A defining aspect of modern life is the perception of separation between ourselves and the place we live. We live uprooted lives pursuing money and technology to buffer or subdue Nature. We feel ungrounded and our place is dying from neglect. The hubris of ignoring or trying to control Nature is taking a toll on us and, naturally, on Earth.
Now is a good time to reconnect with our place. Survival of the living Earth and all life on it, including our own, may depend on our timely reconnection. If we listen to the Earth we can learn to cultivate our connection to it. When we become aware of ecological threads that bind the myriad living beings and physical/chemical process that are continuously woven together to sustain our lives and the living Earth we naturally feel gratitude and compassion.
By Larry Campbell
Brought up on the loose in the Northern Rockies in tow of a geologist father mapping rural areas Larry developed a love of nature. Larry also enjoyed quasi-urban life when attending Princeton University. After graduation he traveled overland to practice purna yoga at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry India for six months. Fortuitous circumstances led to a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat with Goenkaji in Bodh Gaya India, followed by several refresher retreats over the years. He now practices attention to sensations while navigating daily life in the city and in wild nature. Several trips abroad visiting pre-industrial cultures inspired Larry to build an off-the-grid, “simple but elegant” farmstead in Montana which is reaching fruition after decades of whittling and digging. Larry has worked for income as a mineral exploration geologist, wilderness backpack guide, environmental activist and carpenter. Environmental activism has been his primary avocation along with building the farmstead. Connection to nature has been his port in the storm during these times of chaotic change. He has great faith that the evolution of consciousness will continue and eventually humans will deserve to be called homo sapiens.