the universe in maths and science and I in metaphore and symbol.
    There is indeed no separation. Even our sadnesses and depressions are part of the whole. we have no idea how a tree feels when it looses all it’s leaves, or a bird when it migrates, or a star when it goes super nova. We assume that it is perfectly happy and at one with the changes it goes through, but who knows? Maybe we are the part of the universe that articulates its joy and sadness at change and transformation? There is no reason to suppose that our sadnesses are somehow wrong and the result of our imagined separateness; just as our joy at spring mirrors that so obviously experienced by animals, our sadness in winter and at death may be part of the expression of the universe.

  4. Very nicely put! I too love it when the wheel changes over form Winter to Spring. My daughter, Rowan and I were both born in the spring, so that sense of rebirth is strong with me as I reflect on me getting another year older, and remember each year during spring time giving birth to my little girl.

    I grew up in Florida, and while the winters were mild, I longed to see the four seasons. There were differences in the seasons in Flroida, but they were very subtle.

    I moved to Pennsylvania almost four years ago, and I am so grateful to see the explosion of life every year in the spring time. I wouldn’t say I dislike winter, as I appreciate it’s beauty, and the need of a dark time before light, but It does get old, and tedious after a while. (It got especially old last year when we got 22 inches of snow overnight) Spring never gets old to me. The anticipation of it coming is so exciting. I would have so say Spring and Autumn are my two favorite seasons.

    Our Daffodils are not in bloom yet, but last week I saw one trying to push it’s leaves up through the earth. t’s just a matter of time before I see them in bloom! As a matter of fact I chose that day to do my Initiation Ritual for OBOD. It was such a great day for new beginnings!

    Sorry to ramble on, I just wanted to share my excitement of spring with you!

    Blessings,
    ~Kelly

  5. Beautifully put, thank you. The return of Spring is really noticeable in the last couple of weeks, and yesterday was lovely and mild. We’ve been enjoying the kids pointing out the buds on the trees and looking for snowdrops, crocuses etc.

  6. No daffodils are poking their heads up in my neck of the woods yet, but I have that sense of “coming alive” you mentioned. Thanks for putting into words something I felt but could not describe.

  7. Time now to give time to say how I really enjoyed your blog ‘thereis no separation you are part of me’. When you are out in an early spring dawn and the heavy dew is almost frost and tingles your legs and feet almost to numbness. When you are treading carefully so as not to disturb the thousands of webs strung across the grass, all dripping and shiny. When the birds are not quite ready to sing yet, so that the stillness and quiet is pounding in your ears. When you experience in your skin the thrill of something, a comingness, that feels like an exciting arrival just around the corner. By the time you have walked over the hill the sun is up the birds are singing and the moment passes, it will not be captured again that day, no matter how much you try to recreate it by walking in shady woods in the longer grass.

  8. Thanks Damh, as usual you strike a chord, here in middle England The Spring bulbs are thrusting up – some very advanced but only Crocus is in flower just yet. Such happiness to feel part of this family of Natural beings of all our Flora and Fauna – such a relief from the worry of the political scene,

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