ON SPEAKING TERMS WITH EVERYTHING

The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass speak to me. The summit of the mountain the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea speak to me. The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning dewdrop on the flower speak to me. The strength of fire...the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away, they speak to me, and my heart soars....

You can walk the forest and do exactly the same thing. It may seem odd at first, but you get on speaking terms with everything. You do that with animals, and you do that with little bugs, and you do that with everything. It simply means you are aware, you are opening, you are noticing, you are standing with something. It is relationship. Community. (Fritz Hull, founder of the Whidbey Institute, from Issue 35 of Heron Dance)