Healing for the Earth, Day 27: Life in Isolation by Guest Blogger Kirk Harris

Hello fellow Earthlings!

We have a special guest, Kirk Harris, here on my blog all the way from the woods of Breitenbush, where he has been living and working for 6 plus years. He shares his experience of isolation and what that means to him and how he is navigating these strange times we are in. Thanks for being here Kirk!

Greetings from the woods: Life in isolation at Breitenbush

Life at Breitenbush is an experience unlike anything I have had in my life so far. I moved up here in the summer of 2014 and was immediately taken by how much different it was from where I had lived the majority of my life this time around. I primarily lived in a more urban type of environment. I was, and still am, amazed at how quiet and peaceful it can be living in the middle of the forest here in Oregon. To be able to see all the stars at night and the moon shining over the Breitenbush River as it roars along day and night is an amazing experience for the senses. It is one that I have not had the opportunity to enjoy or be mesmerized by before.

Having said that, the last 3 weeks here has been an eye opening, as well as a heart opening, experience as well. Nearly 4 weeks ago we decided to close to the public at what is the beginning of our busiest time of the year and to prepare for being closed for a period of time and we were not sure how long it would be. We were not sure how long we would be closed, if we would be able to open back and if so when that might be. We are still unsure and not exactly clear if and when that might be happening. Needless to say it has brought with it a sense of fear, anxiety and dread over some of us and that was only the beginning of what was to come, and is still coming.

Along with the fear, anxiety and dread of what might happen has also come a vastly different experience for me and some of the other folks who live here and call Breitenbush home and have called the land here home for some years. There are many aspects to this adventure for us here. For me Breitenbush and living and working here comprises 3 areas...The business of running a hot springs retreat center, the community of people here who steward and manage the land and the business and last, but certainly not least, the Land itself.

The circumstances and situations that are playing out lately here and around the world have brought most of the business aspects to a halt...there are no guests here these days which makes for a very quiet place to live and be. Not only people wise but energetically as well...it is a different Breitenbush and experience for sure. It has been an amazing experience to be here without the day to day business obligations of being at work and being of service to the guests...it has been profoundly different to be unplugged from that world and at first was very surreal and I found myself in a kind of shock that I had not experienced before and that has been expressed by others who live here.

This leads me to the second part of the experience here: The community here at Breitenbush. It would not be a surprise to some if the community, when isolated like we have been, physically as well as other ways, might fall apart in some ways. But much to my happiness and joy that has not been the case, in fact I have noticed and witnessed a kind of opposite effect...I have seen and experienced people pulling together instead of apart and this adventure we are all on has strengthened the community in many ways and it has been a joy to see people coming together to volunteer their time and effort to aid and help out the community to remain together. We are still here, still a community and still learning and growing from this experience...it has not been easy and without problems, challenges and other hard times and yet I think this has made all of us look at what is important and what are the priorities in our lives.

This brings me to the last part of the equation that I call Breitenbush. The Land! It has been my experience that I have grown closer to this Land that I fell in love with many years ago, the first time I came here. I have had the opportunity and time these last 3+weeks to see beyond what I had seen before and to dive deeper into what this Land really means, not just to me but to others who live here. It is interesting, and I am very grateful, that this adventure is occurring during spring when all is coming back to life after the winter.

The winters here can be kinda hard and difficult with all the rain, snow and greyness that winter brings with it, so being isolated like this in the winter might be very heavy. With the spring it is as if the Land is coming back to life and and telling us how important it is and how connected we all are and that we all need a breather and a chance to step back from the "busyness" and how it is important to take a deep breath and just be at one with where we are. Sometimes people will tell me "it must be really great to live and work in paradise" and while it is an amazing thing to live and work here...it is still work and there are hard challenges about living and working here.

This is a time for all of us around the world to look at life and where we are at and make decisions about how we want to live and the choices we have the freedom to make in regards to living that life. What are our priorities? What do we want "normal" to be? Do we want to go back to what we thought of as "normal" before this all started? Someone once told me that "normal is a setting on the washing machine". And I have taken that and looked at it recently and had the time to delve into that and dive deep to feel it and what it means. It has brought up a great many questions, thoughts, feelings, and desires about what I would like to see "normal" as in this world.

What do you want "normal" to be?

Kirk Harris has lived and worked at Breitenbush Hot Springs for almost 6 years as a member of the kitchen team. He also teaches Shamanic Journeying as part of the daily well being programs at Breitenbush. Kirk has been in the cooking field for over 25 years and also has been a counselor for over 10 years. Since moving to Breitenbush, Kirk has become more interested and involved in the area of Spiritual explorations and self discovery through many types of spiritual practices based in different schools of thought such as Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism and Shamanism. His interests include reading, writing, hiking, spiritual practices, being close to the natural world and interacting with his fellow cohabitants at Breitenbush...oh yes, and music. Since moving to Breitenbush, Kirk has been learning how to play several musical instruments including Ukulele, Drums, and Native American Flute.

Healing for the Earth, Day 14: Going Within

Hi Earthlings,

Howya doing today? Feeling okay out there on this big, gorgeous, BLUE marble of ours?

