Coming Home to Ourselves
On Community, Loneliness and Belonging
Little acts of kindness aren’t so small after all
I arrived home yesterday to find a spring posy and a word of gratitude on my doorstep. It brought such joy to my heart, I thought to share it with you all incase you decide to spread some spring joy this weekend with a small act of kindness. The thing about kindness is that it has a wonderful habit of spreading. Continue the ripple.
Rooted In Sound
“Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still it is, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness. Eckhart Tolle
Mia and I spent a blustery morning last Saturday exploring the grounds of Cadenham Manor in preparation for our next sound journey and nature connection evening at the end of the month. In true form, Mia spent the couple of hours we were there bare foot enjoying the sensation of the soft moss and the occasional muddy squelch between her toes.
Curious about joining us?
Here’s what to expect:
Ground - We'll start the evening with a grounding practice standing together in the enchanting gardens of Cadenham.
Wander - Wander in solitude in a walking meditation slowing each breath and step as you bring awareness to the subtle sounds of nature. We’ll invite you to feel the peace and power of the present moment as you practice feeling welcomed by the earth with each step.
Nourish - Gather in the drawing room and enjoy homemade refreshments.
Journey - Continue your inner exploration during a restorative sound journey as Mia plays an array of instruments from shamanic rattles and drums, ethereal gongs, wind chimes and Himalayan bowls.
Rooted in Sound - Nature Connection and Sound Journey Experience
Cadenham Manor, Foxham, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 4NH
Friday 26th April 6pm-8:30pm
£45
Power of community
It’s almost been a week since twenty something of us planted just over four hundred trees at Wildling Studio. A HUGE thank you to everyone who joined us, and for welcoming me back into the Wildling community for the session. My heart is still humming happily at the memory of our great feat and the thought of this new community of saplings maturing in the years to come. I know that alongside the saplings, many seeds of intention were planted that day. All that’s left to do for a time is to care and send heart as we wait patiently for those seeds to germinate and trees to grow.
The act of planting trees feels particularly potent having just finished “To Speak for the Trees” by Dianna Beresford-Kroeger. I’d recommend listening to the audio version as Diana reads it in her sweet, soft Irish accent.
“We are all woodland people. Like trees, we hold a genetic memory of the past because trees are parents to the child deep within us. We feel that shared history come alive every time we step into the forest, where the majesty of nature calls to us in a voice beyond our imaginations. But even in those ofus who haven’t encountered trees in months or even years, the connection to the natural world is there, waiting to be remembered.”
Contradictions
I’ve noticed a contradiction, one of many I’m sure, that live within me. This particular contradiction weaves itself between community, solitude and belonging.
Community can be a powerful and supportive thing, but, the times I feel most alone and like I don’t belong are often when I’m part of a group. Inevitably, when the feelings of shyness and skin crawling discomfort become too much to bare, I retreat to my solitude, and things feel better for a time.
But I know deep down, this peaceful seeming solitude is not a result of a greater sense of belonging to myself, it’s simply a break from the uprising bubbles of insecurity stirred up by being in community.
In fact, most of the time I spend alone, I spend being busy. I’m good at ‘productive’, it’s less vulnerable and our society approves of it. It’s a win-win, or a lose-lose depending on how you look at it. I keep moving, keep doing, keep listening, keep creating, keep anything really to continue drowning the noise of my fizzing mind whilst swimming just above the feelings I don’t want to feel. The one problem with this method is that you can’t ever stop - it’s sink or swim baby! The other is that I being to feel like I can’t trust myself, I tell myself that parts of me (like the fizzy mind and big emotions) aren’t safe - I abandon parts of myself.
The crux of it
What if we could find a sense of belonging in our own solitude? What if, deep down, under the surface layers of thoughts and feelings, there exists a welcoming shelter, instead of the deep dark abyss I’ve long imagined.
I happened across this paragraph recently (yes, I know, it’s from John O’Donohue, again!):
“When you inhabit your solitude fully and experience its outer extremes of isolation and abandonment, you will find at its heart there is neither loneliness nor emptiness, but intimacy and shelter. In your solitude you are frequently nearer to the heart of belonging and kinship than you are in your social life or public world…Ironically, your trust in your inner belonging radically alters your outer belonging. Unless you find belonging in your solitude, your external longing remains needy and driven.” - J O’Donohue
A wonderful welcome within
This year is an adventure of coming home to myself. You’re very welcome to join me, there’ll be plenty of opportunities along the way.
How hard can it be? Gulp.
“We get lost in doing, thinking, remembering, anticipating - lost in a maze of complexity and a world of problems. Nature can show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our own minds.” - Eckhart Tolle
Don’t forget to you can join me in Wiltshire at the end of this month - Rooted In Sound.
Love to you all,
Camille
Your pictures are stunning x