January

We are living in unbelievably uncertain times. Many of us are feeling a deep sense of grief and loss – for humanity and our beloved planet. As I tend my own grief and hold the collective grief of others, I lean into nature, her comfort and wisdom. If we lean into our grief, we feel its entanglement with love. They are intertwined. Love is the wellspring from which we experience joy, gratitude, and grief.  It grows from our profound presence and awareness. Love is the most authentic and creative state of being.  In love, we recognize or “see” each other in a state of deep acknowledgement. In turn, we kindle our circle of belonging and kinship – to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.  What we love we honor and protect, deepening the authentic relationships with others that soothe and support us in times of sorrow. 

In Season 3, my podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging. 

This month, I leaned into the still, slow, dark days of winter and connected to snow, songbirds, and a stunning winter sky. Listen in as I read my January love letter to nature. What moments of joy, love, and gratitude did nature offer you in January?

Transcript

Hi everyone! Welcome to Season 3 and Episode 26 of the From the Outside with Sarah C podcast! I am Sarah Croscutt, the host and creator of this podcast and the owner and facilitator of From the Outside, a series of plant and nature-based lessons that help us to cultivate a deeper relationship to the natural world, ourselves, and each other. In addition, I am a published environmental writer. My work has been included in several anthologies published by Plants and Poetry Journal (www.plantsandpoetry.org) and Wild Roof Journal (www.wildroofjournal.com) You can learn more and find links on my website, www.fromtheoutsidellc.com.

In the past year or so, I have begun to deepen my connection to my Irish and Welsh ancestral roots. Each of us can claim indigeneity to this beautiful planet. Our earliest ancestors lived in kinship with the natural world. Their relationship with nature, their highly regarded source of life, was rooted in respect, reverence and reciprocity.  

We are living in unbelievably uncertain times. Many of us are feeling a deep sense of grief and loss – for humanity and our beloved planet. As I tend my own grief and hold the collective grief of others, I lean into nature, her comfort and wisdom. If we lean into our grief, we feel its entanglement with love. They are intertwined. Love is the wellspring from which we experience joy, gratitude, and grief.  It grows from our profound presence and awareness. Love is the most authentic and creative state of being.  In love, we recognize or “see” each other in a state of deep acknowledgement. In turn, we kindle our circle of belonging and kinship – to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.  What we love we honor and protect, deepening the authentic relationships with others that soothe and support us in times of sorrow. 

My podcast programming this year is simple – love letters to nature. I invite you to join me in this collaborative project to reweave ourselves to the natural world and each other.  Share your love letters with me at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com and I will read your loving words to nature on my podcast. How does nature make you feel, how does she sustain you, support you, inspire you, excite you? Read your letters to nature and listen for a response. What wisdom does she offer you? As we profess our deep love and gratitude to our source of life, let us deepen our sense of place, purpose, and sense of belonging. So here we go…  

January 2025

To my beloved Nature, 

In January, I thank you for: 

1)    The sun whose light and warmth soak deep into skin as I lift my face to her on a cold winter day. 

2)    The clear, cerulean sky, it’s color more vivid as it hovers over the bright, white, snow-covered ground. 

3)    Your quiet, still, dark days of rest and restoration that encourage me to slow my pace and pause; to turn inward and plant the seeds of creative expression that will germinate and grow as time flows forward to the busier days of spring. 

4)    The cold temperatures and snowfall (if we are lucky) that invigorate my soul, fill my heart with joy, and chill my cheeks to a crimson color.  I recall memories of my early childhood growing up in Ohio. I would come indoors from playing outside in the snow and my mom would say, “Give me an ice cream kiss!”  - her warm lips on my frozen cheeks. Now, I get those chilly ice cream kisses from my grandchildren.  

5)    The magic and sheer joy of a snow day. 

6)    The beautiful blue glow of the earliest morning light after an overnight snowfall. The color reminds me of my days of living deep within the arctic circle during the polar night.  

7)    The technicolor dance of the blue jays and cardinals as they flit from feeder to ground against the sparkling, snow-covered, bright white stage of my backyard. They greet me each morning, like stage players returning for an encore, gathered on my deck waiting for a fresh replenishment of seeds and nuts.  

8)    The tufted titmice whose cracking of seeds at the backdoor window feeder sounds like a welcomed visitor knocking on my door.  My three-year old grandson recognizes their raucous arrival at the feeder and announces, “The tufted titmouse is here!”