 Today I connected with other fellow Earthlings in my Vision Circle via Zoom. All 13 or so of them touched my heart so very deeply. They are family and I appreciate all of the inner work they are doing that doesn't show up on the airwaves here, but counts for so much. Seeing them today reminded me of how connected we all are. The inner work you are doing is a thread in this web. There are so many people doing this work.

Going within not only helps me feel centered and grounded, but it connects me deep down to the core of Mother Earth. Then, everything I do is from a centered and clear place. I'm not reacting to my environment, I'm observing my environment.

Reaction and observation are two very different things.

Reaction is the stuff fear is made from.

Observation is the stuff peace is made from.

By being an observer, you can actually take action on things without being in re-action to things.

It's not easy to be an observer. Especially in these times. Sometimes when I sit, emotions bubble up. My mind says I don't like this. I don't like what that person said. I'm done with this and I want this to end. I'm angry. I'm sad. I'm scared.

All of these emotions are genuine. They are real. And they are A-OKAY!!!! We wouldn't be human if we didn't have emotions.

But instead of letting my emotions rule the show, I've decided to try and drop in each day and observe them. I'm observing them as I would clouds passing across the sky. Behind the clouds the sky is always brilliant BLUE. Sometimes there are dark, ominous clouds. Sometimes there are white puffy clouds. Sometimes there's just a thick wall of clouds and sometimes there are no clouds at all.

It always changes. Just like our emotions. They always change. So actually, change is the only thing we can be absolutely sure about.

If we know things will change for sure, we know that we won't always be in this state. We KNOW that this virus won't last FOREVER. We know we will get through whatever we are currently experiencing. No emotion lasts forever. No pain lasts forever. In fact, nothing lasts forever.

THIS. TOO. SHALL. CHANGE.

Perhaps that is a good mantra for our times.

We can't control anyone but ourselves. We aren't in control of the world and other people, but we do get to decide what we each are going to do in any given moment.

Walking on the beach today watching the clouds make shapes, like a gray whale or a lotus or dark, scary monsters, helped me see this change up close. I enjoyed watching these clouds change.

Then, I sat down in the sand and meditated. I listened to the bird calls and the waves and grabbed fists full of sand and let them sift between my fingers. I tasted the salty air and touched the smooth surface of seashells. I breathed deeply into my heart and released my breath to the Earth. I let each emotion or feeling hang out for awhile. I didn't push them away or entertain them. I just let them be there with me on the beach.



Here's a little video I made for you about going within. Sorry, I'm wearing my nerdy glasses, but the message I wanted to share is there.

Healing for the Earth, Day 6: Go Outside

Hello fellow Earthlings,

How are you doing today? Today marks 6 days of writing here everyday. That's almost a week. I still wonder how I did TWO full years of writing a blog post every single day. Whoa! Sometimes I feel like abandoning this plan to write for a month. It's hard to keep going sometimes. I don't always feel wonderful. Sometimes I also feel lonely, sad, overwhelmed. lazy, worthless, etc. But when I get outside, I am able to release many heavy things that I'm feeling. Here's a little video for all y'all about my time outside and some messages for you too!

Today, at around 2pm, I really felt like I needed to JUST GET OUTSIDE and everything would change. When I'm outside, I feel this expansiveness that seems to give space to all these emotions that I'm feeling. The fresh air, sun, smell of pine, butterflies, bees, waves, sand between my toes, etc. really helps. All of these things in nature nurture me so much. They give me a place to rest the restlessness and unease that I sometimes feel. If I can just get myself outside, I feel better.

Today, while walking down to the beach, I saw many families and couples. Lots of couples were holding hands, so happy to be together in the sun. During this time on social distancing, I really miss physical touch. I REALLY miss my boyfriend out here, but he hasn't been able to come out all week and possibly not this coming weekend either because he's working a lot, which is good.

Being in community is so important. Man (or woman) is not an island. It's important for us Earthlings to be in community and help each other. We are all in this together, yet it's easy to feel lonely. I felt that today. I felt like I could really use some social interaction that did not involve a computer or a phone. Do you know what I mean???

Being outside felt as close as I could get to really feeling connected. If I couldn't connect with friends, family or my boyfriend, at least I could connect with nature and celebrate the other people down on the beach with their loved ones enjoying!

After walking down the beach a bit, I found a place to hunker down in the sand between logs near the bird sanctuary. I actually took off my boots and socks and felt the sand between my toes. I lay down with my head on a log and let the sun beat down on my face bringing me back to days when I use to sunbathe in Florida with friends. I love that feeling. I could have stayed on the beach today forever, it felt so good, but I put my boots back on and made my way down the beach a bit further before turning around.

The sun was high and children were running around chasing waves in their bare feet, screaming with excitement. Lovers kissed on beach blankets. It was hard to believe we were in a crisis. It was hard to believe that our world is going through something big right now because people seemed happy and joyful for the moment.

On the way back home, I drove along the beach and saw an eagle high up in a pine tree. All the cherry blossoms are out. It's definitely spring. I'm glad I went outside today.