Yoga for the Earth - Reflections, Essays, and Published Pieces
DRAFT – June 2024 - Please read and review and send me feedback!
A Letter to the Earth
by Astrid Jirka
DRAFT
Dear Earth,
This morning I woke up early and noticed the translucent, peach-orange glow of the light above the hills before the sun came up. How do you create colors like that, which pervade the dawn with the soft wonderings of what a new day on this planet will bring? You are such a mystery to me.
You create so much beauty that it’s astounding. Right now the hills are covered in your favorite color - shades of green. Why did you choose that color to be the one that nourishes your plants with chlorophyll so they can thrive and produce oxygen for animals to breathe? That was pretty clever by the way - creating an ecological balance like that for plants and animals to coexist.
The birds are also singing their morning sonatas this morning, each one uniquely different. How, on Earth, did you come up with the infinite variety of bird songs and shapes? I can’t believe how beautiful I think feathers are. You are such an incredible artist. Your creativity seems to know no bounds. From the tiniest of iridescent beetles living in your soils, to the arching, double rainbows that appear in the thin, delicate layer of your atmosphere, you are a wonder to behold.
You are a miracle of creation. And destruction. Predator eats prey. Volcanoes erupt. Earthquakes and avalanches, floods and fires, destroy lives. Species come and go. And somehow or other, you created a species that is now altering your ecosystems profoundly. From fossil-fuel leaden skies to plastic-particle laden seas, not to mention weapons of mass destruction and toxic chemicals galore, we are messing with your masterpiece. Bat are we part of the plan? Is there a plan?
Well, too much philosophizing can make my magical, mysterious mind tired. Instead I choose, this morning, to once again rest, and find solace, in your beauty. I take a deep breath of your warm, moist, morning air and recognize the miracle of yet another day, and I give thanks for all that you provide - beauty, a feast for all my senses, food, water, nourishment - and I dedicated myself, once again, to standing by your side.
Thanks for everything.
I love you,
Astrid
