I have always taken solice in nature. I feel connected and cared for in deep and unspoken ways. I found this poem by Nancy Wood that speaks for me:
My help is in the mountain
Where I take myself to heal
The earthly wounds
That people give to me.
I find a rock with sun on it
And a stream where the water runs gentle
And the trees which one by one give me company.
So must I stay for a long time
Until I have grown from the rock
And the stream is running through me
And I cannot tell myself from one tall tree.
Then I know nothing touches me
Nor makes me run away.
My help is in the mountain
That I take away with me.
Earth cure me. Earth receive my woe.
Rock strengthen me. Rock receive my weakness.
Rain wash my sadness away. Rain receive my doubt.
Sun make sweet my song. Sun receive the anger from my heart.
Living in Chicago, I have learned to get connected to nature in the smallest ways. Here I find the mountain in a stone I hold in my hand, a forest in touching the trunk of a tree, and a world of hope opening to me as the sun warms my face.
Peace, Lisa
Lisa Catania, LCSW
