Natural by Nature

On my recent trip to three countries in three weeks, from Greece to Turkey to Jordan, one obvious difference was the culture; incorporating the areas of family, social and religion.

Family interaction was very prevalent and important to their lives. Unlike a lot of Western societies, the elders were revered and respected for their wisdom and experience, and more importantly, their contribution they made to the family dynamics.

Having this sense of worth and life purpose leaves little wonder to why the European way of life has far less chronic health issues, not exclusively connected to their healthier, fresher, less toxic and processed eating lifestyle.

European, Indigenous and Eastern philosophies seem to put a stronger orientation to family, spirituality and nature regardless of the varying religious influence.

At the other end of the spectrum, these cultures are also more connected to their babies, although there are more Westerners open to what is now being termed Attachment Parenting

When I was first became a new mum in the late 80’s, I was, like many, of the belief that we may ‘spoil’ the child if we held them all the time, even though instinctively that’s what many of us wanted to do.

The reports that came out of the 20th Century, ironically from men of science rather than mothers, was that the child needed to learn to self soothe, one method being ‘controlled crying’.

If this broke your heart, you were not alone, but now we know there can be more detrimental side effects to this than positives, ranging from lack of sensitivity, trust, intimacy and independence.

Rest assured this is not a debate into breast versus bottle or mums who choose to go back to work, just an observation of how I struggled with the concept of controlled crying when it goes against our nature, as it did mine.

Through synchronistic intervention a book recently came into my possession (that’s a whole other story)  This book was titled Journey to the Sacred Mountains, Awakening Your Soul in Nature.

It’s about vision quests, rites of passage, indigenous cultures, in this case North American Indians, folklore, families and the natural evolution of them, as nature intended.

This is primarily, although not exclusively, aimed at the adolescents, the youth, the future, that have appeared to many, to have lost their way.  Those of you who are familiar with my writing and connection to these ones, will know of my passion to understand and consequently guide them to a place of inner peace and belonging, not only for their own suffering of being misunderstood, but for the ones that love them.

So it is of no surprise that this book ‘magically’ appears on my path.

It starts out with a folklore titled The Story of Jumping Mouse .  Like all folklores and dreamtime stories there are many lessons, characters, archetypes, interpretations and prolific wisdom enmeshed within the words that give us insights into life on a larger scale through the eyes of Mother Nature.

This story like many revolves around a spiritual quest into the powers of nature and our connection or disconnection to it.

In indigenous cultures the adolescents have their rite of passage into manhood via vision quests, spending time in nature, conversing whilst connecting to their inner self and ancestral natural roots.

I strongly agree with the author that the absence of an archetypal initiation may be the void that promotes alcohol and substance abuse as they seek solace in self medication, dangerous and self destructive, high risks acts, promiscuous behaviour, and violence.

It could also explain why many feel the need to become part of a gang to instigate some form of initiation process.

The attraction to the life and death scenarios could be a result of them instinctually knowing that’s where transformation takes place.

Even as adults, there is more evidence of voids showing up as anxiety, depression,  overuse of prescription medications, addictions in many forms of excess; shopping, eating, gambling, internet, just to name a few.

When we are deprived of our natural state of being and our jungles are replaced by concrete ones, our souls suffer.

It is no surprise why people flock to bodies of water or rain forests for holidays to recharge their soul batteries to remember their roots. Even stepping onto sand or grass with bare feet has an almost peaceful, euphoric, grounding feel to it as we are connecting back with Mother Earth.

In all three age groups the underlying factor is when we act from our natural state of being of compassion, love, respect and tolerance, our lives can return to its natural order.

We don’t all have to pack up and make a sea change, but acknowledging what is our natural flow is a good start.  Nurturing babies, respecting and honouring our elders and our youth being acknowledged their rite of passage is the way of Nature.

With so many theories, opinions, information and resources we have to be discerning of what is right for US and coming back to the true essence of us is an individual journey.  For some that may appear to be the road less travelled or an isolated path.

The irony is when we make the journey for ourselves we will find we are not alone and never was. Our individuality will join us to others on their wholeness/oneness path.

When we de-tox, de-clutter and dis-entangle our minds and bodies and step out of our dis-guises we may then remove dis-ease, dis-association and dis-harmony.

Having a life philosophy is a personal choice but having one enables us to make life decisions that correlate with that philosophy.

My personal philosophy of life & subsequent teachings, have always been heart centred, hence I make my decisions from a feeling centre, rather than a thought provoked analytical process.

There is much to be learnt, or rather, remember, not through technology but through humanity and our acknowledgement to Nature.

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