gifts of nature

Earth Day 2020 on April 22 celebrates the 50th anniversary of this holiday. It is now a global event that has been extended into Earth Week. It has grown into a worldwide movement focused protecting the environment and living in harmony with nature.

Sika deer cross a road in Nara, Japan

This year we have all had to stay home either sheltering in place or maintaining social distancing due to COVID-19.

In our wildest dreams even the most rabid advocate of climate change is amazed how soon much the earth has healed and returned to nature. Yes! When we all cooperate there is hope for us all.

a lone peacock in Dubai - Karim Sahib / Getty Images

We can still take part in the digital Earth day 2020 celebration. Here are some tips that we can follow to participate.

Thai monkeys were reportedly made up two 'rival gangs' - those from
the city and those from the temple areas who had ventured out for food

If you are no mood to celebrate - deeply grieving the personal loss of a loved one or overwhelmed by the changes in our world - we suggest seeking comfort in the beautiful words of the poet David Whyte in Solace. 

Mountain goats roam the streets of Llandudno, Wales. 
(Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Solace is the spacious, imaginative home we make where disappointment goes to be welcomed and rehabilitated. When life does not in any way add up, we must turn to the part of us that has never wanted a life of simple calculation.

a puma in Santiago, Chile - Andres Pina / Getty Images

To look for solace is to learn to ask fiercer and more exquisitely pointed questions, questions that reshape our identities and our bodies and our relation to others. 

wild boar in the streets of Barcelona, Spain - credits: taylorswifh

Or join Renee Baribeau and Sandra Ingerman at The Shaman's Cave as they share how building strong relationships with the elements can assist us find our compass and root us into the earth.

a pride of lions nap on the road, Kruger National Park

We get so much from the Earth Element. She nurtures us on all levels, surrounds us with her beauty and provides a home for us. In our own personal way how can we bond more deeply with the earth?

cayote sighted in San Francisco - Michael Macor, The Chronicle