I am One with It

What a hot day yesterday! Sleeping last night with the windows open, I woke this morning to thousands of birds singing their morning songs to each other. When I did my morning meditation, many of them were still singing. It was easy to feel peaceful, with this kind of accompaniment. Even though there were some things I was concerned about floating through in my mind, there was also this other part of me answering: yes, and listen to the world that you are one with!

When you go out in nature, there is not much that is not singing. The creek is singing a bubbling kind of song. The leaves in the trees are singing a dancing song that shifts and changes with the wind. Something is usually chirping or chattering this time of year -- birds or frogs or squirrels.

It is a good time to go out and take in the sounds and smells of the earth, reminding our animal bodies how we are connected to the earth, and how the earth supports and sustains us.
...
The singing birds, I am one with them,
and their celebration of the dawn.
The dancing leaves, I am one with these;
I am one with their dance and with their
play in shadow and new light.
The sprouting grasses-- I am one with the
sprouting and with their bold blades jutting
up toward the sky.
The dark soil beneath me, I am one with this,
too, and I bow to the worms, who remind me
how life steadily rises and falls through
the seasons. I bow to their blind search
for simple things like food and air, and
simple comforts like a cool night in spring,
when the birds are asleep and the people
are still, and the earth is wide and peaceful.

I bow to this. I am one with the searching,
I am one with the finding or the not finding.
I am one with seeing nothing and feeling only
the dark fertility of soil around me, like a womb
or like a grave, knowing it is both the womb
and the grave, all at once. I am one with this.
I am one with old self dying and the new self
being born. I am one with this. I bow to this.

I am one with the singing, the celebration
of the dawn. I am one with the robin, who
comes hopping into the yard with a worm
for her babies. I am one with all of it.