Reminders from Mother Nature
November 3, 2021
Standing in the kitchen; watching the day arrive.
I’ve been up since about 4:30 a.m.—wide awake. As I look East out the kitchen sliding glass doors— at first I saw the moon and then I realized Mercury sat right beneath it. The sun rose. They were all together briefly and then the sun was all there was. Night and day coexisting — past, present and future.
Then I remember the date. This time last year so much was in the balance. I remember a tenseness that I could just not release. It was omnipresent.
So today — as I watch the planets share the sky and dawn arriving — I recognize that the tenseness remains but it’s not the dominant feeling. There is now hopefulness.
We did not get here overnight and it’ll take more than a minute to get to new places and yet, I see and feel shifts. That will have to do for now.
Laying on the settee. It is dark now at 6 p.m.
It’s early evening and it feels a bit like spring, temperature wise. The trees are full of vibrant colored leaves and yet due to the rain last week, wildflowers are emerging. I can’t help but think mother nature is reminding me to continue to reject binaries. It is multiplicities and — my favorite that which is yet to be imagined — the possibilities.
November 4, 2021
It’s about 7:30 a.m. A late start for me. I have been thinking about what this day would feel like for a good month or so.
The skies have been magical this past week. The weather river that has been coming and going has brought us a sea of clouds. That — along with the fall sunrise — has produced colors, shades and dimensionality that only hint at the spectacularity of the world we live in.
I write that knowing that we can only bear witness to that truth if we let the planet and us breathe fully, be present and thrive.
As I reflect on this moment 365 days ago, I am full of all the things and knowing that — regardless of the election outcome — what would follow would be yet another expression of how far we have to go to get to the possibilities; to move towards equity, justice and liberation.
So as the sky turns to a pale blue and the clouds move across the horizon, I settle into the truth that we are not done. We are in it still.
And on occasion if I pause — look and really see and feel Mother Nature— I am reminded of what is possible for all of us.
Message received.
Written November 4th, 2021.
About The Author:
Jara Dean-Coffey (jdc) is Founder and Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative and the Founder of Luminare Group. For the past twenty-five years, she has partnered with clients and colleagues to elevate their collective understanding of the relationship between values, context, strategy and evaluation and shifting our practices so that they are more fully in service of equity. For more about musings + machinations click here.
