Lion's Portal

This path through the lupine was created by coyotes, deer, thistle & blackberry barbs. It is a living road, not set by concrete, but carved and forever fluid by the life that continues to shape it. I couldn’t see it when I was tip-toeing within the brush, & only until I gained height and perspective from my little sky cam, did I see there was another way to move.

Us humans are in the position most often of being either the decision makers or the followers with the other humans before us. In nature, as means to not disturb, we don’t veer, and instead follow where we’re supposed to (often for good reason to protect more wild lands). I do wonder, do we also allow ourselves to be pulled by the terrain within us and outside of us— the plant and the animal way? What about the animal within us?

Much of that unraveling has been my life’s work; paying attention to the symbols & patterns of the natural world. In high school, my final in photography was showcasing photographs of the similarities in patterning between the human body & plants. As I inch closer to September & another year around the sun, I’m noticing my relationship with the paths I’ve walked, and the terrain within. The solace & the celebration; the erosion of paths once walked in curiosity & entanglement alongside the choice to create anew. Since announcing Wildcare’s new chapter, I feel a refreshing pulsing of quietness & the buzzing excitement of having space for a creative practice again. I’ve found a way for both to be honored and felt, while relinquishing enough control over security to allow the path of true contentment to reveal itself. I’m noticing my emergence has been most prominent in the surrendering & spaciousness. I am happy because I am brave.

This photograph I took reminds me that we live in community with a breathing system of life. It is in our benefit to see things differently. In true relationship, we can greet the ways we listen to ourselves and other, learning from the path of those that live along it, and letting ourselves be revealed along the new paths we forge with bravery, the heart-led way.