9)    The heightened sense of sound as I wander through the forest. The brisk breeze, the scurry of squirrels over the crunching carpet of brown leaves, and the reverberation of the rapping woodpecker in the tree. These are the sonorous sounds of winter in the woods. 

10) The shift in my perspective as I move from forest to meadow. I feel the sun warming my whole body in the open landscape.  The wind seeps through my layers of clothing as it sweeps across the sepia meadow. 

11) The golden leaves of the beech tree leaves shivering in the cold. They hang stiffly like gilded ornaments from their branches shining in the sun. Their quivering leaves imitating the sound of a softly shaken maraca.

12) The hush of the landscape after a new-fallen snow.  

13) The sure sign of silent visitors in my yard that are often undetected or overlooked – their footprints left in the overnight snow exposing their silent sojourn – squirrel, cat, bird, rabbit, and even deer! 

The winter sky…

 14) The magnificent, multicolored sky at sunset – the brushstrokes of rich purples, pinks, and oranges smeared across the sky as the sun sinks below the horizon. 

15)  The clear, inky dark of night with the stars scattered just so, bringing to life the patterns of familiar constellations marching across the sky as the night unfolds. My favorite, Orion the Hunter and his Three Sister’s belt, is an easy, perceptible pattern that personifies the winter sky.  

16) Awe and wonder of a visible planetary alignment – the big, bright light of Venus with Saturn’s smaller presence sitting so close and then watching them separate as the month moves closer to its end. It’s magical, like two star-struck lovers passing in the night. Jupiter so bright hanging above Orion’s belt. Mars greets me brightly, glowing orange in the eastern sky. I wondered – how many people look up? It shifts our perspective to ponder our place in such a vast universe. It moves us to focus on what is truly important.  Our sense of self falls away as we stand in the presence of something bigger. In a world of uncertainty and immense changes to our climate and natural world, we might struggle to find our place in the stars and connect to our true selves. Perhaps we just need to look up, or under, or into to find our place in this intricately designed, interconnected world.  

I encourage you to write your own love letter to nature. It pushes us to pause, grows our gratitude, cultivates our connection to our source of life, and syncs us to the rhythms and cycles of nature. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

o   Write one thing daily you love about nature – that is quite a list by the end of the month!

o   Write about one specific emotion you have felt or experience you have had in nature, or maybe you are trying to cultivate more of a specific state of being in your life, like joy, or gratitude, or love. How can nature guide you?

o   Write about one activity that you do regularly in nature – kayaking, hiking, gardening, even tending your houseplants, or cooking.  How does it make you feel – physically, emotionally, even spiritually? Express your gratitude and love to the natural world for your experience. Expressing our gratitude and love in our simple daily tasks can shift the mundane to magical.

o   Connect to your experiences in nature with your whole body – all your senses – and your breath.

o   Your love letter can take the form of a formal letter, a list bullet points, a poem, even a drawing – however you feel led to express yourself!

o   Share your letter with nature with purpose and intent. Read it aloud

o   Lastly, share your letter with me – I will share it with others on my podcast! You can email me your letter at fromtheoutsidellc@gmail.com. Let your words inspire other listeners! I look forward to hearing from you!

Upcoming Events

If you are in the Richmond, VA area – Selfcare Sunday Series continues the first Sunday of the month, 10 am at Powhatan State Park, Powhatan, VA.  Our next gathering is Sunday, February 2nd.  We meet at the playground parking lot. The program is free, but a $5 parking fee applies.  Please join us as we connect to nature and each other!

Thank you so much for listening! I encourage you to venture out – to your backyard, a local park, a green space near where you work and spend a few minutes purposefully and intentionally connecting with nature.  Use your whole body – really integrate into your being what you see, smell, hear, and feel.  Spend time with those you love or sit in silence, solitude, and stillness. They are important states of being in nurturing our nature connections. Acknowledge nature’s wisdom and role in your life. Nature shows us how beautiful and transformative growth can be! Remember, we are all connected to the source of life and each other! With that said, you can connect with me through my website www.fromtheoutsidellc.com, or on Instagram @sarahc_outside. Links to podcast, website, publications, webinars, and all the things can be found there! Visit my website for upcoming classes in the local community, latest publications, and details on workshops available for educational settings, professional development, recovery programs, conferences, or other groups. As always, please feel free to reach out!  

Until next time, take care!