Nature as Muse

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”  - Kahlil Gibran

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So Mother Nature is such a darling, bold, and gorgeous muse to me. How amazing that there seems to be endless shapes and colors expressed and shown in nature? As artists I feel we are always reflecting nature: nature of humans, plants, animals, feelings, colors, lines, movements. Therefore another practice for me is to touch in with nature whenever you can. That is why I love this quote by Brenda Ueland:

“I will tell you what I have learned myself. For me, a long five or six mile walk helps. And one must go alone and every day.” - Brenda Ueland

Creative Exercise: 

Today, or very soon, I would like you take a little walk near or in Nature. If you live in an urban environment, take a walk to a city park. See this walk as a meditative experience, some time for your inner child artist to be nourished. What colors do you see? What sounds do you hear? What are you feeling? Take your camera or phone with you and take some photos. Hone in details: shoot lines, textures, and shapes. Shoot expanding landscapes too, such as the horizon, sky, clouds, and trees. Gather seeds, leaves, rocks, flowers, or items in nature. Neal down near the Earth and touch the dirt. Notice how it feels to have the cool dirt against your fingers. Lay on your back in some grass if you can too. How does the warm Earth feel against your body? Take the items from Nature back with you and set them in a special place in your home. Share one or a few photos in our group with an inspiring quote about nature, and/or what the experience was like for you.

The photos below were taken using the Instragr.am and/or Pixlr-o-matic applications for a smart phone. You can also Hipstamtic, or any other photo filtering apps out there. Of course just taking photos with your digital camera is perfectly fine too. Just capture your walk and how it was seen through your eyes. You can also take photos of your sacred items you gathered. It is more than fine to have some cityscape or man-made object in some of the photos, along with Nature’s touch of course.

Write:

Take out your journal and write about your walk. Did Nature have anything to teach or show you? What did you feel when you slowed down to look at the tiny intricate details? How did you feel when you expanded out to the big open sky?

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Check in with your belief systems. What still needs to be weeded out? Are there any fears or doubts there? Is anything new beginning to stir within you? Nurture that and write it down. Draw little doodles of things from your walk. Free up your hand movements and doodle away. Remember what that felt like as a kid and allow yourself to feel that again.

Overnight:

Research some favorite quotes for tomorrow, ones that make your heart sing.

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