Learn the Earth

"If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.” 
― Mary Oliver, Swan

Learn yourself, then come to me. Fill yourself with your own curiosity and then share what you find with me. I cannot lead you to yourself. 

Explore the wild earth and learn the trees and ask the flowers questions. If you do not do this... do not come to me. We will not have enough to talk about. 

Play with yourself. With your body. Learn how it jumps over rocks, and swims in rivers, and lays itself out and catches every ray of the sun. Love the body you are in. Learn who you are as the animal you are, then find me.

Reach out and touch the world. Write letters, read books, and ask your friends deep questions. Ask your family questions you need to know. Learn what their hopes were for you, and how they turned into your own. Learn how different you are, and how much the same. Reach deep inside yourself to understand your place in the whole... and then find me.

Jump into the unknown. Take the risk. Drive across the country, and fly across the world, and believe in love. Do foolish things for love. Fall in love deeply and madly and let yourself be hurt when its over. Make magic and be gentle when it leaves. Then find me. 

Sip the sky, every day. Take yourself up mountains, to the ocean, to the park down the street. Drench yourself in everything. Watch the world pass by you. Learn it a million times and become who you are in it. Find what you love. Try everything. Join groups and leave groups and listen to every one who shares their time with you. Who you are is hiding in the way you are in the world. Learn that, and come to me.

When you come to me, I need you to have done the work that it takes to recognize that I have done mine. I need your heart to be learned enough to know how much it doesn't know, strong enough to love me when I am bursting with joy, and gentle enough to love me when I am falling apart. The imperfect human of what I am is my perfection. I am not in denial of my fullness.

Do not come to me until you are ready. I want to meet the complete version of you. I do not want to complete you. I want to be complete with you. So go.

Dig your hands into the earth, and sleep in the mountains, and fall apart so that we can fall together. Learn everything you need to know about yourself until you are comfortable with what you don't know. Then find me. And if you find me, and I am still open to you. Love me. And I will love you... knowing that you are ready.