Reflections of the Second Gathering of Becoming Eco-mystics
Disconcertingly, as people were arriving in the Zoom room for the second session of Becoming Eco-mystics, 80 percent of them had the same name: mine, “Sarah Arthurs.”
This was a deliciously timed irony, because the prompt for the first activity was a quote from Iris Murdoch. “Love is the incredibly difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.” As everyone realized they were misnamed, it was a relief to see my name disappearing and new names showing up.
With that set up, the invitation of the first activity was to write in the chat an experience from the past week of this kind of love: “the incredibly difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.”
In reading the chat contributions out loud, it was clear we had created a poem. This practice is, I think, a hallmark of an eco-mystic. They have an ever-extending capacity to know that things outside themselves, things that have nothing to do with them, are real.
My friend, colleague and poet, Tonya Lailey, choreographed the images that were shared. Thank you, Tonya!
Enjoy the poem!
Love is
water gurgling in
the soil after a heavy rain, rain
filled streams falling
clouds, mist rising
in the forest, a lichen
forest on a rock, wet
autumn leaves, wind and the sound
of leaves, wind through
the trees, a huge cedar
tree, a tree in a park
nearby, a butterfly dryin
it’s wings on a leaf
in a tree, tinkling
leaves, my crab apple tree
and messy applesLove is the extremely difficult realization
my cats who want attention
deer on the street
owl flying in the early morning
a large, beautiful raven bobbing
on top of a tall cedar
in front of my houseLove is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is
a yellow flower, by itself
it greets you in this beautiful
green field, smile, bow
your head and honour the yellow
flower and all the green
earth, small garlic
cloves
Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is
real
bald eagle soaring overhead
real
breathing with a fig tree
real
the anxious dog whom I had forgotten to feed with his supper
during a busy evening
real
A flu virus!
real
Azzy the rabbit
real
Glorious, coloured Gatineau hills!
real
Aanii. Guinea pigs have emotions, happy, sad, grief, joy.
They must pray too.
real
the corn coming from the earth, water,
air, and sun is real
real
my neighbours around the campfire
real
a penny from 1952 turning up
in the soil of the garden
that’s taming me
real
a squirrel with a bushy tail huddled from the rain
real
the cycle of air through all living things