Earth Day and ecological homecoming

On Earth Day 2024, Kim Harrison reflects on the importance of ecological homecoming after her recent Glenthorne retreat.

The sense of ecological homecoming that we can feel in nature is beyond just “nature connection”,  ecological homecoming is about realizing that we ARE nature; simply part of the spirit that flows through all things. The idea of the ”ecological unconscious” bridges philosophy, theology, and spirituality. Indeed, it is an ancient concept present in most nature-based cultures.

Everything is so intrinsically interconnected in ways that cannot always be fully understood. Sometimes we can gain understanding by deepening our awareness through sensory awakening activities, as we explored during our nature connection retreat at Glenthorne last weekend. Yet sometimes there is an element of mystery that leaves the door open to imagination, creativity and joy. This mystery is like a siren calling us out into the natural world again and again, it fascinates us with the endless curiosities out there to inspire and enliven us.

Through the core nature connection routines we explored during our retreat, we came out of our heads and down into our bodies using our senses, arriving into fuller presence and, crucially, into our hearts. We reconnected with what we love, and what we truly are.

If we choose to prioritize connection, the interconnectedness of all things can help nourish and sustain us in the face of difficult times ahead, and also in what we choose to do about it. Our love is what lies at the heart of our motivations for climate witness, and is at the root of our many emotions around the climate crisis. Remembering that there is beauty in the world and there is something worth striving to protect offers us something to hold on to through difficult times.

22nd April each year is Earth Day; the global event to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Earth Day offers a chance to mark the importance of the environment around us and stand together to protect it. Whether or not we are Quaker, Earth Day is an example of how many of us strive to live through embodying deeply held values of equality, sustainability, and peace. These are integral to earth care and living in ‘right-relationship’ with ‘all-that-is-and-will-be’, as land-based societies have done for millennia and continue to do so in some small pockets of the wild.

When we come together, grounded in ecological homecoming, there is hope for what we can achieve in how we can live in ‘right-relationship’ with the earth, as part of nature. We concluded our retreat with a collective poem, to which we each contributed a line after completing a final ‘sit spot’ practice in the stunning grounds of Glenthorne.